Coprophagia: Why do dogs eat poop?

Eating poop is not typical for most dogs. There are some health issues that can trigger coprophagia in dogs. Medical causes behind coprophagia in dogs are:

• Malabsorption syndrome: It is the condition of maldigestion in your dog either due to a disease in the small intestine or due to a deficiency of exocrine pancreatic enzymes (enzymes that help in the digestion).
• Corticosteroid therapy: Dogs are given corticosteroid therapy either during any allergic reaction or during any autoimmune disease. 
• Cushing’s syndrome: In Cushing’s syndrome, there are increased levels of cortisol hormone in the body which triggers excessive hunger in dogs, leading them to indulge in coprophagia.
• Malnourishment: Sometimes dogs lack nutrients in their diet or are unable to digest the nutrients in their food, so they eat their partially digested food in poop in order to meet their nutritional needs.
• Parasites: Intestinal parasites like hookworm, whipworm, roundworm etc. are usually found in intestines and hamper the dog’s gastrointestinal tract. These parasites increase hunger in the dogs, thus they indulge in coprophagia.
• Diabetes: Dogs with diabetes have an excessive urge to eat, drink and urinate. Since the dog has an urge to eat even after having a proper meal, they indulge in coprophagia. 

Pups who go hungry, are weaned too soon, have to fight with others for food, or are forced to sit for weeks in a small crate with no physical or mental stimulation, are at high risk of becoming habitual stool eaters.

Other behavioural causes of coprophagia in dogs could be:

• Attention-seeking: Your dog may be doing it in response to an excessive reaction or attention from you after poop-eating behaviour in the past.
• Mimicking the mother: As female dogs clean and ingest puppy poop while nesting, puppies may mimic the behaviour of their mother or other dogs who perform this behaviour.
• Emotional abuse: If a dog is punished too harshly for having an accident indoors, often the emotional compulsion becomes to eat the evidence to avoid the stress of being punished.

Your vet may ask you some questions about the diet of your dog and their regular activities. Tests like blood chemistry, urinalysis, faecal fat test (for measuring fat in the stool sample), and a faecal exam (testing for parasites) could be recommended by your vet to find any underlying disease.

Coprophagia is not normal in dogs. You can work along with your vet to treat your dog.

• The vet may recommend going for treatment of the underlying physical disease which is causing coprophagia in the dog, based on test results.
• The owner must take their dog on frequent leash walks, provide more play and exercise time, and improve the environment at home.
• The owner has to be willing to focus time and energy on managing their dog so they are given as little opportunity as possible to eat poop.
• Quickly clean up any faeces from the house or any such environment to prevent future incidents of coprophagia in your dog.
• The veterinarian may suggest a change of diet which may include canned food, a vegetable oil additive, and/or cooked or fresh vegetables.
• The veterinarian may recommend adding chunks of pineapple or meat tenderizer to the dog’s meal, as it would make the faeces taste bad to your dog. 
• Owners can feed their dogs from food stuffable toys, which is another way of keeping them busy. 
• Owners must avoid any sort of punishment for poop-eating behaviour as dogs may develop a strange behaviour pattern where they would wait until the owner isn’t there to punish them. These punishments can do serious damage to the canine-human bond.

It is important for pet owners to understand that their dog may be eating poo for medical as well as behavioural reasons. Instead of punishing or scolding a pup or a dog, it is important to understand why it is happening and consult a vet to find the best possible solution. Happily, there are simple home remedies to stop your dogs from eating poop as well as medicines and treatment options.