Say what?
Coprophagia is a fancy word for eating poop.
Is your dog down with ODP?
I bet he is. You just might not be paying attention when he’s running off lead.
He might be really down with some delectable, litter-covered nuggets your cat leaves behind.
Percy, my sweet black Pug who died just after Christmas in 2013, was my worst poop eater, although each of them has partaken when given the opportunity. Percy was in the worst health of all my dogs, having suffered from diabetes for the last 3+ years of his life.
Connection? Probably.
Mama dogs and cats will eat the poop of their infant litters for several reasons, including to hide the scent of the new babies from predators, and to keep the den clean.
But, none of my dogs is a mama dog. And it’s totally gross.
Dr. Karen Becker has a great article about some of the causes and tips on how to curb it in your dog:
In short, there may be a number of reasons why your dog wants to eat a big, steaming pile — nutritional, instinctual, or behavioral.
The reason I raise the issue is that since feeding raw, wHOLe food diet to my dogs, they have no coprophagia. They are content to sniff & keep walking. Since they’ve not given birth to puppies, and we don’t have behavior issues, I attribute their previous attraction to it to the inadequate nutrition in the dry, processed, “prescription” food I previously fed them.
Now, they’re getting the right vitamins, minerals, enzymes and overall nutrition in their very healthy, non-processed, raw diet.
I’ve always loved their kisses, and now I don’t have to think about what else that tongue has tasted…
…just sayin’…
pugs & kisses,
The HOL Dog 