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Why Do Dogs Eat Feces?

Dogs > Behavior > Why Do Dogs Eat Feces?

A mother dog eating feces is a natural behavior. They eat the feces while cleaning their nursing puppies. Allowing the waste to accumulate would be extremely unhealthy for them. In the wild, another adult may take over motherly duties in times of need. Wolves will often eat their feces to prevent the scent from attracting predators. This hard-wired instinct likely exists in all dogs.

Common Reasons Why Dogs Eat Feces

Dogs may start eating feces if their diet is lacking nutrients. Weight control and diet foods often contain fillers so your dog feels full causing your dog to eat less. Eating less food may result in not getting the proper nutrition necessary to be healthy.
A physical health problem which causes excessive hunger or pain may be present and trigger your dog to eat feces.
Intestinal parasites will also cause this problem because nutrients are not properly absorbed by the body.
Various stressful life situations could very well trigger this natural instinct in your dog.
Boredom is a problem which causes many issues such as eating feces. Have interesting toys around while you're not home to entertain your dog. Providing more daily exercise will also help to reduce boredom in your dog.
Avoid rubbing your dog's nose into the feces or yelling at your dog when he's eating feces. This may teach him that he will be punished if near feces thus causing him to continue to do so and at a faster rate. This reaction is due to fear, stress and anxiety. Which is why using punishment while house training is not a good idea and will only enforce this behavior.

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