Problem:
Coprohagia
Hi
Shannon,
My
daughter has kindly given me your name as I am desperate
in solving a disgusting problem. I have two 5 year old
Cocker Spaniel bitches.
One
of the bitches eats poo whether it is hers or not. I
have tried giving her different foods and food supplements,
but nothing seems to stop her. When I am at home, I
clean up after them immediately, but obviously cannot
do so while I am at work during the day. I have reprimanded
her, shouted at her, threatened to smack her and have
even tried to explain to her that I don't like her doing
this and that it makes her sick. She knows she has been
naughty, hides her head in shame and crawls under the
bed.
I
truly hope you will be able to suggest something that
I haven't tried as her filthy habit is unacceptable!
Please
help.
NOT
AT ALL NICE
--------------------------------------------------
Dear
Not At All Nice,
First
of all, let me extend my empathy on this socially unacceptable
behaviour.
Poop
eating (or as we like to call it, copraphagia) is seen
as normal behaviour in dogs. In fact the vast majority
of puppies will sample faeces during their pre-adolescent
phase, but most grow out of this habit fairly quickly.
Humans
view copraphagia as utterly revolting, but it is, in
fact, a very effective and natural survival tool. By
"recycling" faeces the dog gets a second chance
at nutrients that may have escaped the digestive process
the first time round. Ingestion of herbivore faeces
is even more tempting as the dog then gets to ingest
partially digested vegetable matter, which his system
is incapable of doing.
While
I am sure you are well impressed with your dog's eco-friendly
recycling efforts I doubt this will make the copraphagia
acceptable to you!
So,
herewith a couple of suggestions:
1.
Veterinary examination:
I
am assuming that this is a recent problem, so have your
dog thoroughly examined to rule out any possible underlying
physical cause. What is the condition of her teeth like?
Perhaps she has a sore tooth and the faeces are more
"comfortable" to eat?
2.
Feeding Schedule:
Feed
smaller, more frequent meals. Dogs often develop copraphagia
when they feel empty. Splitting her daily portion into
smaller meals may help alleviate this motivation. With
astute management and positive reinforcement for toileting
on command, this could also solve the problem by removing
unattended faeces.
3.
Diet:
Commercial
foods fed to dogs today are highly palatable - even
once they've been digested. I have heard of people having
success in curing copraphagia by switching the dog to
an exclusive canned food diet. This changes the consistency
of the faeces from solid to semi-solid (which is thought
to have a unpleasant consistency). BUT I would have
serious concerns about the long-term health impact of
this. Feeding your dog some kind of filler - such as
oats - may give the full tummy feeling for longer and
thus reduce the desire to eat whatever is available.
Higher fibre content in the food could also help. Please
note that I am not a canine nutritionist, so any changes
to your dog's diet must be conducted under your veterinarian's
supervision.
4.
Routine:
Do
not allow your dog to watch you pick up the faeces.
This is thought to encourage mimicking behaviour.
5.
Supplements:
There
is some validity to adding meat tenderisers or digestive
enzymes to the food of the animal/s. This does not mean
that there is a nutritional deficit. All this does is
that it increases the digestion of the food, thus making
the end product less attractive to the dog. Adding an
iron supplement can also make the faeces less desirable.
6.
Enrichment:
Leave
chew toys for your dog when she is unsupervised. If
she has something to occupy her mouth she is less likely
to indulge in copraphagia. Some examples would be Kongs
stuffed with peanut butter, enormous raw bones etc.
Copraphagia
can be a very difficult problem to resolve as the dogs
to tend to develop a "taste" for it. However
by ensuring that there is no underlying physical cause
and addressing the other elements you should have some
success.
In
closing: Your statement that "She knows she has
been naughty and hides her head in shame" is a
gross misinterpretation. Dogs are amoral - there is
no right and wrong in their lives. They look at everything
from a survival-based "profit vs. loss" mode.
Simply
put, she feels that it is profitable to eat poop! The
only reason she is showing "shameful" behaviour
is because she knows you are angry with her (she has
no idea why) and she is either trying to escape or appease
you.
Dogs
are so very good at picking up on body language that
she probably knows before you do that you are angry
with her, hence this global misinterpretation that the
dog "knows that it did wrong". This misconception
has led to many dogs and owners experiencing difficulty
in their relationships. Dogs are not humans; so don't
burden them with our complicated value system.
Good
luck!
Shannon