5 things to know if you wonder why a dog eats feces

One fine morning you wake up to a bright sunshine and then lo and behold you notice your dog doing something strange – He was eating his own feces!

Your feelings were beyond imagination and you were most certainly clueless, as was I when I first found that about my Pomerian!

You must have wondered why a dog eats feces and how this could have happened to you. Well, no worries a lot of dog owners end up in a similar situation quite often!

Why dogs eats feces
Why a dog eats feces? Girl with her cute dog resting outdoors

You wonder why a dog eats feces? Here are the 5 things to know

Have you ever wondered what could be ‘wrong’ with your dog? Have you wondered as to why your dog took to that behavior? Has it troubled you quite often thinking about this ‘unusual’ behavior of your dog?

There are 5 important things you should know/implement if these questions are bothering you.

Thing#1: Do NOT be worried!

First and foremost, when your dog eats its own feces, your cat’s or any other animal’s poop, you should know that it is neither an abnormal behavior nor is it (in most cases) a ‘’disease‘’ your dog is suffering from.

Believe it or not, it is but natural for a dog to eat feces; its own or some other animal’s.

Yes, the behavior certainly could seem unusual and maybe disgusting for an owner. But, the first thing you should do is NOT be worried but rather be concerned about the same!

Thing#2: Know the exact reason why a dog eats feces

The next thing for us is to understand as to why a dog eats feces. I mean, there are several reasons for the dog to have developed the habit of eating its feces.

The most important thing now is to find the exact reason behind your dog eating its feces.

The reasons could range from Behavioral to Medical to Natural causes. It could also be due to the combination of two or more of these above stated reasons.

Thing#3: Act to stop dog poop eating

Once you have understood the exact cause behind the behavior, act immediately to stop your dog from eating poop.

Ideally, you could take your dog to the vet to check if there are any Medical causes like – Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, severe Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Intestinal Lymphosarcoma among other related problems. You can then proceed based on your vet’s advice in order to prevent the behavior.

If you have realized that your dog was eating its feces due to Natural or Behavioral causes you would not need the consultation of your vet and can look to eradicate the habit right in your home using one of the preventive measures.

Thing#4: Implement the Preventive measure

Depending on the exact cause you could implement the required measure in order to ensure that your dog does not eat its own feces.

If the behavior is due to Medical causes then you could go as per the directions of your vet. If the cause(s) is either Behavioral or Natural, you can implement the preventive measures.

Also, you should understand that the solution to eradicate the problem can be the combination of two or more preventive measures.

Thing#5: Be Patient and Persistent!

You have been implementing the preventive measures, you have not missed out on anything and yet you find that your dog ‘sneaks’ out on you and continues to ‘indulge’ in the habit of eating its feces. What do you do now?

I know it can be frustrating being the owner of a dog that refuses to budge.

Sometimes it so can happen that we may end up not being regular in implementing the preventive measure(s) and other times we may just ‘get tired’ and let go of the ‘training’.

It is very essential for us to keep in mind that preventive measures can surely help the dog get rid of the habit but patience and persistence are two vital things. We need to be very patient with the whole process and persistent in the implementation, only then can we hope to achieve the ‘impossible’!

More about dogs that eats feces:

So you now know the 5 most important things that you should be aware of when you wonder why a dog eats feces.

Would you like to know more about how you can help your dog out the habit?

If Yes, click here