CAPROPHAGIA - WHY DOES YOUR DOG EAT POOP?

For humans, explosive mines that are found on the pavement and in the grass, for dogs an irresistible attraction. We are talking about dog excrement, which many dogs deliberately seek out and eat with gusto. So let's take a look at this unattractive evil.

Are you one of those owners who have to chase their four-legged friend away from every pile? Does it happen to you that your dog poops on someone else's excrement before you can say "yuck"? The good news is that you are not alone! On the contrary, we consider it bad news that your dog suffers from coprophagia, i.e. a taste for its own or other people's excrement.

WHY ARE DOGS ATTRACTING?

If your pet messes up every pile it comes across, then you're probably asking yourself WHY? Unfortunately, getting to grips with coprophagia is not easy. Experts agree that some pets may have an appetite for feces because they suffer from digestive enzyme deficiencies. This means that the dog lacks important nutrients that were eliminated from his body before they served him. And what will the dog do? It wants to get them back into the body, through freshly expelled excrement. Coprophagia can also be caused by an inappropriate diet that is poor in some nutrients - most often fiber.

On the other hand, it is important to add that caprophagia it can also cause "mere" boredom . If you have a small puppy at home who spends days behind the four walls of the apartment, then eating foreign excrement is great fun for him. In this case, puppies usually end this disgusting pastime after their first birthday. It is no exception that coprophagy is a learned behavior. It is possible that your dog eating piles simply he looked away from older dogs , and subsequently adopted this habit as his own. A separate chapter is the situation when a female eats the excrement of her puppies. Do not be afraid of anything, it is a behavior that comes from the instinct of self-preservation. The female only wants the place where the puppies are located to be clean and therefore there is no risk of infection. As soon as the female stops nursing, the eating of feces disappears.

HOW TO UNTRAIN THE BEHAVIOR?

The truth remains that weaning a dog from coprophagia is a task worthy of a master. Still, don't lose hope. With a little patience and luck, you will succeed! First of all, it pays off if you and your dog go to places where there is a minimum of foreign excrement. Alternatively, you can visit the site beforehand and clean up the excrement. Distraction is also an excellent tool. As soon as you see the dog run towards the pile, offer him his favorite dainty or a toy . You'll see for yourself what he prefers. It will also pay off if you train the "let go" or "yuck" command. Start training in a home environment, and then try to apply the command even when the dog has caught feces in its mouth. You can't make a mistake by checking the food you give your dog. You may actually find that coprophagia is due to the aforementioned low fiber content.