Your dog just ate poop. You saw it happen, you are slightly horrified, and you want to know whether something is wrong. The short version: it is common, it is usually not a medical emergency, and in most dogs it is a habit rather than a symptom. It is also one of the few dog habits that owners almost never manage to fix by scolding.
Here is what the behavior is, the reasons behind it, the small number of cases where it points at something medical, and what actually works to stop it.
The short answer
Most dogs that eat stool are healthy. The behavior usually comes from instinct, boredom, learned attention seeking, or simply having easy access to it. A smaller group of dogs do it because of a medical problem that leaves them hungry or stops them absorbing their food properly. The way to tell the difference is whether anything else has changed: appetite, weight, energy, or the stool itself.
The behavior has a name, and it is more common than owners think
Eating stool is called coprophagia. When a dog eats its own, that is autocoprophagia. When it eats another dog’s, that is allocoprophagia. Both are well documented and neither is rare.
The largest look at this came from a research team led by Dr Benjamin Hart, presented at the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior and written up by the American Kennel Club. They ran two surveys covering roughly 3,000 dog owners. A few patterns stood out. Stool eating was more common in homes with several dogs than in homes with one. Shetland Sheepdogs came out as the breed most likely to do it. And greedy eaters, the dogs that inhale a meal, were over represented.
The researchers’ reading was that this is a leftover survival behavior rather than a fault. A den with stool sitting in it attracts parasites, so an ancestor that cleared it had an advantage. That instinct did not disappear because we moved dogs onto sofas.
Why dogs eat their own poop
They are puppies, and puppies put things in their mouths
Puppies explore with their mouths, and stool is just another thing on the floor. Most grow out of it somewhere before their first birthday without any intervention. If your dog is young and otherwise thriving, this is the most likely explanation.
Their mother did it in front of them
A nursing mother cleans up after her litter for the first few weeks, which keeps the whelping area clean. Puppies watch this. Some copy it. Breeders see this often enough that it is treated as ordinary rather than alarming.
Boredom and too much time alone
A dog left in a yard or a crate for long stretches with nothing to do will find something to do. Stool is available and it produces a result, even if that result is only a change in the taste of its own mouth. Dogs rescued from crowded shelters show this more often, which fits: confinement plus nothing to occupy them plus stool nearby.
It gets a reaction out of you
This one catches a lot of households. The dog squats, you look away, the dog turns to the stool, and you come running across the garden shouting. From the dog’s side, that is a fast and reliable way to make you pay attention. Some dogs will repeat it for exactly that reason, and the louder the reaction, the better it works.
Living with several dogs
The survey work found this behavior more common in multi dog homes, and the reason is partly arithmetic. More dogs means more stool, more often, and more chance that some of it is still there when a dog wanders past. It also means a dog can eat another dog’s rather than its own, which owners often miss entirely because they are watching the wrong animal. If you have several dogs and you are not sure which one is doing it, that is worth establishing before you try to train any of them.
House training that involved punishment
If a dog was told off for having an accident indoors, it can learn that stool itself is the thing that gets it in trouble. Removing the evidence solves that problem. This is worth knowing because the usual instinct, to tell the dog off harder, makes it worse rather than better.
Why dogs eat other animals’ poop
The cat’s litter box
For a lot of dogs this is the real problem, not their own stool. Cat food is high in protein and fat, and what comes out the other end still smells strongly of it. To a dog this reads as food. Most households solve this with access rather than training: a covered box, a baby gate, a box on a surface the cat can reach and the dog cannot, or a door latch that leaves a cat sized gap.
Horse, goose and rabbit droppings
These turn up on walks. Horse and rabbit droppings in particular contain partly digested plant matter and still carry nutrients, which is why dogs find them worth eating. The risk here is less about the stool and more about what is in it: parasite eggs, and in paddocks, traces of worming medication given to the horse.
When eating poop is a medical sign
A minority of cases are driven by something physical. The pattern to watch for is a dog that did not do this before and has started, particularly an adult dog, or a dog doing it alongside other changes. Conditions that can be involved include:
- Intestinal parasites, which take nutrition from the dog and can leave it hungry
- Problems absorbing food, where calories pass through rather than being taken up
- Conditions that drive appetite hard, such as diabetes or an overactive adrenal gland
- Medications that increase hunger, with steroids the usual example
- Disease elsewhere, including the liver, which can show up as changes in appetite and behavior
Note what links most of these: the dog is hungry, or is not getting what it needs from its food. That is why a vet will usually start with a stool sample and a look at body weight rather than with training advice.
Is it actually dangerous?
For a healthy dog eating its own fresh stool in its own garden, the risk is low. The concerns rise with what else is in the stool and whose it is.
- Parasites pass this way. Roundworm, hookworm, whipworm and giardia all spread through stool, so eating another animal’s carries real risk
- Bacteria that cause stomach upsets travel the same route
- Cat litter is the quiet hazard. Clumping litter swallowed with the stool can cause a blockage, and that is a surgical problem
- Medication residue matters in paddocks and in multi pet homes, where one animal’s drugs reach another’s gut
There is also the simple fact that a dog that has just eaten stool will try to lick your face. Keeping worming up to date is sensible for the whole household, not only the dog.
How to stop it
The order matters here. Management first, training second, products a distant third.
Remove the opportunity
Pick up straight away, every time, including in your own garden and in the dark. A dog cannot practise a habit it never gets to perform, and every successful attempt makes the habit stronger. This single change fixes more cases than anything else on this list, and it is the one most people skip because it is tedious.
Keep the dog on a lead where you cannot clear up
On walks, in paddocks and anywhere with other dogs’ stool, a lead gives you the two seconds you need to steer away. A long line gives freedom without giving up control.
Teach a reliable leave it, and pay well for it
Train it away from stool first, with something boring on the floor, and build up. When your dog turns away from something on the ground, the reward has to be better than what it walked away from. A piece of chicken beats a dry biscuit here. The goal is a dog that looks up at you when it finds something, because looking up has always paid.
Do not punish after the event
Telling a dog off once the stool is gone teaches it to do it out of sight, or faster, and in some dogs it was the house training punishment that started the habit. If you have to interrupt, interrupt calmly and redirect, then reward the dog for coming to you.
Look at the food and the feeding routine
A dog that is genuinely hungry is harder to train out of this. Check that the amount being fed matches the dog’s weight and activity rather than the number on the bag, and consider splitting the day’s food into two or three meals so the gaps are shorter. If your dog finishes every meal in seconds, a slow feeder bowl or a food puzzle stretches it out and gives the dog something to do.
Be honest about deterrent products
Powders and chews that claim to make stool taste unpleasant are widely sold. In the survey work, owners reported very low success with them. They are worth trying if you want, but treat them as a small extra on top of clearing up and training, not as the fix. The same applies to hot sauce and similar home remedies, which also rely on the dog eating the stool to learn the lesson.
Does it mean I am feeding the wrong food?
This is the first conclusion most owners reach, and it is right less often than you would think. A food that genuinely fails a dog usually shows itself in other ways too: a dull coat, loose stool, weight that will not stay on, low energy. If your dog is in good condition and the only odd thing is this habit, the food is probably not the cause.
What does matter is quantity and timing. A dog fed slightly under what it needs, or fed once a day with a long gap, is a hungrier dog, and a hungrier dog is a harder one to train out of this. Before changing brands, check the portion against your dog’s actual weight and activity, and try splitting it into two meals. If you do decide to change food, change it gradually over about a week, because a sudden switch causes the loose stool that sends people back to the vet anyway.
When to call your vet
Book an appointment if any of these apply:
- An adult dog has started doing this and did not before
- Your dog is losing weight, or is hungry all the time
- The stool itself has changed in colour, smell or consistency, or there is diarrhoea
- Your dog is drinking or urinating noticeably more
- The dog has swallowed clumping cat litter, or is retching, straining or off its food afterwards
- You are seeing it alongside other new behaviors such as pacing, restlessness or confusion
Take a fresh stool sample with you if you can. It saves a visit and it is the fastest way to rule parasites in or out.
Three things that make it worse
- Shouting and chasing. To a dog that wanted your attention, this is a win, and to a nervous dog it is a reason to swallow faster next time
- Clearing up most of the time. A habit that pays off occasionally is harder to break than one that pays off every time, because the dog keeps checking
- Changing tactics every week. Picking one approach and running it for a month beats trying a new supplement, a new food and a new command in the same fortnight, and it also tells you what actually worked
What to expect
If this is habit rather than illness, clearing up consistently and rewarding your dog for leaving things alone usually produces a change within a few weeks. Puppies often stop on their own. Dogs that learned the behavior in a shelter or during harsh house training take longer, because they are unlearning something that once worked for them.
What does not work is waiting for the dog to grow out of a habit it gets to practise every day. The dogs that stop are, almost always, the dogs that stopped getting the chance.
Common questions about dogs eating poop
Why does my dog eat poop?
In most dogs it is instinct, boredom, learned attention seeking, or simply easy access rather than illness. A smaller number do it because a medical problem leaves them hungry or stops them absorbing their food. If nothing else has changed about your dog’s appetite, weight or energy, habit is the likelier answer.
Is it normal for puppies to eat poop?
Yes. Puppies explore with their mouths and stool is one more thing on the floor. Most stop well before their first birthday without any intervention. It is worth clearing up promptly anyway, because a puppy that gets to practise it every day is the one most likely to keep the habit.
Can eating poop make my dog ill?
Its own fresh stool in its own garden carries low risk. Another animal’s is the problem, because roundworm, hookworm, whipworm and giardia all spread this way, as do the bacteria behind ordinary stomach upsets. Clumping cat litter swallowed along with the stool is the one that can become a surgical emergency.
Why does my dog eat cat poop?
Cat food is high in protein and fat, and what comes out still smells strongly of it, so a dog reads it as food rather than waste. This is usually solved by access rather than training: a covered box, a baby gate, a box somewhere only the cat can reach, or a cat sized gap in a door.
Does it mean my dog’s food is missing something?
Usually not. A food that genuinely fails a dog tends to show up as a dull coat, loose stool, weight that will not stay on, or low energy. If your dog is in good condition and this habit is the only odd thing, look at how much it is fed and how long the gaps between meals are before changing brands.
Do poop eating deterrent chews and powders work?
Owners report very low success with them. They are worth trying if you want to, but treat them as a small extra alongside clearing up and training rather than the fix. The same applies to home remedies such as hot sauce, which only teach the lesson if the dog eats the stool first.
Will my dog grow out of eating poop?
Many puppies do. Adult dogs that have been doing it for a while are unlearning something that once worked for them, so it takes longer. The dogs that stop are almost always the dogs that stopped getting the chance, which is why consistent clearing up matters more than any single training method.
Can I catch something if my dog licks me afterwards?
The risk is low for a healthy adult, but it is not zero, and it rises with parasites in the picture. Keeping worming up to date for every pet in the house is the sensible precaution, along with hand washing. Anyone pregnant or with a weakened immune system should be more careful.
Should I tell my dog off for eating poop?
No. Punishment after the event teaches a dog to do it out of sight or to swallow faster next time, and in some dogs harsh house training is what started the habit. If you need to interrupt, do it calmly, redirect, then reward your dog for coming to you.
When should I take my dog to the vet about this?
Book an appointment if an adult dog has newly started, if your dog is losing weight or is hungry all the time, if the stool has changed or there is diarrhoea, if drinking or urinating has increased, or if clumping cat litter was swallowed. Take a fresh stool sample if you can.
More of our writing on why dogs behave the way they do is on the Pet Honpo blog.