Why Do Dogs Eat Their Own Poo?

Not all dogs eat their own poo. There are rare cases with puppies doing this and when something like this happens, this means they lack some vitamins and minerals. But, again, this doesn't happen too often. Have you heard of babies eating their own poo? I have heard. But this doesn't mean all humans eat their own poo. The same with dogs. You don't have to despise all dogs because you heard about this.

I have 3 cats and 1 rabbit, but when I move out I will get a dog. Neither of my parents dogs eat their poop. But the dogs I petsit eat their own poop. I literally have to pick them up and carry them away or they will eat each other. I can't imagine that It tastes very well. Some say its a anxiety issue.

I have never seen my dogs eat their own poop but they constantly try to eat the cat litter. drives me crazy!

Mine don't. They'll roll in pig poo if they can find it though. Nice.

Most dogs DON'T eat their own poo. When a dog DOES it poo, its not particularly cause they LIKE it, there are reasons a dog will eat poo. There can be other reasons, but it is usually because they are hungry and/or lacking in some nutrient they are not getting from not being fed enough, or fed the right things.

I believe it ,though I haven't seen that with my own eyes.I mentioned previously that there was a stray yellow dog where I live .The dog had two puppies at a birth later .One day I saw personally the dog ate her puppy's poo.

Long ago and far away, a friend went walking in the woods with his dogs... Nature called and he squatted by a tree. No sooner had he got up than one of the dogs ate his deposit. Luckily, I wasn't there.

I've had a lot of dogs during my life Janey, but I have never known any of them to eat their own poo. In fact, when my mum caught a pup (my dad often bred dogs) poo in the house, she used to hold the pup's nose near it - it would hate that. She would then take it into the garden with the poo, on to some earthy spot and then praise and pet the pup and give it a tidbit of something to reward the pup on it being outside. It seemed to work, because they were house-trained very quickly. I never did that with my pups, just growled at them when they did it indoors, but then would do the same procedure outside as my mum did. But eating it? No, never saw that.. Perhaps a dog who is ill in some way would do it, but ours usually ate grass... _Derek

I read an article in a hunting magazine that said it was behavial thing possibly caused by anxiety.The article also said that it was possible for a dog to learn the behaviour from another dog and when a dog starts doing it they are unlikely to stop.For that reason the article suggested breeders to keep dogs that display this type of behaviour seperate from the other dogs.Though i think they eat the poo of other species to get nutrients that arent in their diet .Dogs eat rabbit poo quite often as it contains nutrients from vegetation that a dogs mainly meat diet dosent contain.

Dogs are not the only animal that eats their own poo. It is quite common in the wild, even rabbits do it! Maybe we humans even did it when we were wild and less domesticated. I would not recommend it though...tastes like cr@p! Sometimes they do it to get nutrition that they may be lacking. That is my understanding of why they do it. They are more switched on to what their bodies are lacking compared to us. We have to go and get blood tests or hair analysis to find that stuff out.

I don't have my own dog but I have seen dogs eating their own poo or the poo of other dogs a couple of times already. It's a bit gross actually and I don't know myself why they eat it. I don't think it doesn't taste good nor does it smell good. So why would they really have interest in eating it? Those dogs are not those pet dogs, those dogs were actually street dogs. So maybe they are just hunger and can't find any other food so they just eat those..

they usually don't eat their own poop, but they like to smell it and it really dislike me for some reason.

Dog normally will not eat its own poo. If sufficient food are available. However if its food, especially nutrient dog food is not available or not sufficient (less than what it should be consumed by the dog) then there is a chance for a dog to eat its own poo. Always take care and pay special attention to our beloved animal so they will not have a chance to eat their own poo

I'm not sure why dog's eat their own poo, but I have seen dogs roll in other dogs poo and other manure as well. Probably trying to put on a better cologne to be sexy or something. The weirdest poo eating I've seen was at the zoo when a huge gorilla looked as if it was picking it's butt, but instead it was pooping in it's hand and then chewing it up again. I didn't stay to see if he had swallowed. :)