My dog eats poop

Question

Hi!

My dog Millie loves to eat poop unfortunately. I know she loves cat poop because we have so many cats in the neighbourhood and she's always looking for a way to eat theirs. Sometimes when we go on walks in the forest she eats poop there too...I feel like I can't stop her from doing this when she's off lead but I'm worried for her health? Is it dangerous? Isn't poop toxic?

Wiggle1991 · Answer

I would get advice from your vet to see if it is toxic to them. You can always teach the 'leave it' cue with something easy to leave and build it up to cat poop. There are many YouTube videos to teach a leave it which may help, but as she is consuming the poop she is probably rewarding herself by eating it so make sure your rewards are of higher value and that way she will look to you before consuming the poop.

J_StudentVN_ZoologyBSc · Answer

Hi Jim,

           A common issue I find! I would remain vigilant as some poop from other animals such as cats may contain parasites that will affect your dog. I recommend researching into deterrent behaviour training and ensuring your dog is up to date with vaccines, flea tick and dewormer as these preventative medicines will combat some of issues that may arise from ingesting poop.

 

There are many reasons for eating poop (coprophagy) but one that may be relevant is attention seeking. Do you react and attempt to chase / stop your dog? As they may have associated this as a game.