Someone tell me what the fascination is with poop?
 

I have been pretty quiet about this because it is a pretty gross topic, but I have to finally ask.

Can anyone tell me please what the fascination is with poop? I mean eating poop.:eek: Bentley shows no interest in his own poop other than a quick sniff. Yes Bentley that did just come out of your butt. :p However he wants to eat the cat's poop. I even have to watch when we are outside, because if he finds bird poop on the ground he attempts to lick it.

I feed this dog the best puppy kibble I think I could buy for him. But he wants to eat poop????? Maybe there is an untapped market in cat poop flavored dog food. :confused: The reason I ask this now is because he had another incident today. I finally moved the cat's litter box out of the bathroom to next to the front door. The only place that is not inconvenient for us to have blocked off. Bentley and I come home from his grooming appointment and a visit with the grand humans. I block everything off as usual. I go about my business and then I realize, Bentley is too quiet. He had managed to knock the baby gate down and went to the cat's litter box and ate god knows how much poop. This evening he's been farting up a storm next to me in is sleep. Major noxious fumes. :eek:

I know the story in and of itself is funny, but I just don't get what is so special about poop. Nature's candy for dogs?!?!?! Nutrient deficiency? Sick and twisted dog? I'm at a loss.

I looked at him this evening after getting over being mad at him and said, "If cat poop is so good I might as well start getting you the cheep dog kibble." lol

My boys prefer bird and bunny poop (both of which can be dangerous, can carry lepto). Then again, they have never had access to cat poop. :p

I don't understand it either.

Here's a link to a very informative article about this very topic!

Why Do Dogs Eat Poop | Coprophagia in Dogs | VCA Animal Hospitals

For Joel i'm gonna choose "sick and twisted" LOL
Bentley sounds just like my boy, won't touch his own but he will get any other kind he can reach, it drives me crazy!

Ive never had a dog that wasn't interested either. Pipers box is blocked in our bath with a baby gate to keep them out. So us humans have to step over it. :[ We have birds that do fly overs on the porch and drop bombs. We are constantly washing it off. If you find a way to stop this obsession, please share. :confused:

Thanks for the link. Give me a little insight. Guess I'll discuss his "behavior" during out next trip to the vet.

I'm sorta leaning towards sick and twisted too. lol

I thought Rufus was the weird one :D
But he used to eat his OWN poop!! :0
I asked the vet if it was normal or if maybe he was missing something in his diet?
But she said she has never heard about and just to make sure he get dewormed :D
Thankfully he stopped doing it!! I think it was a puppy phase..

Bird poop is like crack for Sam. He just can't seem to resist it. I am constantly having to redirect him outside, and going back to clean it up. I knew that it was potentially harmful, but couldn't remember exactly what. Good to know about the lepto, since that's not a core vaccine around here.

I hate poop eating thing too Pixie use to eat her poop when she was a pup and she stopped when I started feeding her grain free.
Both my girls go after deer poop:( of course I don't let them....but one time Daisy got to it bf I could stop her and she was sick for days throwing up and Diarrhea. The vet said that he has seen dogs die from it bc it all depends what the deer ate bf it pooped.

That's an excellent article and contains all aspects of coprophagia.

Why Do Dogs Eat Poop | Coprophagia in Dogs | VCA Animal Hospitals

Some dogs really have strong vestigial scavenging genetic tendencies and will eat anything that has any potential nutrients or food-like qualities - anything to help take in nourishment at any opportunity, especially if there is a scent of nutrients in it. In the wild, dogs often eat until overfull to store up for the days when there may be no food resources and living like this, as a species, they learned long ago to eat whatever can fill them, even if that is a rotting animal or feces. Other dogs don't have as strong scavenging or hunting genes and don't much care about it once that puppy interest is over.

Cleaning up the poop as soon as the dog walks away, telling him "no" in firm tone if he tries to turn to it after pooping , shooing/backing him away with your body as you lock eyes with him and point to where he should go, treating him with a lovely piece of boiled chicken or other high-value treat when he does back off 12 feet or more, sits and stays and keeping on repeating these steps can also retrain a dog to avoid it as long as he is getting the nutrition he needs and doesn't live around a lot of poop lying about.

Joel also eats dirt. We have a big dirt pile in the back yard and every time we go out Joel is like "buffet!" And Rosco is the one that taught him:( I'll talk to his vet when he gets his rabies shot

Wow. I had no idea deer poop could be lethal. To be honest I don't think I would even recognize it. But if it looks like it could be poop I keep him away from it.

This is the thing that gets me. I free feed Bentley. He's a grazer and does not over eat so his bowl is ever empty. If I schedule fed him I would understand. But I'm sure this is what his issue is. And I feed him Blue Wilderness Puppy so no grains and lots of protein. Guess he's just a silly boy.

Hope Tibbe is improving. I'm about to go check your updates.

Separated at birth? :eek: Bentley is like a vacuum cleaner inside and outside. There are times outside where he\'s been sniffing and attempting to eat He will look up at me and he\'s got stuff in his nose.

Just a couple of silly boys I guess.