Does your dog eat poop???

Mar 8, 2006
8,105
20
My Chihuahua is completely grossing me out!!! Every few days...he will dart out the front door, and run to the park to peruse the latest droppings from his canine friends!! Once there, he is almost impossible to catch....and he always ends up eating one or two. Betwen catching him, and the urge to vomit...I don't know what to do!!! Does anyone els have this problem???
 
This is so odd--it reminds me of a dog we had years ago who would do this in the winter when the poop was frozen! The dog wasn't adult yet, but not a puppy. Fortunately he stopped doing it after his first winter. I have no advice. We just scolded him when he did it, but it didn't stop him. He never did it in warmer seasons. Dogs can do amazingly gross things.
 
Yep, mine did this a lot when she was younger. She would also eat cigarette butts, styrofoam, whatever she found! We had to watch her very closely. It seems like she's grown out of it, though, now she is 5 yo and does not do it anymore.
 
No. But be careful your dog may have some kind of deficiency, dogs eat poop to get what they don't have in their regular food, you may want to check with your vet, maybe the food your are giving to it in not the best for your pet.
 
I highly recommend The Dog Bible...the Mehus-Roe one....great book...explains this pretty well.

When we adopted our adult dog almost 5 years ago, she would do this. Of course it was a little shocking to us, and I worried about her picking up some sort of bug. We would tell her NO, and she stopped doing it.

She had been in 2 shelters, and was very, very thin when we got her. In fact I think the weight she did have came from being regularly fed in the shelters. We were told she was an owner surrender, but we believe strongly that she was either neglected, or, being a submissive, never got her share when the owners fed all the dogs at the same time.

Well now she's a pampered pooch and an only child. We feed her only Wellness canned food and treats, and although she's a mixed breed with an unusual body type, and it's hard to tell for sure, we and our vet think she's around the right weight. She shows no interest in that behavior anymore, although if left on her own...who knows? I've heard that scent hounds tend to do this sometimes even when they are well fed....I guess it just smells yummy to them. ;)

Your dog just might be hungry...maybe offer a few treats during the day, or, with a Vets supervision, increase the food. She may have to take supplements too...call your Vet.
 
No. But be careful your dog may have some kind of deficiency, dogs eat poop to get what they don't have in their regular food, you may want to check with your vet, maybe the food your are giving to it in not the best for your pet.

it can be instinct. mother doggies eat their puppies poop so predators cannot track them. and it just tastes good to them! :yucky: dogs love horse manure too....they even roll in it.

p.s. there are really no nutrients in dog excrement so the argument of not getting everything they need is actually inaccurate.

my doggie used to raid the cat box till we made it impossible for her to get into.
 
Last edited:
I don't think he is hungry..as he is left with his bowl out all the time, an he tries and often succeeds to get the cats food, as well. Speaking of...he also likes to eat he cats crap!! We had to move his litter box so "Macho" would quit pulling it out, nibbling it, and leave it lying around!!! Our poor kitty...the indiginties he has had to suffer with our dog!!!!
 
One of my dogs eats the other's poop...its so nasty

There are things you can buy in the pet store you can put in their food so their poop smells bad to them

I just chase my one dog away...99% of the time I can stop him...but when he gets it, we steer clear away from him that day :nogood:
 
My dog Murphy used to have trouble pooping outside and would do it in the dining room, and he would try to eat it to remove the evidence, lol. Now I guess he decided he likes the taste and if he sees a stray piece of poop on the ground outside he may attempt to eat it. It's so gross. (He doesn't go in the dining room anymore though, hehe.)
 
Hm, I have advice, but only if he's eating his own poop or another one of your dogs' poop.

This behavior is called coprophagia, and its common with chihuahuas (I have no idea why!) But, the best way to cure it is this: fresh pineapple!

I'm not kidding! There's an enzyme in pineapple that, when digested, makes their poop take horrid (you'd think it would already taste terrible, but :eyeroll:smile: Make sure it's fresh, not canned - the canning process kills the enzyme.

This is the only people food my dogs get, and they LOOOOOOOOVE it! If they see me with a bowl of it, LOOK OUT! We call it Puppy Crack, that's how psycho they get! And they stop eating each other's poop. It's a wonderful solution.
 
attachment.php


^^^ The rare Waukegan CrapHound.
 

Attachments

  • FisheyeRipley.jpg
    FisheyeRipley.jpg
    40.7 KB · Views: 368