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Why dogs eat faeces?

What are some of the medical causes?

Any medical problem that leads toa decrease in absorption of nutrients, causes gastrointestinal upset or causes an increase in the appeal of dog's faeces, could lead to coprophagia. In addition to complete physical examination, the dog's diet and the frequency and consistency of faeces should be evaluated. If the faeces are unusually soft or appear to be poorly digested, additional faeces or blood tests may be warranted. Medical conditions that decrease absorption such as digestive enzyme deficiencies or parasites, could lead to malnutrition, vitamin and mineral deficiencies and therefore an increased appetite all possibly faeces eating. Feeding a poorly digestible diet and underfeeding can have a similar effect. In addition, if the faeces contain large amounts of undigested root material, there is an increased likelihood that the dog would eat the faeces.

When adult dogs suddenly begin to eat faeces, it may be due to malabsorption of nutrients or nutritional deficiencies. In addition, any condition that might cause an increase in appetite or an unusual appetiite, such as diabets, Cushing's diseases, thyroid diseases, or treatment with certain drugs such as steroids, may lead to an increase in faeces eating. Some dogs that have been placed on a highly restrictive or poorly balanced diet may also begin to eat their faeces. It should also be noted that if a dog develops a taste for the faeces of one specific individual, that dog should be tested for any type of condition that might lead to poor digestion of the food (and therefore excessive food elements remaining in the faeces).

What are some of the behavioural reasons that a dog might eat its own faeces?

Coprophagia is a common problem in some puppies, and in most cases it resolves by adulthood. There have been many explanations suggested for this behaviour. When left unsupervised, puppies may simply begin to investigate, play with, and even cat faeces as a playful or investigative activity. Since coprophagia may attract a great deal of owner attention, the behaviour may be further reinforced. There may also be an observational component (copy behaviour) since the bith cleans and ingests the puppy's excrement in the nest, and puppies may learn to mimic the behaviour of their mother or playmates who perform this behaviour. The owner that uses the outmoded, inhumane and useless training technique of "sticking the dog's nose" in its faeces when it has soiled the home, grooming and cleaning newborn puppies and eating their excrement may explain some of the motivation for coprophagia. Early intervention can help reduce the possinility that the behaviour will become a long-term habit.

Why do dogs eat the faeces of other animals?

This behaviour is akin to scavenging. It is not unusual for dogs to steal food items, raid bins, and chew on, or eat non-food items that most humans would consider unusual or even disgusting. Cat faeces and those of some other animals often have enough appealing attributes (odour, texture and taste), to overcome the fact that are faeces, in fact, faeces themselves are seldom unpleasant to dogs. It is one of the scents that they are constantly attracted to when investigating their environment.

How can coprophagia be treated?

Coprophagia can best be corrected by preventing access to faeces, by torough and prompt cleaning up of faeces, and by constant supervision when the dog is outdoors. If the owner is on hand when the dog relieves itself and teaches him to come and sit for a special food treat immediately following each elimination, the new behaviour may become a permanent habit. Teaching the dog to eliminate on command can be particularly useful in these cases. Further training approaches include using a conditioner avoidance response to teach the dog that avoiding faeces and staying close to the owner is more rewarding than indulging in coprophagia. Of course investigation of faeces should not be actively discouraged. However, if the dog begins to open its mouth to ingest the faeces a remote signal, totally unassociated with the owner should be given. As soon as the dog temporarily interrupts its behaviour it must be called by the owner and rewarded for withdrawing from the faeces. If the dog is on a lead and head collar it can be helpful to gently guide the dog's head away from the faeces and refocus attention on the owner. This approach can be very time consuming and will require a great deal of patience an the part of the owner. However, it runs far less risk of inducing secret coprophagia that other methods such as using punishment devices or quick pull on the leash where association with the owner is a problem.

Dogs with medical problems should be treated to try and correct the underlying cause. A change in diet to one that is more digestible, or one with different protein sources may be useful. Dogs on restricted caloric diet may do better on a high bulk or high fibre formula. Some dogs may be improved by adding enzymes in the form of food additives, may help increase protein digestion, resulting in a less palatable stool. In the case of dogs that eat their own faeces, other published remedies that have never been proven to be effective are to add substances such as pineapple, courgette or iron tables to the dog's food, the theory being that those items impatr a less pleasant taste to the faeces. When adding some items to dry dog food, it may be necessary to moistern the food first and allow the product to sit an the food for 10-15 minutes to increase effectiveness.

Unpleasant tastes can also be added to faeces that have already been deposited, for example the faeces of other animals, but this approach os unlikely to be successful unless the product is suitably noxious as well as odourless (so that the pet cannot detect its presence in the faeces). While the dog is out of sight the faeces should be opened with a plastic utensil, the taste deterrent insered into the centre and the faeces closed and replaced for the dog to find. Many dogs however, either develop a tolerance to taste or learn to avoid those faeces that pre-treated. Experimentally, the only forms of taste a version that are consistently effective are those associated with feelings of nausea but these have not proven to be very useful in practice in the dog.

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