There are a few common sayings that describe several interesting phenomena, such as "a dog cannot change and eat shit" to describe a person who refuses to change despite repeated admonitions, or "a wolf that travels a thousand miles to eat meat, and a dog that travels a thousand miles to eat shit." Since this is a slightly uncomfortable word that will appear a lot throughout this article, we’ll use “poop” instead. (Hey, doesn’t this feel uncomfortable?)

The first question that needs to be discussed is of course, do dogs eat poop? The answer is yes. I believe many friends have witnessed the process of dogs enjoying "delicious food" with relish. Dogs eat poop. Some eat their own poop, some eat other dogs' poop, some eat people and other animals, and some eat all comers, both soft and hard. (Yes, it’s the soft and hard one you think of!)

Why do dogs eat poop? There are many reasons.

Under normal circumstances, it is a normal physiological behavior for dogs to eat and poop. For example, a mother dog who has just given birth will lick the anuses of her babies after they have defecated and eat the poop to prevent other animals from hunting the unweaned puppies based on their scent. Adult dogs may also eat poop to clear themselves if they feel threatened. Some owners scold or physically punish their dogs after they defecate everywhere, so the dogs eat their own poop to avoid being discovered by their owners.

In addition, when people see dogs eating poop, they often exclaim and call others to watch. This makes the dog feel that it is attracting attention, so when it wants to attract the attention of its owner, it may choose this method. There are also some dogs who are used to eating two or three meals a day, but suddenly change to one meal a day due to changes in owners, etc. Then the dog will eat and poop in order to relieve hunger.

The nutrients in the poop that have not been fully digested and absorbed are also a great temptation for dogs. For example, the poop of herbivorous animals often contains some vitamins and trace elements that dogs lack, and dogs will supplement their own nutrition by swallowing poop. "Without the smell of feces, how can the fragrance of rice be there?" Animal poop is composed of food residues, digestive juices, intestinal exfoliated cells, microorganisms, etc. It contains various nutrients and has been used as valuable farmland fertilizer for thousands of years. It is known as There is a saying that “rich water does not flow to outsiders’ fields”. The poop of common animals such as chickens, cows, pigs, rabbits, etc. contains protein, fiber, fat, calcium, phosphorus and various amino acids, as well as vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin K, linoleic acid and other essential nutrients for animals. Element.

In the animal room of our laboratory, dogs only eat their own poop, that of other dogs, or rabbits, and are not interested in rats. Although as the nutritional ratio of dog food becomes increasingly balanced and reasonable, eating poop is no longer necessary for survival, but many pet dogs still treat their ancestors asThe old habits of diligence and thrift were retained.

In addition, some diseases can also aggravate the occurrence of dogs' addiction to food and poop. For example, pancreatitis, parasites in the gastrointestinal tract, intestinal flora imbalance, diabetes, etc. The use of certain drugs such as barbiturates, progestins, and steroids can also cause such results. However, judging from discussions on pet forums at home and abroad, lack of nutrients and being punished for defecation problems in childhood should be the main reasons why domestic dogs eat poop.

It’s not just dogs that eat poop~

"A wolf travels a thousand miles to eat meat, and a dog travels a thousand miles to eat shit." This statement is actually wrong. Not only wolves, but also members of the canine family such as foxes, coyotes, jackals, etc. will eat small amounts of poop. Even when jackals are hunting in groups, they will attack the buttocks of large herbivores, grab and bite the prey's intestines out of the anus, and eat them together with the feces in the intestines.

In fact, there are many animals in nature that eat poop. Not to mention dung beetles (dung beetles), flies and other insects that feed on the feces of large mammals all year round. Termites will eat the queen's poop to maintain the balance of intestinal flora. Similarly, elephants, pandas, koalas, hippos and other animals will eat their mother's poop when they are young to replenish intestinal microorganisms.

The canine family is not the only animal that makes full use of unabsorbed nutrients in poop. Pigs will eat their own poop and that of other animals to absorb the incompletely digested nutrients. Many herdsmen use chicken manure, which contains more protein and is cheap. When it comes to feeding cattle, South American capybaras, hamsters, chinchillas, guinea pigs, gorillas, and chimpanzees all eat their own poop to "hunt down" nutrients that slipped through the first digestion and absorption process.

Many people who have raised rabbits have also noticed that rabbits will excrete a kind of soft feces balls, and most rabbits will eat this poop immediately. This is because rabbits are monogastric herbivores and do not have a rumen like cattle to "support" microorganisms to help digestion. After a long period of evolution, rabbits have developed a well-developed cecum, which functions similarly to the rumen. Food is decomposed by microorganisms in the cecum. , after being converted into absorbable nutrients, are excreted in the form of "cecal feces". Rabbits obtain the nutrients by eating cecal feces. Therefore, most wild and domestic rabbits engage in coprophagic behavior from an early age.

Therefore, eating poop is not only a natural instinct of dogs, but also a "nature" shared by many animals. Even humans do not eat poop. From Renzhonghuang, Yemingsha, and Wangyuesha in medicine stores to white lilac, Wu Ling Zhi and Ji Ya Bai are all like this. (The article comes from Guoke.com and the pictures come from the Internet)