The Straight Poop – Dealing with a Coprophagic Dog

A common complaint that dog owners have this time of year is that of stool eating. There are three different types of stool eating:

1. Autocoprophagia – Animal eating own stool
2. Intraspecific coprophagia – Animal eating stool of another within its own species
3. Interspecific coprophagia – Animal eating stool of a different species.

The reasons for dogs becoming stool eaters is unclear and vary from dog to dog. Some claim that it is caused by a vitamin deficiency; however I don’t believe that this is the case in most dogs. If you have one dog that is coprophagic, then the other dogs in the household seem to be more likely to become interested in the behavior than if you had an only dog. Living in snow country, the incidence of customers coming in to complain about their dog consuming stool seems to skyrocket once the snowflakes start falling. A great number of dogs seem to relish in finding frozen “poopsicles” to their owners dismay. This behavior seems to disappear for most dogs once the weather gets warmer.

Solutions to this issue are varied. If your dog is either eating his own stool or the stool of another canine housemate, then there are treatments that you can add to your dog’s (or dogs’) food. One that we carry in the store is called STOP, and we have had several customers who have had success with it. Other topical options are Forbid, meat tenderizer and pineapple. Keeping your yard clean and free of feces is the best solution, though in can be tough with multiple dogs in several feet of snow. The only sure way at that point would be to take them out supervised and preferably on leash. Some have suggested that cleaning the yard while your dog watches you can cause them to learn the habit of “cleaning the yard”, though I am skeptical.

If you have a dog that is eating stool from another species, this can be a bit more difficult to control, mainly because you are often surprised when your dog finds their latest treasure . My dog Shiloh relishes in fox, deer, cat, horse and cow dropping. Left outside unattended, there is very little you can do to control this behavior. This seems to be a fairly natural thing for dogs to show interest in, though it can have some health risks. Diseases such as parvovirus, hepatitis, as well as parasites may be contracted. Discuss with your veterinarian what risks you may encounter in your area, and also what preventative measures that you can take to prevent infection.