Buzz
Despite being often depicted as dignified, smart, and picky, many dogs have a surprising habit of munching on poop. Their fascination extends beyond their own waste to include that of other animals, litter boxes, and sometimes even their own droppings. Some dogs have been observed contorting themselves to catch a fresh stool as it’s released, refusing to let any of it go to waste.
What makes some dogs develop a taste for feces, while others turn their noses up at it? There's no singular explanation, but a few plausible reasons can be offered.
In a 2012 study by Dr. Benjamin Hunt, a veterinary behaviorist and professor at the University of California, Davis, 3000 pet owners were surveyed. His findings revealed that 16% of the dogs surveyed had engaged in coprophagia—eating poop—at least five times. Among these, nearly all had consumed the waste of other dogs. Interestingly, more than half of these dogs were classified as 'greedy eaters' who would steal food from tables. Hunt also found that households with multiple dogs were more prone to this behavior, perhaps because their backyard serves as an all-you-can-eat fecal buffet.
These poop enthusiasts likely share a common trait: mommy issues. 'At birth, puppies don’t have the reflexes to urinate or defecate on their own and depend on their mother to stimulate them,' explains Nick Dodman, a professor at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. The mother licks their behinds, eats what they produce, and cleans up the 'nest' of larger deposits as best as she can. 'Puppies are introduced to the world by their mum eating feces. To them, that’s just what the world does.'
While some dogs eventually grow out of the habit, others continue indulging, often preferring fresh stool to older offerings. (In Hunt’s study, most of the stool sampling happened within 24 hours of elimination.) Dodman theorizes that diets low in residue create softer, more palatable stools, and that a high-fiber diet might discourage the behavior. 'The texture changes completely. Instead of a tasty toothpaste, it becomes something more like cardboard.'
Of course, that won't stop your pet from scarfing down someone else's leftovers. 'It's kind of like trying to quit smoking,' says Dodman.
If a change in diet doesn’t do the trick, the best solution is to pick up waste frequently to avoid temptation—or consider getting a poodle. Among all the animals in Hunt’s study, poodles were the only breed without a recorded habit of indulging in scatological snacking.
Additional Sources: 'Canine Conspecific Coprophagia; Who, When and Why Dogs Eat Stools [PDF]'
