One of the most common disorders that can affect our furry friend is that of canine coprophagia, which consists of eats their own droppings or those of other animals. It is a problem that can lead to serious problems in your digestive system, to the point that you could end up with serious infections that could compromise your health and even your life.
Let's see what is canine coprophagia, what are the possible causes and what can be done about it so that it does not do it anymore.
Types of canine coprophagia
There are three types of coprophagia, which are:
- Autocoprophagia: when the dog consumes its own excrement.
- Intraspecific coprophagia: when it consumes the excrement of other dogs.
- Interspecific coporphagia: when it consumes the excrement of other animals.
The last two are the most dangerous, since if the "owner" of said feces is sick, it can infect ours. The question is, why do you eat feces? Don't you like the food we give you? It is possible, but let's see it in detail.
Causes of canine coprophagia
There are several reasons why a dog may end up eating your feces or that of other animals:
Stress
It is one of the most frequent causes. Due to our lifestyle, we often do not spend as much time with him as he really needs, and when we are with him or take him out for a walk we are sometimes so stressed that we do not enjoy his company as much as we would like. All this the dog notices, and one way of making us see that we are not doing things right for him is to eat feces.
To do? It will depend on the situation of each one. Sometimes it helps to take a vacation and reflect on the life we lead, both for ourselves and for our dog.
Inadequate diet
If we give him a feed that does not have all the necessary nutrients or in sufficient quantity, the risk that our friend will eat his feces or that of other animals is very high. To prevent this from happening, it is highly recommended to give it a natural dietEither Barf, Naku, Summum, or opt for feed such as Orijen, Acana, Taste of the Wild. or another that does not have cereals or by-products.
He likes the taste
I know, it seems incredible, but it is so. The dog can simply eat the feces because he likes them. To avoid this, we advise you to read this article.
We hope that now you can know why your dog eats feces 🙂.