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

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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