Coprophagia - a Post in Bad Taste

Warning: if your stomach is easily turned you may not want to continue to read this post….

 

No pictures will be included.

 

Today, in an email conversation, the subject of Coprophagia came up….. what’s that? You might ask. 

 

Here’s the Webster’s definition:  the eating of feces that is normal behavior among many animals

 

NORMAL!! You say….NORMAL??? Why in the world would any animal, especially my cute and perfect dog who is fed the best food, groomed to perfection and trained with the best trainer, want to EAT POOP?? What in the world is normal about that!?!? If you Google it, it is referred to as a disorder, a problem and a disease. Then you will find multitudes of reasons for it to occur and just as many home remedies and cures that you can purchase. The bottom line is: No one ever told your dog that it is disgusting to eat Poop!! If it tastes good, they are going to eat it! Try putting a pound of hamburger on the ground in the back yard and see if they leave that there for long.

 

Now don’t get me wrong…. I’m just as grossed out as anyone else when I see our perfect Lucy Lu chowing down on a fresh pile of poo. I pick up poop every time I go outside the door just to avoid having to have this vision implanted on my brain. It is not unusual to see me running through the yard with a rake and scoop in my hands yelling “Lucy/Daisy/Charlotte, Whoever NOOOOOOO”.  Just today, and I am not joking about this just for comic relief from this subject, I was outside eating an ice cream cone and saw Daisy just getting ready……I ran for my rake and scoop, and with an ice cream cone pointing straight out of my mouth since my hands were full with the rake and scoop, I was running across the yard to try to beat her to it. Michael, just coming around the corner, got a real kick out of this and said something about wishing he had his phone handy for a picture. I’m glad that he didn’t.

 

There are many articles that address this subject with conclusions and recommendations and I think that I can address some of those items based entirely on experience. Face it; we have a lot of experience with more than 25 dogs over the last 25 years, not including foster and visiting dogs. I’d say about 20% of them were partial to eating  poop to some degree.

 

.       1. Your dog eats poop because it is not getting a balanced diet. Not true. We feed our dogs the best foods on the market as well as a home cooked stew of fresh meats and vegetables. Maybe the good diet just makes their poop taste better.

 

    2.   Add pineapple, pumpkin, spinach or garlic to your dog's food to make the poop taste bad. First of all, I actually add some of these foods (not garlic, garlic in high enough dosage can be toxic to your dog) into my stew for their nutritional value and it makes no difference at all. Face it; what doesn’t taste good to one dog is going to taste great to another. Do you and your best human friend like the same foods?

 

   3. You can train your dog to not eat poop. Maybe you can get your dog to not eat it when you are watching, but what happens when your back is turned. Try this. Put a sandwich on the edge of the counter. Your dog is probably trained to leave that sandwich alone as long as you are there. Leave the room for a few minutes and see what happens…… 

 

    4. Exercise your dog. Boredom causes poop eating. I have watched my most active dog, running through the yard at full speed while playing and having a grand old time, come to a screeching halt when she passed by a warm, fresh pile of poop.

 

To show how desperately some people want to try to get their dog to stop eating poop. Read the following recommendations, taken directly from a training website. Does this seem a little extreme to you?

 

·  Another method (I haven't tried this one) which you could adopt is to slice your dogs poop length wise and lace it with tabasco sauce or cayenne pepper (don't laugh, apparently it works).  

Come on now…. I sure wouldn’t try this one either (just imagine).  

·  In some cases fitting a muzzle to your dog may help to break a feces eating habit. This method is suitable in times when your dog is off leash, like at the beach or local dog park.

Ahhh yes….. let’s muzzle up the dog and have a nice trip to the beach or dog park. No fun for the dog and everyone at the beach or dog park is going to think that your dog is a vicious biter.

·  Use the power of "negative association" through the use of a choke or prong collar. Fit your dog with the collar and every time he goes to eat poop give a short sharp tug on the leash. This correction will quickly teach your dog that eating poop is not a pleasant experience.

Sorry, not even discussing this one. 

What works best?…..Clean up your yard. There are going to be some oversights, but if your yard is usually clean, you probably won’t see them. Don’t stress, but you may want to limit mouth on mouth kissing with your dog if you know that she has this habit. Finally, don’t forget THEY’RE DOGS!

 

In all seriousness - if your dog has a change of eating habits, including after a food or medication change, it is best to seek the advice of your vet.