Short answer: most dogs eat their own poop out of leftover instinct, boredom, or a gap in their diet — not because something is medically wrong. The behavior has a name, coprophagy, and research from the University of California, Davis found it in about 16% of dogs studied. It is gross, it is common, and in most cases it is fixable with cleanup, supervision, and giving your dog something better to chew on.
I am Preston Smith, co-founder of Bully Sticks Central. We have been selling single-ingredient chews to dog owners for years, and this question comes up in our inbox constantly. Here is what actually causes it and what actually works.
Why do dogs eat poop in the first place?
Wild canines cleaned up their den sites. Removing waste kept parasites down and kept scent away from predators. Mother dogs still do this instinctively with their litters — they clean up after their puppies for the first few weeks of life. Puppies watch, and some of them copy it.
According to the American Kennel Club, the UC Davis research found the behavior clustered in dogs who were greedy eaters and in multi-dog households — which points more toward scavenging instinct than toward disease.
Is it a nutritional deficiency?
This is the theory everyone repeats, and the evidence for it is thinner than you would think. Most dogs who eat poop are eating a complete, balanced diet. That said, a few things do raise the odds:
- Underfeeding. A hungry dog scavenges. Check that your portion sizes actually match your dog's weight and activity level.
- Poor absorption. If food is passing through mostly undigested, the stool still smells like food to your dog. That is a vet conversation.
- Parasites. Worms steal nutrients and drive up appetite. Worth a fecal test if the behavior is new.
- Medications. Steroids and some other drugs crank up hunger.
VCA Animal Hospitals notes that medical causes are real but relatively uncommon — most cases are behavioral.
Is it boredom or stress?
Often, yes. A dog left alone in a yard with nothing to do will find something to do. Crated dogs, under-exercised dogs, and dogs who have been punished for accidents indoors are all more likely to eat stool — that last group sometimes learns to destroy the evidence.
This is where chewing matters. Chewing is a self-soothing behavior for dogs, and a dog with a real chew in front of him is not out hunting for poop. Our bully sticks are 100% natural, 100% real meat, single-ingredient, fully digestible, and contain no rawhide — nothing added to upset a sensitive stomach. You can read more about how bully sticks work as a high-protein chew if you are new to them.
Is it dangerous?
Eating their own fresh stool is usually low-risk. The real problems start elsewhere:
- Other dogs' stool can carry parvovirus, giardia, roundworms, and whipworms.
- Cat litter box raids can transmit toxoplasma and cause litter impaction.
- Wildlife droppings can carry leptospirosis and other pathogens.
If your dog is eating anyone's stool but his own, treat it as a priority to shut down.
How do you stop a dog from eating poop?
- Pick it up immediately. No opportunity, no habit. This alone solves a large share of cases.
- Leash your dog for potty breaks for a couple of weeks so you control what happens after he goes.
- Teach "leave it" and pay well for it. Reward the moment he turns away, every time, with something he actually wants.
- Do not punish. Scolding after the fact teaches your dog to hide the behavior, not to quit it.
- Give him a real job for his mouth. A daily chew burns the energy that would otherwise go into scavenging.
- Rule out the medical stuff. Fecal test, weight check, and a look at diet — especially if this started suddenly in an adult dog.
- Block the litter box. A baby gate or a covered box ends cat-box snacking.
Taste-aversion additives (the products that make stool taste worse) have a mixed track record — the AKC-cited research found them effective in a minority of cases. Management and enrichment beat them.
What about puppies?
Puppies explore with their mouths, and most grow out of this by about nine months. Do not panic, but do not let it become routine either — clean up fast and redirect to a size-appropriate chew. If you are wondering whether your puppy is old enough, we wrote a full guide on when puppies can have bully sticks.
The bottom line
Coprophagy is usually a management problem, not a mystery. Clean up promptly, feed enough, get the vet involved if it is new or sudden, and give your dog a legitimate outlet for chewing. Everything we make is single-ingredient and ethically sourced from grass-fed American and Argentinean farms, and it is 100% high-quality guaranteed — because what your dog puts in his mouth should be simple enough that you know exactly what it is. If you are rethinking what goes into your dog's bowl generally, our list of foods dogs should never eat is a good next read.
This post was last updated at August 6, 2026 21:29
