Put a Stop to Your Dog's Copraphagia

Just the thought of it will turn most stomachs. Copraphagia, better known as stool eating, ma seem disgusting to humans, but it is fairly common among canines. Whether your dog eats his/her own stools, or the stools of other dogs, wild animals or cats, you can train your dog to stop.

There are many theories about why dogs eat excerment. No major research has been conducted on the subject, but there has been much speculation as to why dogs behave this way. One reason may be that puppies emulate their mothers, who may eat their stool to keep their puppy area clean in order to discourage predators. Other suggested reasons include: puppies copying their owners by picking up their stools; dogs learning from another dog; or a possible deficiency in a dog's diet.

Copraphagia is rarely a health issue; however, puppies who eat stools can ingest parasites, contract Canine Parvovirus and/or Hepatitis, or pick up Toxoplasma Gondii from cat feces. Symptoms can include central nervous system and muscle damage. For this reason, if dogs are in contact with feces of any kind, you should have them tested for parasites on a regular basis.

While it's rare, Copraphagia may surface in reaction to other health issues, such as exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, pancreatitis, intestinal infections, malabsorptive syndromes, and over-feeding. Along with these health issues, you will see other symptoms such as diarrhea. In these cases, you should take your dog to your veterinarian immediately.

Stopping Copraphagia

There are many ways to halt this behavior depending on your own situation. Training is one technique, and using positive reinforcement is the best strategy. When your dog tries to eat the feces, correct him with the leash and say the word you have chosen to halt behaviors, for example, “Stop.” When your dog looks at you, say “good boy” (or girl), and provide a treat. Consistency is key to successful results. With enough repetition the dogs will learn to stop.

I find some dogs eat stools for attention, so it can be effective to simply pick up and remove the feces immediately so the dog eventually gets out of the habit.

There are chemicals such as “Deter” and “Forbid” which are added to the food of the dog whose feces are being eaten. Both of these have suspect results, so if you really want to give your pet something in their food, you could try Prozyme to replace the enzymes they may be looking for in the stools.

Finally, you may want to try using a muzzle when the dog is unsupervised.

Keeping the dog’s area clean of feces is the best way to avoid this behavior. A combination of training and keeping things clean is optimal. If you have tried several methods to stop this behavior, but are not seeing positive results, ask your veterinarian for other possible causes and solutions.