Do you know why dogs eat poop?
Miscellaneous / / April 03, 2023
Perhaps your pet is trying to protect you in this way. Or report health problems.
Dogs are very cute animals. However, these creatures sometimes do very inappropriate things that cause us humans to truly disgust.
So, for example, many dogs are addicted to coprophagy, that is, eating feces. Scientists agree that for them this is an absolutely natural activity that does not lead to health problems. Research show: Approximately a third of the dog owners surveyed observed similar behavior in them.
If you have seen your pet doing this, then you probably wondered why he does it. Scientists are also interested. But there is no definitive answer yet, although researchers have put forward several theories that may equally be true.
Protection of relatives from parasites
At wolves, which are the ancestors of dogs, are custom defecate away from the lair of the pack, so as not to breed unsanitary conditions at home. If the animal is weak, sick, wounded, or for some other reason cannot perform an act of defecation on a considerable distance from home, it devours its own feces to protect relatives from parasite eggs.
And similar behavior from wolves passed to dogs.
Sometimes dogs also eat other people's feces, with condition, which is no more than two days. The eggs of some dog parasites are not initially dangerous, but after a couple of days they develop into infectious larvae. And here the wolf strategy is used: to eat potentially unsafe biological material and take it away from the pack (in its own stomach) so as not to infect its other members.
Yes, life is a rather sad thing if instead of hands, a dustpan and a whisk you have only your own mouth.
Stress
Another reason why a dog may devour its own feces is fear. If a puppy was punished for dirtying the carpet, then he wants avoid this in the future. The dog may get the impression that if what happened is immediately corrected, nothing terrible will happen. And she will “cover up her tracks”, literally eating them.
Fear of punishment sometimes pushes our pets to the most desperate measures.
In addition, eating feces can be provoked chronic stress, boredom, anxiety, it can also be an attempt to attract attention. For example, animals isolated from the society of other dogs or enclosed in too small cages are more likely to engage in coprophagia than those that live in comfortable conditions.
Solution - train pet, avoid rude attitude towards him, and even more so do not use violence.
Mother imitation
By data According to the American Kennel Club, fecal eating is a natural behavior at certain stages in a dog's life. So, whelping females lick their offspring to teach him hygiene. And during the first three weeks after the birth of babies, they eat feces after them.
Growing up, puppies begin to imitate the behavior of their mother, licking themselves and eating feces - their own and other people's dogs. It's kind of like hygiene, you know.
For company, they can taste horse manure, goose droppings, and much more. Eating your own feces is harmless for dogs, but from other people's animals you can parasites hook it up.
Health problems
Sometimes eating dog feces can testify about the lack of nutrients, enzymes or the necessary intestinal microflora.
So if you notice a similar behavior in a dog, it would be useful to take him to the veterinarian. The inclusion of vitamins and enzyme supplements in the diet will help wean the dog from this activity.
Also eating feces can be symptom thyroid disease, diabetes, or Cushing's disease. And finally, this behavior sometimes is side effects of certain drugs: steroids, benzodiazepines and some antihistamines.
In general, consultation with a veterinarian in any case will not be superfluous.
Read also🧐
- How to understand a dog and make it understand you
- How to properly train a dog
- 23 great cartoons about dogs