My Aussie mix puppy Millie has started eating poop after it snows. It’s more visible and probably more tasty because it retains its moisture. (See the pic at the beginning of the article) Some dogs are more prone to eat poop that’s on the snow. Without meaning to, you’re rewarding his behavior. The more you chase and try to correct him, the more excited he becomes.Īnd he thinks it’s a game of chase. Naturally, you start running toward him shouting “NOOOOO, BAD DOG!” Living with a sick or elderly dogĪ younger dog may eat the older or sick dog’s poop because of an innate instinct to protect the pack from predators.Īlso, if the older dog has a habit of eating poop, the younger dog may even imitate him. Some puppies can then get in the habit of eating feces.ĬOLBY’S EXPERIENCE: After raising 4 litters I’ve noticed that the puppies also observe mom’s behaviors and maybe sometimes copy her cleaning ritual and help eat the poop to keep the whelping box clean. Pups then smell the odor on their mother’s breath. Puppies’ poop is cleaned away by the mother. Scenting the smell of feces on their mother’s breath The poor dog then develops a habit of connecting real food with feces. It may be their own or even near the cat’s litter box. It can even happen to some dogs who are confined to small spaces and become stressed. Or it can happen when dogs are forced to live away from their people, such as being confined to the basement. This can occur to dogs living in kennels or dogs forced to live in the horrible conditions at a puppy mill. Environmental Stressĭogs who are isolated away from humans can develop the habit of eating poop.
He may also try to “hide the evidence” and eat the poop the next time he has an accident.Īnd some dogs with separation anxiety may poop because they’re stressed when left alone. If you holler at or otherwise harshly correct your pup for having an accident, he may become scared.
Some dogs are harshly corrected for housetraining indiscretions. Then, when the opportunity presents itself, he happily plays with and eats his own feces. Or you leave your dog alone and he’s bored. And running around stimulated him to poop.Īnd in his anxious state, he ate the feces. Your pup had so much pent-up energy he had to expel. He’s really hyper and wants to run around to get rid of his excess energy.Īs you put on your coat, you see him poop and quickly devour the new-found snack. So you can’t give Fido his usual morning walk. There may be environmental stress or behavioral triggers such as the following: 1. We have to analyze why they’re eating feces in order to stop them. They range from boredom to more complex reasons. There are many possible reasons why dogs eat poop. What Are the Behavioral Reasons Dogs Eat Poop? Generally, they won’t eat old poop or stool that’s too soft or diarrhea.ĬOLBY’S EXPERIENCE: We’ve had dozens of puppies at our house over the years and so far to the best of my memory only two: Raven, a female Golden Retriever and Stetson, a male Labrador Retriever ate their poop. They are the connoisseurs of the poop-eating world, I guess.ĭogs can have specific tastes. Some stool eaters will eat “fresh” feces no more than two days old. And intact males are least likely to eat feces.ĭogs are more likely to eat another animal’s poop than their own. It’s also more common in multi-dog households.įemales are more likely to engage in the habit. Of course puppies are generally more likely to eat poop than adult dogs are. We talked to our vet about it, but he never came up with a medical reasons for Stetson’s habit. When adult dogs eat feces, there’s often a behavioral or medical reason.ĬOLBY’S EXPERIENCE: Our black Lab Stetson loved to eat. But they usually outgrow the habit by about nine months old. Some eat poop as they find it very inviting. Puppies explore the world with their mouths.
Best muzzle to stop dog eating poop full#
She would have done this until the puppies were full grown adults, but we generally cut her off from cleaning duties when the puppies were around 4 weeks old. She was a great mom and was constantly cleaning up (eating) her puppies poop. The mother also cleans up the puppy and eats their feces for about the first three weeks after birth.ĬOLBY’S EXPERIENCE: Our Golden Retriever, Raven had 4 beautiful litters. The canine mother licks puppies so that they’ll defecate. Or they ate poop so other pack members wouldn’t get intestinal parasites from stool lying around. Some other theories are that dogs ate poop to survive because food could be scarce. So eating poop became a way to fend off hunger.
They ate whatever they could find on the ground or in the trash. Theories Why Dogs Began Eating Fecesĭogs evolved as scavengers. But most of us just call it a stinky habit. The technical term for eating feces is coprophagia. Once we figured out why the pups ate poop, we were able to stop them from doing so.
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