Why Do Dogs Eat Their Poop?

Have you ever seen either your dog or someone else's dog eating their own poop? If so, I would imagine that you were probably pretty repulsed by this. Also, you most likely wondered "why in the world are they doing that"? I will be more than happy to try to explain this to you. No one really knows for sure why dogs will sometimes eat their own poop. However, there are a quite a few different theories that exist out there about why this happens.

For starters, you may find it interesting to know that there is actually a more technical term for dogs eating their poops which is coprophagia. Even though it may seem disgusting to us humans to see dogs eating their own feces, in a dog's mind they probably think that they actually have some pretty good reasons for doing this.

Sometimes when dogs are feeling stressed out they will eat their poops. Therefore, if your dog has just recently started eating their poops, you should ask yourself whether or not any new changes have been introduced in your dog's life lately that might be causing them some stress. For example, have you moved to a new home lately, or perhaps you are now working different hours and are no longer home at the times of day that your dog is used to seeing you?

You dog eating their poop could also be a nothing more than a natural instinct kicking in. If you have ever had a dog that was nursing puppies you'll know that she will clean up after the puppies until they are no longer nursing by eating and licking up any feces and urine. The reason they do this is so that predators cannot catch the scent of the young.

Another reason that dogs will sometimes eat their poops is for nutritional reasons. Eating their poops can often be nature's way of trying to help the dog ensure that they get the proper nutrients they need in case there are certain nutrients that are currently lacking in their normal everyday diet. Therefore, you may want to take a look at the ingredients list that's located on the packaging for the food that you have been feeding your dog recently. If you see that it looks like it contains mainly grains and other fillers, you may want to look into switching over to a more nutritionally balanced brand of dog food.

Also, when a dog eats its own feces that can also be a possible sign that they may have an undiagnosed medical condition such as thyroid disease or diabetes. The reason I say this is that both of those medical conditions can often cause increased appetite in dogs, and if your dog is feeling excessively hungry, they will think that just about anything including their stools looks tasty! If you want to rule out the possibility of your dog having one of the aforementioned medical conditions, then a trip to your vet may be in order.

I wish you the best of luck, and I hope that you are able to get to the root of why your dog is eating their feces so that you can hopefully successfully put a stop to it!