Coprophagia: Offensive To Us, Normal To Dogs

Coprophagia  is the scientific term for animals eating faeces, be it their own or  from another dog, a cat, chicken, hedgehog or otherwise.  While it is  quite normal and occurs across a range of species, and their life  stages, it does tend to offend our sensitive human sensibilities.

While  there is relatively little harm in dogs eating their own poo, or those  they live with (should they be healthy), serial offenders and scavengers  of faeces from other animals and species have an increased risk of  picking up parasites, bacteria, viruses, medications, or, if they have a  penchant for cat poo…they can inadvertently eat cat litter!

Coprophagia  is a relatively understudied behaviour in dogs but numerous theories,  both medical and behavioural, have been suggested to be the of the  behaviour.  The truth of the matter is that no one really knows why they  do it, they just do!

Some of the theories include:

- Anxiety/Stress from aversive house-training methods
- Hunger due to underfeeding
- Carbohydrate dense/poor quality diets
- Vitamin B and K deficiency
- Underlying medical issues
- Medications such as steroids
- Parasite burden
- Evolutionary behaviour from wolves (den cleaning)
- Learned behaviour from others (multi-dog household)
- Boredom
- Separation anxiety
- Kennelling/Isolation

Several  of these theories tie in with each other, such as diet and deficiencies  which could be related to an underlying medical condition, or they just  aren’t being fed enough or a good quality diet.  However, there is no  scientific backing for many of these suggestions and they are just  theories.

Coprophagia needs to  be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and one of the many theories may  apply…but quite often it can simply come down to the fact that some dogs  just like the taste!

It’s disgusting to think about it, but when there is no other reasonable or identifiable reason…?

In  a large-scale survey-based study on the subject, it was found that  breed, age, neuter status, diet, and house training had no impact on  whether a dog was coprophagic or not.  Nor could it be attributed to a  lack of mothering as puppies were maintained with their parent until 7+  weeks.

The only defining factors  noted were that dogs described as ‘greedy eaters’ or lived in multi-dog  households were more likely to pick themselves up some extra snacks!

In  contrast, a subsequent study found that sex and neuter status is  applicable with females and neutered males having a higher incidence  rate.  In our own observations, we would agree with this statement.  The  large majority of coprophagic greyhounds we have collectively worked  with have been female.  However, the same study concluded that the  behaviour is in relation to anxiety or oral disorders, implying that  coprophagia is preformed as a comfort seeking behaviour and to alleviate  stress.  This would also link in with our experience, as the dogs were  in kennel environments, which are stressful and one of the implied  theories.

What does seem to be  agreed upon by everyone, is that food additives, supplements, or other  marketed supports to prevent coprophagia are ineffective in eliminating  the behaviour.

There are several  ‘home remedies’ that are suggested to discourage the behaviour such as  the ‘pineapple’ method, but there is no scientific or substantial  anecdotal evidence to support any of them.

The most successful approach is managing your dog’s environment to prevent them from eating it in the first place.  

This  can be done by reducing/removing access to faeces by immediately  cleaning up after dogs when they toilet in the garden and teaching them  ‘leave it’.  Being vigilant on walks is important to be able to  positively distract them from eating any poo they encounter and be able  to reward them for making the decision to follow your ‘leave it’ que.  

If  your dog has quite extreme coprophagic habits, you may also want to  avoid rural walking routes that are known to have grazing livestock or  wildlife.

Avoid kennelling your  dog for extended periods, and take more time to play, enrich and  otherwise satisfy your dog’s physical and mental energy levels.  This  can address and prevent several behavioural issues.

You  can use a muzzle on walks to prevent them from successfully gaining  access to poo, but it doesn’t solve the root of the problem…and is even  more disgusting for you to have to clean the muzzle after they’ve shoved  it into a fresh steaming pile!

If  you are concerned, or the behaviour has come on quite suddenly without  any explainable reason for the behaviour and there are other physical  symptoms that suggest your dog may be unwell, it is best to have them  assessed by the vet!