Home    Cattery            Staff            Contact             News      Exotics           Links    Information
                                                                           

COPROPHAGIA IN DOGS (FAECES EATING)

Why do dogs eat faeces?

While most cases of coprophagia appear to be purely behavioural, there are numerous medical problems that can cause or contribute to coprophagia.  These problems must first be ruled out before a purely behavioural diagnosis can be made.

What are some of the medical causes?

Any medical problem that leads to a decrease in absorption of nutrients, causes gastrointestinal upset or causes an increase in the appeal of the dog’s faeces, could lead to coprophagia.  In addition to a complete physical examination, the dog’s diet and the frequency and consistency of faeces should be evaluated.  If the faeces are unusually soft or appear to be poorly digested, additional faeces or blood tests may be warranted.  Medical conditions that decrease absorption such as digestive enzyme deficiencies or parasites, could lead to malnutrition, vitamin and mineral deficiencies and therefore an increased appetite and possibly faeces eating.  Feeding a poorly digestible diet and underfeeding can have a similar effect. In addition, if the faeces contain large amounts of undigested food material, there is an increased likelihood that the dog would eat the faeces. 

When adult dogs suddenly begin to eat faeces, it may be due to mal-absorption of nutrients or nutritional deficiencies.  In addition, any condition that might cause an increase in appetite or an unusual appetite, such as diabetes, Cushing’s disease, thyroid disease, or treatment with certain drugs such as steroids, may lead to an increase in faeces eating.  Some dogs that have been placed on a highly restrictive or poorly balanced diet may also begin to eat their faeces.  It should also be noted that if a dog develops a taste for the faeces of one specific individual, that dog should be tested for any type of condition that might lead to poor digestion of the food (and therefore excessive food elements remaining in the faeces).

What are some of the behavioural reasons that a dog or cat might eat its own faeces?

Coprophagia is a common problem in some puppies, and in most cases it resolves by adulthood.  There have been many explanations suggested for this behaviour.  When left unsupervised, puppies may simply begin to investigate, play with, and even eat faeces as a playful or investigative activity.  Since coprophagia may attract a great deal of owner attention, the behaviour may be further reinforced.  There may also be an observational component (copy behaviour) since the bitch cleans and ingests the puppy’s excrement in the nest, and puppies may learn to mimic the behaviour of their mother or playmates who perform this behaviour.  The owner that uses the outmoded, inhumane and useless training technique of “sticking the dog’s nose” in its faeces when it has soiled the home, may be further encouraging coprophagia.  In adult dogs the innate behaviour of grooming and cleaning newborn puppies and eating their excrement may explain some of the motivation for coprophagia.  Early intervention can help reduce the possibility that the behaviour will become a long-term habit.  

Why do dogs eat the faeces of other animals?

This behaviour is akin to scavenging.  It is not unusual for dogs to steal food items, raid bins, and chew on, or eat non-food items that most humans would consider unusual or even disgusting.  Cat faeces and those of some other animals often have enough appealing attributes (odour, texture, and taste), to overcome the fact that they are faeces.  In fact, faeces themselves are seldom unpleasant to dogs.  It is one of the scents that they are constantly attracted to when investigating their environment. 

How can coprophagia be treated?

Coprophagia can best be corrected by preventing access to faeces, by thorough and prompt cleaning up of faeces in the garden, and by constant supervision when the pet is outdoors.  If the owner is on hand when the dog relieves itself and teaches him to come and sit for a special food treat immediately following each elimination, the new behaviour may become a permanent habit.  Teaching the dog to eliminate on command can be particularly useful in these cases.  Further training approaches include using a conditioned avoidance response to teach the dog that avoiding faeces and staying close to the owner is more rewarding than indulging in coprophagia.  Of course investigation of faeces is normal and scent communication is important so simple sniffing or investigation of faeces should not be actively discouraged.  However, if the dog begins to open its mouth to ingest the faeces a remote signal, totally unassociated with the owner, should be given.  As soon as the dog temporarily interrupts its behaviour it must be called by the owner and rewarded for withdrawing from the faeces.  If the dog is on a lead and head collar it can be helpful to gently guide the dog’s head away from the faeces and refocus attention on the owner.  This approach can be very time consuming and will require a great deal of patience on the part of the owner.  However, it runs far less risk of inducing secret coprophagia than other methods such as using punishment devices or a quick pull on the leash where association with the owner is a problem.

Dogs with medical problems should be treated to try and correct the underlying cause.  A change in diet to one that is more digestible, or one with different protein sources may be useful.  Dogs on restricted calorie diets may do better on a high bulk or high fibre formula.  Some dogs may be improved by adding enzyme supplements to improve nutrient digestion or absorption.  Specifically, the digestive enzymes in the form of food additives, may help increase protein digestion, resulting in a less palatable stool.  In the case of dog’s who eat their own faeces other published remedies that have never been proven to be effective are to add substances such as pineapple, courgette or iron tablets to the dog’s food, the theory being that these items impart a less pleasant taste to the faeces.  When adding some items to dry dog food, it may be necessary to moisten the food first and allow the product to sit on the food for 10 - 15 minutes to increase effectiveness.

Unpleasant tastes can also be added to faeces that have already been deposited, for example the faeces of other animals, but this approach is unlikely to be successful unless the product is suitably noxious as well as odourless (so that the pet cannot detect its presence in the faeces).  While the dog is out of sight, the faeces should be opened with a plastic utensil, the taste deterrent inserted into the centre and the faeces closed and replaced for the dog to find.  Many dogs however, either develop a tolerance to the taste, or learn to avoid those faeces that are pre-treated.  Experimentally, the only forms of taste aversion that are consistently effective are those associated with feelings of nausea but these have not proven to be very useful in practice in the dog.