When talking about shit, many people will subconsciously cover their mouths and even be unable to eat. Why do dogs like to eat poop so much? Although it is another form of food in terms of ingredients, I am not so perverted as to try it myself.

Although many owners have asked me, "Why does my dog ​​like to eat shit so much?" But I really haven't reached the point of sacrificing my life for scientific research. Sorry, I can't give a conclusion from a medical perspective on the exact reason why dogs eat shit.

However, since so many people have encountered this problem, I will give you my humble opinion.

First of all, I think poop may taste good to dogs, or eating poop is very interesting. Whether it is their own or other people's, they all show relish when eating poop, at least it is not difficult to swallow.

Although eating shit is not an elegant thing, people have a proper noun that can be used to show off: Koprophagy! The root word "Kopros" means "shi" in Greek, and "Phagein" means eating.

There are many academic discussions on why dogs eat poop, and professionals have proposed many possibilities, but there is no absolute conclusion, so today I will only talk about a few common reasons I know.

But don’t ask me if your dog eats shit for some reason. I really don’t know. I also want to help you ask dogs who eat it happily...

　01 Normal behavior

Eating shit may be a normal and natural behavior on the Dog Planet. They will eat it from birth, and they eat different "varieties".

Academic circles infer that it should be related to the fatty acids in feces, and puppies may also take this "delicious" food to build healthy intestinal bacteria.

Usually, eating poop is something that puppies only do. Some poop-eating babies gradually stop eating it as they grow up. However, sometimes adult dogs also eat poop, and the more they eat, the more delicious it becomes, so you may need to pay attention to it. ——

Is it a behavioral problem? Some adult dogs will deliberately eat poop in order to gain the attention of their owners; or it may be a behavioral problem caused by the breeding environment being too messy.

Or working dogs (especially racing dogs) may eat poop more frequently after high-energy-consuming exercise. Of course, this may be related to food nutrition.

It may also be due to physical health problems, such as internal parasites that seriously affect intestinal digestive function; in addition, certain diseases in certain dog breeds, such as insufficient pancreatic secretion that German Shepherds are prone to, can also be a cause of poop-eating behavior...

To sum up: it is normal behavior for puppies to eat poop; if it is an adult dog, then you need to consider whether there is something wrong with their behavior or health.

02 Eliminate danger alarms

Dog eats shit = eliminates danger alarm

If you have physically punished it when it poops at home, congratulations, you have personally cultivated a dog that "loves" eating poop.

Because the dog doesn't know that pooping is wrong, you punish him corporally for this matter, but when he feels pain or discomfort, he sees poop every time.

In particular, some second-hand owners even brought their dogs to the crime scene, thinking that they had caught the perpetrator, and seriously and seriously conducted an effective ideological education.

But this kind of behavior is very accurate for the dog to judge the source of his pain. Shit = punishment = my skin and flesh suffer, he hates shit, and he wants to eliminate them.

He has tried to hide his shit (pull it under the bed or in the corner), but you will always find it, and his skin and flesh will continue to hurt. He will continue to hate shit and continue to think of ways to eliminate shit...

This is the creation of a poop cycle. Eventually, the dog discovers that you can’t find it unless it hides its poop in its belly.

Therefore, whenever he sees shit, he will immediately think of the pain in his flesh and blood, and he cannot let the pain happen again. Therefore, we must quickly eliminate him and hide him quickly. He must not be seen by you...

This conditioned reflex will escalate to the point where whenever he sees shit, no matter if it is his own or not, his brain will generate a signal to "eat it as fast as lightning", and you can't stop it.

Is there anything wrong with dogs?!

Were you ever beaten as a child?

I have been hit by it. My dad usually beats me with a feather duster. I am smarter than a dog. I know I made a mistake, but I still hate the feather duster.

I have hid it, folded it and thrown it into the trash can, but there are always replacement tools, such as clothes hangers and belts.

Therefore, I gave up destroying the "torture instruments", but there is one conditioned reflex that I cannot control.

(No laughing!) As soon as I was beaten, I couldn’t help but wet my pants.

As soon as I felt the pain in my butt, the tension in my heart came fiercely. I was crying and howling while... (I said noXu Xiaoxiao!)

So, later on, whenever my father raised the "murder weapon", I would cry first, and while crying, I would raise my hands and say: I want to go to the toilet.

After a few times, I found that by the time I came out of the toilet, my dad’s anger had subsided by half, and he wasn’t so cruel.

Regarding the matter of being spanked, my conditioned reflex is: making a mistake = being spanked = pain = imminent incontinence = reporting and going to the toilet = buffer = my dad won’t hit me so hard...

So, later on, even if I definitely couldn’t pee my pants and didn’t want to go to the toilet at all, I would still raise my hands before being spanked.

It seems a bit off topic, haha, why do I get so "excited" when it comes to being beaten?!

To sum up the reasons why dogs eat poop: the dog poops at home = you hit the dog = the dog feels pain = the dog sees poop every time it feels pain = the dog thinks that you will make it suffer as long as you see poop = dogs hate poop.

Want to get rid of poop = the dog has tried many methods but failed = can only eat it.

Do you see it? In this process, the dog will not understand at all that he is being punished for pooping at home.

Human logic is: You poop at home = I must tell you that this is wrong = If you don’t listen, then I’ll give you a few beatings.

You also have to take the stolen goods to the crime scene for education = you can’t see it in sight, and then you find the old shit by the smell = then educate you = you can’t see the shit at last = the dog is really obedient.

Are you really obedient?

Let’s talk about a particularly dirty example: a dog that ate a lot of poop while walking, finally couldn’t hold it anymore, returned home and vomited it all out in front of its owner...

That sour and refreshing scene, please imagine and rehearse it for yourself if you have ever physically punished a dog.

Written by Hong Xiaomo

Professional guidance/Dr. Lin Yuwei (Shanghai Naughty Family Pet Hospital)

Typesetting/Chenmo