Many dog owners are faced with an unpleasant situation when their four-legged friends eat their own or other people's feces. Coprophagia carries a danger to the health of the pet, and also signals its problems. Answers on questions " Why do dogs eat poop?" And "How to wean yourself from this bad habit?“We’ll look at it in detail in the article.
What to do if your dog eats excrement
Before taking action, you need to determine the reason for your dog eating feces. Both psychological and physiological motives require maximum attention from the owner.
First of all, it is necessary to visit a veterinarian in order to diagnose parasitic pathologies and diseases that result in eating excrement. All diseases require urgent treatment.
If your pet is healthy, then the next step is to rule out other physiological causes. Make sure that the ponytail gets enough food, its diet is balanced and contains the required amount of nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
The veterinarian will help you review the animal’s menu, tell you what is missing, recommend high-quality industrial food, and prescribe special food additives.
Remember that the norm for each dog is calculated individually depending on breed, weight and age, taking into account chronic pathologies, if any.
In the case where there are no physiological reasons for eating excrement, take care of the psycho-emotional state of your pet and correct its behavior .
- Teach your pet the command “Fu” or “No” . This is one of the most important commands that will save the life of not only your pet, but also things in the house. Every time your dog becomes interested in someone else’s or his own poop on the street, pull the leash slightly and loudly say the command “Ew.” Reward for following the command .
- Buy a muzzle for walking that will not prevent your dog from exploring the world around him and feeling comfortable, but at the same time will not allow him to pick up nasty things from the ground.
- Spend more time with your four-legged friend, play with him, teach him new commands, take long walks, and go on trips together.
Remember that the dog does not walk on its own, it does this with the owner, who, in turn, must make the walk interesting in order to prevent the desire for a bad habit.
- Walk the animal after feeding. With a full stomach, bowel movements on the street no longer seem so appetizing.
- Keep your home clean. Immediately clean up piles after your four-legged friend and other pets.
- Never shout or punish a tailed animal for correcting a need at home, and certainly don’t poke it with your muzzle. Not only will this not correct the situation, but it will also lead to many other more serious problems that will be difficult to deal with.
- Treat the feces with a special spray from the pet store or add pepper tincture, mustard, horseradish. Then let the dog treat himself to this “treat”. Some dogs are put off by the smell alone.
- If necessary, seek help from a dog trainer or animal psychologist . An experienced specialist will correct the eared dog’s behavior and give proven advice.
Eating excrement by a dog is not only disgusting, but also a very dangerous habit. The fight against coprophagia should be given due attention in order to maintain the health of your pet and household members. It is worth taking a closer look at the behavior and mood of your tailed friend. Often the reason lies on the surface and is quite easy to deal with. Do not shy away from visiting a veterinarian and pay more attention .
Consequences of eating cat feces
We should also pay attention to dogs eating cat waste products. Cat feces are rich in protein, which is not found in dog food. It is not by chance that it is absent there: an excess of this microelement causes kidney problems in the animal.
Hunger
In severe hunger, the animal eats everything that even remotely resembles food. And certainly in this case he will not disdain an exotic culinary dish rich in vitamins. Oddly enough, but occasionally a pet eats its own feces because it has an addiction to stale food, it likes the taste and smell.
Disdainful attitude of the owner
When a dog is psychologically upset (experiencing feelings of jealousy, lack of love), then it resorts to everything that causes an emotional reaction from the “caring” owner. You will almost always get scolded for eating feces. In this case, swearing is perceived as additional attention.
If other pets live in the house, the dog considers himself deprived of affection and begins to act out. He diligently tries to take a dominant position, removes the smells and markings of “strangers” on his territory. So, for example, a feature of the Spitz is its attempt to subjugate other animals. That is why this funny fluffy ball can gobble up both its own and other people’s feces.
Answers to frequently asked questions on this topic
Can my dog get worms and parasites from eating feces?
The answer is YES. Some parasites or their eggs can be found in animal droppings and can be passed on to your dog by eating them. Dogs can become infected with hookworm, roundworms, and whipworms.
How to stop a dog from eating from the cat litter?
Many dogs enjoy eating cat poop, so for some dogs, a cat litter tray is like a buffet that's hard to resist.
We have a separate article that we recommend reading: How to stop a dog from eating cat poop.
How to clean my dog's mouth?
The worst thing is to see your dog eating poop, it means that later he will try to lick you or he will have disgusting smelling breath, how do you clean his mouth after that?
Here are some simple tips:
- Give food and water to drink as this will help freshen the mouth;
- Wipe your mouth with a damp cloth;
- Brush the teeth and mouth with a toothbrush, but do not use human toothpaste, as toothpaste may be harmful to your pet.
Why does my dog eat poop in winter?
Dogs rarely eat soft poop or diarrhea, often preferring to eat harder stool. The harder it is, the better it seems. Some dogs especially like to eat frozen poop, apparently they like the crunchiness of it. The problem is that in winter, on snow, poop is more noticeable compared to white snow.
The danger of habit
Regularly eating feces threatens the development of a number of dangerous diseases:
- Helminths. Intestinal parasites lead to metabolic disorders and digestive problems. A large accumulation of them often leads to blockage and rupture of the intestines, which entails the death of the animal.
- Parvovirus enteritis is a disease that makes the blood “cold.” A deadly and contagious viral infection that most often affects young individuals. The most insidious is the intestinal form of the disease.
- Jaundice (leptospirosis). In this case, liver destruction occurs. The disease progresses rapidly in puppies and elderly dogs. Death can occur 12 hours after infection.
- Toxoplasma. A serious disease that is practically impossible for individuals over 7 years of age to cope with. There are no drugs that can completely defeat the intracellular parasite. The dog becomes a carrier of the disease for the cat. This parasite develops most rapidly in her gastrointestinal tract. And, given the habit of cats to lick their fur, it is not difficult to guess that the next victim of the disease will be a person.
Misunderstanding
The puppy did his chores at home and got screwed - they poked him with his nose, yelled at him, or slapped him with a newspaper. In general, we were scared. One puppy will understand that you can’t go home. The other person will also understand, but in a different way - when a person sees me next to a group, he gets angry.
The puppy grew up and began to pay less attention to him. The dog is trying to understand why it was abandoned: “Maybe I was guilty of something?” And suddenly, while walking, he remembers that “I’m next to a bunch of people - it’s not good.” It is not difficult to guess why in such a situation a dog eats feces (its own, someone else’s, whatever) - it is trying to eliminate everything that has a bad effect on a person’s attitude towards it. Morality? Never scold or hit your dog. Never. You can raise your voice only when it comes literally to matters of life and death (shout “Stop” when noticing a speeding car, etc.). By the way, dogs get used to raised tones and gradually stop paying attention to a person’s anger: “Why be scared? He will spank and stop.”
When you see that the dog has done something you don’t like, come up, bend over, put your hands on your hips and look into the eyes angrily. You can growl, a dominant aggressive dog can be grabbed by the withers and pressed (slightly!) to the ground. A panicking dog still won't understand what you want from it. Or she will understand something completely different from what you are trying to explain to her. This is where most behavioral problems stem, from barking at inopportune hours to uncleanliness, cowardice and the inability to learn the simplest command.
