June 29th, 2020 by Amy Varley

Disgusting right? Your dog has just emptied their bowels, only to immediately turn around and gobble it up! Well eating their own faeces is probably more common than you think, especially in young puppies. Here’s our guide to why your dog may be doing this and our top tips for stopping the grim habit.

Why?

There are many reasons as to why your dog may be eating poop, and to help your dog stop doing so, you must first try and discover the reason behind it. For some dogs, they may simply be hungry, so may need extra food or a better quality food for their diet. Some dog foods may be too rich for your dog to digest fully, so what comes out the other end may smell appealing to your dog and therefore your dog may be more inclined to eat it.

Some dogs eat their own poop to ‘hide the evidence’ as it were, if you ever scolded your dog for going to the toilet indoors, they may be fearful of being told off again and so will eat the poop before you can see it! Another reason may be that they are keeping their space clean, this is typically the case if your dog is in a crate or confined to one area, simply housekeeping, quite clever really? Haha!

Your dog may be more inclined to eating their own poop if they have worms or a parasite, as these will be sucking up the nutrients your dog is trying to get from their food, leaving your dog feeling hungry and therefore will be looking for extras throughout the day! If you think your dog may have worms you can buy worming tablets from your local pet shop or contact your vet for more advice!

Other reasons may include that your dog is bored, lonely, anxious, they may have seen another dog doing it and want to try it for themselves (gross!) or perhaps your dog is just curious! This is especially likely in young dogs and puppies, as they like to explore the world with their mouths – yes that does include eating their excrement!

How can I stop it?

If you have a puppy who maybe has eaten their own poop once or twice, ensuring your pick up after them as soon as they go will quickly make them realise it isn’t actually an extra snack – and they will learn that they do their business and you dispose of it. Easy!

For dogs who seem to love eating their own poop and will gobble it up before you even have a chance to get to it, this may be a little harder! Once your dog has started to get into a habit this can be a tricky one to break, however there are a number of things you can do to stop it!

Don’t make a big fuss when you catch them in the act! This is something we may all be guilty of! When we make a big fuss, such as shouting and getting frustrated with our pooch, this will actually only make them more excited, which in this case, may result in them eating the poop even faster, or thinking we are praising them for doing it, so keeping calm and ignoring them is the best thing to do – just try and pick it up quicker next time!

Teaching your dog a solid ‘leave it’ command is possibly one of the most important things you can teach your dog. Not only to stop them eating poop, but it can also come in handy in a number of other situations – stopping them from picking up food from the ground or stealing another dog’s ball at the park!

Teaching good recall – this is another brilliant thing your dog should know, and is especially helpful if your dog likes to run off in fields and eat other animal’s poo! If you see them heading towards a big lump of horse poo you will be able to call them back and pop them on their lead if they have good recall!

Feeding a good quality food with a high meat content can sometimes stop your dog from eating their own mess, as your dog will absorb more of the nutrients so what comes out the other end will be simply waste!

What if nothing seems to help?

If your dog has suddenly started eating poop, or you’ve tried numerous things to try and stop the behaviour, it’s worth a trip to the vets to check that your dog hasn’t got any internal issues that may be causing it. Your vet can run tests to see if your dog has any deficiencies or any other problems and will be able to advise on the best way to move forward and hopefully eliminate your dog’s embarrassing habit!

Usually though, keeping your dog’s garden clean and going out with them every time they relieve themselves and picking up straight after them is enough to do the trick to stop them from eating their own poop – and remember, if your dog does eat their own poop, don’t let them give you a lick afterwards!