Why Can’t Dogs Stop Eating Poop?

1 Overview

Today we won’t discuss how to fix the bad habit, but look at the latest foreign research on why dogs eat poop.

Lack of nutrition?

Search it on Baidu and the answers are just ‘lacking trace elements’ or ‘eating poorly.’

These answers help no owner in real need — dogs that ate poop from lacking trace elements already improved with supplements, while those obsessed with it won’t be cured by any supplement.

A behavioral explanation

Wolf-pack behavior explains it.

Wolves expel various parasite eggs in feces, but the eggs don’t quickly become adults in the stool — so wolves actively swallow feces around their territory. This second digestion looks disgusting yet greatly reduces their chance of parasite infection.

Don’t ask why eating eggs reduces infection — per Professor Clive at the University of Arizona, a wolf’s gut secretes a substance while digesting feces that kills eggs but not adults.

The subtle part: observation shows wolves are only interested in relatively fresh feces near their territory, defined as within about 48 hours; stats on poop-eating dogs show the same — interest in feces around 48 hours old.

In other words, after 48 hours the eggs become adults, and wolves naturally won’t eat it.

Many foreign behaviorists accept the link between these two behaviors, so this isn’t mere guesswork but confirmation of why these dogs won’t quit.

So if your dog is hopelessly obsessed, the best fix is simply keep it away from poop.

Another explanation

Stray dogs in the countryside seem to eat poop more.

Why? Because feces of humans or other animals contain undigested protein, which meets the strays’ daily nutritional needs.

In other words, to survive, these strays have no choice but to eat it.

Food-obsessed dogs show a stronger tendency; when their gut and brain aren’t satisfied, they seek supplements elsewhere — like poop.

And the habit is contagious — when many dogs are together, once one eats poop the others gradually join in, a bit like humans going to the toilet together.

If a dog is confirmed to have eaten poop more than 10 times, at least once a week, it is classified into the severe poop-eating group.