HEALTH
3 min
Why do Puppies Eat Their Poop? Preventing Coprophagia in Dogs
Is your puppy eating their own poop? Vet Dr Tanaya Pai explains why puppies eat their poop, the adverse effects it can have, and how we can stop them.
Table of contents
Why do Puppies Eat Their Poop?
Coprophagia or Coprophagy refers to the habit of eating poop. You will be surprised to know that it is one of the most common complaints that vets get from pet parents. While it may sound weird, this behaviour is completely normal in the animal kingdom and even essential for certain species like rabbits, mice, and guinea pigs.
First, let’s try and understand why dogs eat poop.
Now that we know why dogs eat their own poop, here are a few things you can do to stop it.
First, let’s try and understand why dogs eat poop.
- Your puppy is simply copying this behaviour from their mother: When our puppies are young, their mother licks them to initially induce toileting and to ensure that their pee and poop are cleaned off thoroughly. Sometimes, if the mother dog has a habit of licking and cleaning incessantly, the puppies may pick up this habit from their mother and show it in the form of poop eating.
- Their poop tastes good: Puppies, just like all other babies, have a sensitive and still developing digestive system. The food items that they eat tend to pass through their system pretty quickly. This means that their poop might smell very similar to their food. This can lead to poop eating in puppies, especially those being fed processed foods like kibble.
- Attention-seeking behaviour: Our puppies explore their surroundings by picking up & feeling things in their mouth. If their faeces are left lying around for a long time, your puppy may start sniffing or picking it up out of curiosity, especially if they are bored. At this point, a lot of parents tend to react strongly, in turn teaching their puppy that poop eating is a way to get their attention. Over time this can become a habit and your puppy is likely to pick up their poop just to get your attention again and again.
- Stress, fear, or anxiety: If you usually scold or punish your puppy for toileting in the wrong areas inside your house, your puppy may end up eating their own poop to save themselves from your punishment.
- Nutritional deficiency: In some rare cases, Coprophagia may also develop because of an unbalanced / nutritionally-deficient diet. If you suspect this, make sure you consult a vet or a nutritionist to plan a balanced meal plan for your puppy, one that is both age and breed appropriate.
Now that we know why dogs eat their own poop, here are a few things you can do to stop it.
How to Stop your Puppy from Eating Poop!
As long as this habit is not encouraged, most puppies will eventually outgrow their poop-eating phase. To ensure that this happens quickly, here are some things you can do:
- Remove access: If your puppy is on a good, daily routine with fixed meal times and play times, you can easily predict their toileting timings. Constant supervision followed by prompt clean-ups will ensure that your puppy does not get a chance to practice poop-eating behaviour in the first place. If you don't allow your puppy to practice this behaviour, they are likely to grow out of it quickly. If your puppy’s vaccinations are completed, consider teaching them to toilet outdoors.
- Changing their diet: Transitioning to a different brand of pet food may help your puppy break the cycle of poop eating.
- Give appropriate feedback: When we scold or punish our puppies for pooping in the wrong places, more often than not, they fail to realise the reason behind the punishment. They may instead decide not to toilet when you are around them, slowing down their toilet training process. Remember to focus on teaching your puppy good toileting habits instead of punishing them for the wrong ones. Sometimes our puppies may eat poop simply because they get rewarded for it with your attention. Remember, even if it is scolding, any exaggerated reaction from us is still attention and desirable for your puppy. If your puppy is eating poop for your attention, simply clean up the poop and walk out of the room.
- Use faecal deterrents: Faecal deterrents are products/foods that make your dog's poop taste bad. You can either ask your vet to prescribe a commercial faecal deterrent or opt for adding certain foods to your dog's diet such as pineapples, raw zucchinis or apple cider vinegar. Always remember to introduce these new foods very slowly to avoid tummy upsets. To begin, add a small piece of zucchini, pineapple, or a few drops of ACV to your puppy's food. If your puppy is fine but still eating poop then you can increase the quantity slowly.
As icky as Coprophagia might be, poop eating is a very common problem faced by puppy and dog parents everywhere. Following these quick and simple steps can help you teach your puppy to ignore their poop and grow out of this behaviour. Hope this was helpful, happy parenting!
If you need further help in understanding this behaviour and resolving it you can consult our behaviourists for a personalised solution. Click here to speak to an expert directly.
Keywords:
coprophagia,
poop eating,
puppy eating poop ,
why do puppies eat their poop
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