Poodle (detailed introduction)

　　Feces, also called stool, is the residue of food digested through the gastrointestinal tract that cannot be absorbed and is expelled from the body. Normally, dogs excrete feces daily. Feces have a very foul odor; however, some dogs eat their own or others’ feces, which many owners do not understand. Today, the editor will help analyze the reasons why dogs eat feces.

　　1. Protecting oneself within a safe range

　　1. Maternal instinct in dogs

　　Mother dogs lick the genital and anal areas of their puppies after birth, not only to stimulate urination and defecation but also to eat the feces to keep the environment clean. This also prevents odor leakage to avoid being hunted by other animals, which is normal maternal behavior.

　　2. Defensive response under threat

　　Besides maintaining cleanliness, this also prevents odor leakage to avoid attracting other animals for hunting. For self-protection, when a dog feels threatened, it often eats its own feces to increase a sense of security.

　　2. Using taste to determine edibility

　　1. Mistaking feces for food

　　Additionally, dogs have an extremely sensitive sense of smell and will bite objects to examine whether they are edible. Therefore, some dogs classify feces, which smell strong but are edible, as food.

　　2. Owner’s incorrect training

　　From the perspective of behavioral response, when owners give improper training or reactions to dogs, it is very easy for dogs to develop wrong behaviors. The most common case is when the owner sees the dog urinate or defecate anywhere and pulls the dog’s neck.

　　3. Punishment leads to the opposite effect

　　The owner might force the dog’s nose to smell the feces and then scold or punish the dog. The owner may think this behavior teaches the dog not to defecate randomly, but according to the dog’s way of thinking, it is not understood that way at all.

　　4. Dog’s way of thinking

　　For dogs, their thought process is that when the owner comes home, sees feces, and angrily grabs the dog, the consequence is being scolded or hit! The dog then straightforwardly thinks that by destroying the evidence of feces, that is, eating its own excrement, it can avoid being punished.

Bichon Frise (detailed introduction)

　3. Physiological traits causing this behavior

　　1. Gastrointestinal digestion problems

　　This behavior is caused by physiological reactions, especially when the dog has digestive or absorption issues, making the excreted feces contain many proteins, carbohydrates, and other nutrients.

　　2. Intestinal parasites

　　Also, if the dog has intestinal parasites, this affects digestive absorption, resulting in incomplete nutrient uptake. The feces will then contain abundant nutrients, and the dog treats it as food and swallows it.

　　4. Excessive hunger leading to indiscriminate eating

　　1. Too hungry or inadequate nutrition

　　If the dog’s nutrition is insufficient or unbalanced, it may eat feces in a state of desperation. Some owners might feed the dog only once a day to lose weight or impose dietary restrictions, leading the dog to eat feces out of hunger.

　　2. Lack of essential nutrients

　　If the food lacks fiber, salt, phosphorus, or trace minerals, causing the dog to be deficient in certain nutrients, it may recycle its own feces to compensate.

　　5. Other reasons

　　Owners often clean dog houses and their living areas, so over time dogs also clean up feces around their living space. When dogs see other dogs eating feces, they imitate this behavior.

　　Eating feces is a natural instinct for dogs. Some special smells in feces are attractive to them, especially the fermented excrement of herbivorous animals. When they cannot access such excrement, they substitute by eating their own or other feces.

　　In fact, the problem of dogs eating feces is entirely avoidable. Owners should clean up immediately after the dog defecates so the dog has no chance to eat feces. If the dog picks up feces during walks, stop it immediately and correct the behavior.