OMG my Great Dane ate his poop

I couldn’t believe it when I saw him do it. But indeed there he was with a mouthful of his own poop, how disgusting it was! So I did what I always do, I googled it and this is what I found out. The act of eating poop has a technical word; coprophagia and simply means that dogs eat poop and that it is also a natural thing.

Why do dogs eat poop?

• They don’t have the social considerations that people have, this means they don’t see poop as a bad thing. For them it is just another taste sensation.
• Mommy’s dogs eat it to keep the den clean of her puppies’ waste.
• Puppies can see their mom doing it and they do it too
• Puppies eat it because it has the same texture as the food they eat
• Your dog may not be getting the proper vitamins and minerals in his diet and is eating to get them.
• Some dogs eat poop to hide something they feel they shouldn’t have done, this is especially true for the dog who has been poorly disciplined for any mistakes they have made in defecating in the past.
• Boredom is a good way for dogs to start playing and then eat their feces
• The dog may have worms and just feel hungry all the time
• The dog may be seeking attention. Like children, any attention is better than no attention.
• The dog may be alone and feel stressed or anxious. If your dog is indoors alone for long periods of time, eating poop can become a habit and a way to de-stress.
• Dogs are notorious scavengers and will eat
• Some foods are not broken down in the stool, so they are eaten again.
• Dogs eat cat poop because it is more nutritious. Cat food contains far more nutrients and protein than the dog lacks.

Now that we have discovered that eating poop can be done for a variety of reasons, it can also indicate a health problem, such as starvation, pancreas problems, nutritional deficiencies, and a lack of certain enzymes in the digestive system. It is true that a dog can starve even while consuming large amounts of food if it cannot digest the proper nutrients, so don’t just attribute boredom to eating poop, consult a vet if you have any concerns.

So, as natural and even common this little habit is, it’s not good to allow it to continue. Nobody wants kisses with poop breath. Plus, the act of eating poop can expose your dog to parasitic worms, bacterial infections, tonsillitis, an upset stomach, and an increased risk of parvo and distemper.

A little side note, while researching this lovely topic, my neighbor told me that her pug had been operated on because he had been eating cat poop. He went on to explain that it wasn’t the poop but the kitty litter that was to blame. Dogs cannot digest kitty litter and their bellies will swell and vomit and have a great deal of diarrhea. In my next article, we will discuss ways to get your dog to stop this disgusting habit.