Dog's Inability to Stop Eating Poop: The Unbreakable Ha

Today's discussion does not revolve around how to cure a dog's unsightly habit of eating feces. Instead, we are here to explore the latest research findings from around the world on this peculiar canine behavior.

Is it due to a lack of nutrition?

A quick search on Baidu for this question yields answers that are often vague, suggesting deficiencies in trace elements or poor diet. However, these explanations offer little help to dog owners genuinely seeking assistance. Dogs that suffer from nutrient deficiencies and eat feces have already been improved through nutritional supplementation. As for those dogs that are obsessed with this habit, no amount of trace elements can deter them.

Behavioral Explanation

The behavior of wolves can shed light on this mystery. Wolves excrete various parasitic eggs through their feces, but these eggs do not quickly evolve into adult worms. Consequently, wolves will actively consume the feces around their territory—a rather gross practice, yet one that significantly reduces their risk of parasitic infection.

Curious about why ingesting parasitic eggs reduces infection risk? According to Professor Cliff's research at the University of Arizona, a substance is secreted by the wolf's digestive system when it digests feces, which can kill the eggs but not the adult worms.

What's even more intriguing is that wolves only show interest in relatively fresh feces, defined as within 48 hours. When studying dogs with a penchant for eating feces, it's observed that they too are drawn to fresh feces, around the same 48hour window.

In other words, after 48 hours, the eggs in the feces have evolved into adult worms, and the wolves naturally lose interest in consuming them. Many behavioral experts around the world have recognized this connection between the two behaviors, confirming that this habit is not just a guess but a welldocumented canine behavior.

So, if your dog is hopelessly obsessed with eating feces, the best solution might be to keep it away from any piles of dog waste.

Another Explanation

It seems that stray dogs in rural areas have a stronger tendency to eat feces. Why is that? Well, both human and animal feces contain undigested proteins that can meet the nutritional needs of these stray dogs, who are often fighting for survival.

This means that in order to survive, these stray dogs are forced to consume feces. Dogs with a pronounced tendency to eat feces will seek out other means to supplement their stomachs and brains when they are not yet satisfied, and one of those means is eating feces.

Moreover, this behavior can be contagious. If several dogs are together, once one dog starts eating feces, the others may follow suit, almost as if they're joining a group bathroom break.

If a dog has been confirmed to eat feces 10 or more times and does so at least once a week, it is classified as a severe feceseating dog.