Reasons for dogs eating poop

In the wild, dogs’ diet and environment are very consistent. When dogs eat their prey, they eat it all, including the internal organs, which contain a lot of digestive enzymes that dogs need. Digestive enzymes are an important part of dog digestion. Without them, dogs cannot absorb nutrients from their food.

Basically, dogs excrete undigested nutrients from their bodies. Although dogs produce their own enzymes, they are not efficient enough to complete the entire digestive process, so dogs need to supplement their food with digestive enzymes.

Not only can a lack of digestive enzymes make your dog sick, it can also cause them to start looking for it in their own poop - because, yes, poop is full of nutrients.

We know that pancreatic insufficiency means that the dog’s pancreas does not secrete or rarely secretes digestive enzymes. Without additional enzymes, dogs will slowly starve, with symptoms including weight loss, diarrhea, and, yes, eating poop as they try to get the nutrients they need from it.

Because intestinal parasites absorb nutrients from the dog’s intestines, the dog will obtain nutrients from its own feces.

Some diseases, such as diabetes, thyroid disease, and taking steroids and other drugs, can make dogs hungry and eat poop.

Hydrochloric acid deficiency occurs when dogs age or eat a low-quality diet, which causes them to seek nutrients from their stools. Hydrochloric acid plays a major role in protein digestion. In addition, a lack of minerals in the body can also cause dogs to eat poop.

If the dog’s absorption function is poor, it will also cause it to eat feces. Dogs not only eat their own poop, looking for undigested nutrients, but they also eat cat poop. It is important to find the owner who is defecating because the pet that defecates may be deficient in a certain substance or suffer from a disease.

Make sure to feed your dog at regular times. If your dog is still losing weight after eating fresh, regular amounts of food, feed more! And make sure the feeding time is consistent, as hungry dogs will look for food everywhere to satisfy their hunger.

One ​​of the reasons why dogs eat poop is to keep it clean and follow the laws of nature. Mothers eat their puppies' poop to keep their litters clean. This drive to clean may cause some dogs to "clean up" their poop.

Puppies are very curious about their surrounding environment, and they may take out a small piece of feces to study. Puppies grow this way.

The nature of scavengers makes dogs attracted to certain smells. They don't reject feces like humans do. Dogs enjoy pooping if given the chance.

If your dog is alone at home all day with nothing to do, and happens to find his own poop, now the dog has found a way to entertain himself The way.

Dogs love us and hope to attract the attention of their owners. If they feel a little neglected, they may even cause trouble to please you because, well, they have your attention. So the dogs sneak out into the yard in the afternoon to taste poop, which gives them a double reward - "delicious food" and attention from their owners.

Dogs who feel stressed (perhaps in the kennel all day?) will eat poop to relieve stress.

Dogs living in puppy mills are very likely to develop such behavior because they live in a food-poor environment and are kept in cages for long periods of time.

A dog that has been punished for eating poop will think that poop is a bad thing and needs to be eaten immediately.

Young dogs can learn behaviors from older dogs and taste poop. So, nip the problem in the bud.

How to correct a dog from eating poop

1. First, keep it clean. Clean up immediately after your dog poops. Don't give it a chance to taste this fresh and tempting treat. If you have other pets, they also need to be cleaned up immediately after they poop - especially cat litter. In other words, keep your dog away from temptation.

2. Ensure the dog’s physical and intellectual needs. Ensure regular playtime every day, such as fetching, especially if your dog is energetic or a working dog, and try something like agility or other mentally stimulating training.practice. Make sure your dog has interesting toys to keep him entertained.

3. Provide supplements to dogs with deficiencies. For dogs with mineral deficiencies, they can be added according to medical advice. For dogs suffering from hydrochloric acid deficiency, try adding apple cider vinegar (1 teaspoon per 25 pounds of body weight) to the diet, which may help dogs with small amounts of hydrochloric acid deficiency.

4. Check the feces for parasites.

5. Avoid punishment. Research has found that using food to prevent dogs from eating poop is only 2% effective. At this time, positive training will not help. Stop punishing.

6. Improve the dog’s digestive ability. Dogs like to eat the feces of other dogs or cats, not only because the body lacks certain substances, but also because the dog itself cannot absorb energy from the food it eats, so it will use the nutrients in the feces to supplement it.