When we lived in Missouri, I can’t tell you how many times I watched neighbors walk their dogs, stopping to let their dog pee and poop in our yard and other’s yard and then keep on walking.  I once watched a woman throw her dog’s poop in our garbage can, look around to see if anyone saw her and keep walking.  We can’t predict when our dogs are going to decide to go, but we can be prepared with bags just incase and then property disposed of it when you get home!

Coprophagy is the act of ingesting feces.  There may be many reasons why your dog will eat poop.  There are many individual motivators for eating poop, but they usually stem from something to do with your dog’s health or behavior.

In regard to health risks in your pet, eating poop may be a sign your dog lacks certain vitamins or enzymes. He may turn to his poop to try to supplement these. Underfed puppies or overfed adult dogs may also ingest feces to aid digestion.

If you are dealing with a dog who has behavioral issues, these pups eat poop because of things like:

1. Boredom – Dogs who are bored with their environments will look to eating poop to pass the time.
2. Anxiety – Dealing with a dog who is stressed out due to a change in environment, etc.
3. Environment – If they have to eat and lay on or near their own poop, they will eat it.
4. Attention – If they got attention from eating poop, either positive or negative, they may do it again.
5. Fear – If your dog has been punished for having an accident or has eaten poop, they may try and clean it up out of fear of being punished again.
6. Habit – Your pup may have watched his mother eat their feces and copied this habit.

What will happen if your dog eats his own fecal matter or another animals poop?

Any time your dog eats feces of an unknown origin, they run the risk of contracting infectious diseases or parasites. They also have the potential to ingest medications or other irritating ingredients that have passed through the system of the other animal.

Signs your dog is sick from eating poop include:

• Gastroenteritis
• Vomiting and diarrhea
• Decreased appetite
• Tiredness
• Intestinal parasites