Dear Doctor LaCroix,
This is sort of an embarrassing problem, but one I hope you can help me with. "Fred" is my second Dachshund. Unfortunately he has the same disgusting habit as by first Dachshund. He eats other dogs' feces and sometimes his own. My other dog eventually outgrew this habit. I'm not sure I can wait for "Fred" to grow up! Please tell me what I can do to stop him. "Grossed Out" in Wilmington
Dear "G.O.",
If you have to describe this behavior to your friends, you might as well know the correct term - Fred is coprophagic. Eating feces, or coprophagia, is not uncommon among animals. We can make educated guesses about the reasons dogs do this. One answer is that they can obtain some nutrients from ingesting feces, especially from herbivores (vegetarian animals such as sheep, cows, horses and rabbits) whose feces contain undigested nutrients. A coyote or wolf who supplements his diet in the winter in this manner is more likely to survive than the one who lives on an occasional mouse or rabbit.
Another thought is the dog is "nest cleaning". A female dog will eat her puppies' feces for several weeks after they are born. The poor housekeeper with the dirty nest would be found out by the keen noses of predators, and her puppies would not survive. In the wild males would help with this task to protect the pack.
A few dogs with coprophagia may be deficient in digestive enzymes. Adding digestive enzymes available from you veterinarian for this purpose may be helpful. Papain contained in Adolph's Meat Tenderizer is also used for this purpose. It is mixed with each meal previous to feeding.
In the majority of dogs, this is just a habit and should be treated as a behavior problem. The simplest "cure" is to walk him on a leash, keeping him away from other dogs feces. When he defecates, he is offered a treat so he won't eat his own.
Sprinkling a noxious-tasting substance, such as red pepper hot sauce on all available feces can help change this behavior - as well as getting you some odd glances at the park or beach! Dr. Ian Number, a well-known veterinary behaviorist has suggested injecting hot sauce into the fecal mass so the dog can't detect which piles will hurt his mouth and which piles won't. That you may wish to do in private!
Though neither pleasant to talk about nor deal with, persistence on your part should result in the elimination (no pun intended) of this unpleasant behavior.
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