Some dog owners find their dogs eating poop, which is really heartbreaking. Actually, dogs eating poop is caused by many reasons. Pet owners need to first find out the reasons why their dogs eat poop in order to find corresponding solutions. Today, the editor from Boqi Net will talk about the reasons dogs eat poop, dog owners come and take a look.

1. Dog gastrointestinal absorption issues.

This is a sign of problems in the dog’s gastrointestinal tract, mainly that the food the dog eats cannot be effectively absorbed. When these foods are not digested and absorbed yet, they are already expelled, which causes the feces to still contain many nutrients, so the dog will eat it like food.

2. Dog nutritional deficiency.

This situation mainly appears in wild dogs, many wild dogs have the habit of eating poop to recycle nutrients. Household dogs can also have it, generally due to improper feeding by owners, such as only giving one meal a day. This can be solved by providing enough food and nutrients along with training.

3. Caused by parasites.

Dogs may do this because of parasites, of course this happens in cases of severe intestinal parasite infestation; usually regular deworming will prevent this problem.

4. Dogs eat too quickly.

Dogs eat without order, habitually gulping down food. This leads to two situations: one is regurgitation, the other is that the gastrointestinal tract cannot digest properly and the food is expelled quickly, so the feces contain a large amount of protein, carbohydrates, and other nutrients. The dog will treat this as nutrition and eat it.

5. Incomplete training.

Mainly because the dog has not been fully trained or the training is inadequate. These dogs often have many problems with urinating and defecating, not just eating feces.

6. Caused by improper training.

The dog has not received correct training, or the commands given during training are not complete. For example, when training a dog to eliminate in a specific spot, making the dog smell its own feces or excessive scolding. This can leave a shadow on the dog, leading it to eat feces later to eliminate evidence. Generally, training for fixed defecation spots should be based on encouragement.

7. Caused by unhealthy psychological and emotional states.

Dogs that are neglected, ignored, bored or even fearful may have this problem. It also does not exclude the dog’s psychological condition of pica.

8. The owner’s exaggerated behavior.

After the dog defecates, if the owner cleans it up hurriedly and reacts overly exaggeratedly, it may cause an adverse effect. It makes the dog think it is a good thing, a treasure, so the dog will eat it (as if hiding it).

9. The preference of special dog breeds.

This mainly applies to hounds or terriers who, as a hiding response, treat feces as hypothetical prey. However, they do not eat it but rather smear it on their mouths, like carrying prey. Sometimes this is considered a show-off behavior by dogs.

Dogs eating poop is mainly caused by physiological or psychological behaviors. So as long as you identify the reasons and then treat according to the cause, it will be fine.