EATING DROPPINGS Almost without exception when a dog eats his own waste matter or indeed that of another animal, the owner is appalled and revolted, thinking perhaps that he has a perverted dog on his hands! The correct term for this practice is coprophagia and not only is it common, it is also normal! It is not a sign of illness and depravity, it is a normal part of the food gathering process.
Remember that your dog is a carnivore, he would kill and eat any animal in the wild and that includes the contents of the bowel.
The feces of an animal are a rich source of enzymes and microorganisms and once these elements reach the stomach of the dog they aid digestion.
The live microorganisms are killed when they reach the stomach and their fats, proteins and vitamins are then absorbed by the dog.
Dogs fed on an artificial diet are more likely to eat their own droppings plus the droppings of other animal.
Dogs fed on a natural diet will rarely eat their own droppings as the waste eliminated from a natural diet is simply powdered bone and this has little nutritional value.
They may still eat other animals droppings.
Bearing in mind that the dog needs the elements contained in the feces you could feed your dog a bowl of animal droppings a couple of times a week! ..
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not sure about that! However a much better way to give your dog the probiotics he needs is to give him yogurt, cottage cheese and eggs.
He may still like to eat the natural source sometimes--remember its normal! You may also notice that your dog likes to eat soil.
This is for the same reasons as eating droppings: he will gain important elements and nutrients from the soil so don't worry about it.
ROLLING IN IT Rolling in animal droppings, or indeed any other foul smelling substances is another example of how our dogs unwittingly offend us.
we think of it as dirty, disgusting behavior but to a dog it is a normal instinctive part of his canine personality.
One of the most commonly accepted reasons for this behavior is that in dog language the more pungent he smells the more superior he appears to another dog.
This desire to smell more powerful than other dogs reverts back to when dogs were wild and hunting in packs.
The pack leader would wish to impress on his subordinates that he was still top dog, or perhaps a dog lower in the pecking order would attempt to challenge the pack leader and so to give him added courage he would first roll in strong smelling animal droppings.
Although our pet dogs have been domesticated for centuries the desire and instinct to cover themselves in to us evil smells is still very strong even though they may not know why they are doing it.
It could occur if you are still having a tussle with your dog as to who is boss, so the dog reverts to his instinctive behavior to impress you.
Our reaction to our smelly dogs is firstly to reject them, not wanting them to get near us and secondly to bath them as soon as we can to get rid of the smell.
This can in turn heighten the desire for the dog to repeat his rolling actions as soon as he gets the chance.
If this behavior really bothers you then you can get a special collar which emits an odour offensive to the dog, when activated at the appropriate time by a hand held remote control.