Well the topic why does my labrador eat poop is a topic that I get asked about frequently and I think the problem is mostly the handler’s ability to tolerate the behavior. Labradors eating poop whether their own or another dog’s is pretty normal to them. There are theories that years ago when they lived in dens that somehow they knew that the poop had parasites in it and they ate their and the puppies’ poop to keep the den clean. Yes, more of a housekeeping theory than anything else, however, it’s just a theory and there really is no hard evidence explaining why Labs or any dogs eat feces.
So, the problem comes when the human handler has a hard time accepting this because the behavior is not normal in the human world. So think about it, the problem is really that it grosses the human out. Certainly we have some suggestions on how to fix this The common although incorrect thought about a dog eating their own poop is that they have some sort of behavior problems.
Let’s understand that not all dogs tend to eat poop, rather it is slightly more of an issue in the females and I will guess that’s because they lick their puppies to stimulate them to eliminate which results in cleaning of their waste areas. So I suppose this behavior is slightly more natural for female Labs because it is part of the puppy raising process. A second point worth noting is that most dogs will eat fresh poop under 2 days old. So the older hard poop isn’t likely an issue for dog owners.
Now to the fix and yes you can fix it completely, I’d like to draw your attention to the fact that service dogs don’t eat poop. Nope, they don’t. Why you ask? Well it’s because they have been trained not to. You can curb this behavior by simply training your dog to obey the “leave it” command. Once they learn this, if on a walk you come across a pile of poop your Lab begin to move towards simply issue the leave it command and they will do just that – leave it.
A second way to get them to leave poop alone is to tell them to “come.” When you see your dog moving to eat stool weather dog, deer, bunny, goose or other simply call them to come and if they have been trained they will respond to your command and leave the poop where it lie. These training commands should stop your dog from eating poop in the first place.
I know, we live in a world of searching for a pill that will fix things. There have been a few cases where some vitamin B supplements or an enzyme called papain may help curb their urge to eat the poop but it is not overwhelmingly successful. As well, if you begin messing with your dog’s nutrients or your dog’s food to get them to stop a behavior just because you think it is gross then you should question if you really should have a dog. Your dog needs a high quality food as much as they need high quality dog treats. Dogs do dog things. They aren’t people even though we love them like they are. So my suggestion is to not experiment with your dog’s nutrients because this could affect their health.
Where does that leave us? Well if we don’t want to spend the time to obedient train them to leave it, and we don’t want to disturb their health with supplements and enzymes we could resort to spraying a spray purchased at the pet store onto the poop. This would mean that we would have to walk around to all poop in the area and instead of picking it up we would spray some chemical on it that deters our Lab from eating it…which works only some of the time for some dogs. It would be easier to keep your yard area clean and free of poop so your dog can’t start eating it.
Have you figured it out yet? Yes, training and cleaning up the poop as soon as possible are the reasonable solutions for ending your dog’s love affair with it. There is no pill, there is no easy solution. This is part of owning an animal that if you can’t teach it out of them you will have to get use to. Don’t let it upset you, rather return to the understanding that you own an animal, a dog. It does dog things. Some of which you may think are gross or unacceptable and I’d have to say I agree. It is pretty gross. But for me, I can’t feel comfortable giving my dog any type of supplement to fix something I think is gross. Training and quick clean up is the only solution. And a quick clean up also means that there is less poop in the yard for parasites to breed in meaning fewer issues with my Lab in the future.
Parasites that live in feces including giardia and coccidia once eaten by your dog then become intestinal parasites. They live in the digestive tract of your dog and though many adult dogs carry these parasites, it could cause weight loss diarrhea in younger dogs. A younger puppy who may carry one of these parasites could develop a severe diarrhea causing them to not want to eat and possibly dehydrate to the point of death. These parasites are diagnosed by taking a stool sample in to your vet for analysis. So if your Lab’s stool appears to contain mucus and or blood, take a sample in right away for analysis.
So take the time to teach your dog how you want him or her to behave. This doesn’t only include jumping on people, chewing the furniture, eliminating in the home (though eating their own poop would surely fix this problem), and not eating their, another dog’s or another animal’s poop. Yes it will be a little work up front, but making the commitment to care for your new puppy should also come with the commitment to train it properly in all aspects of the word.
