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  • Hi everyone, I wanted to introduce you to the new puppy I brought home yesterday!

  • This is Arlo and he's a Spanish Water Dog.

  • To commemorate the occasion I thought I'd bring you guys a dog-themed Gross Science.

  • And it just so happens that someone on YouTube recently asked me a gross question about dogs.

  • So, Joe Frailey on YouTube asked (and I'm paraphrasing here)

  • Why do dogs sometimes eat poop?”

  • Why do you guys sometimes do that?

  • We'll find out.

  • I'm Anna Rothschild, and this is Gross Science.

  • So, let me begin by saying that lots of dogs will eat poop at some point in their lives.

  • Mother dogs will actually often eat their puppies' poop, and some scientists believe

  • this could be a behavioral adaptation to avoid parasites in the wild.

  • You see, most dogs, and other carnivores, will poop away from their dens, so they don't

  • come into contact with larval parasites in their feces, accidentally reinfecting themselves

  • and increasing their parasite load.

  • But puppies can't leave the den, so mothers will often eat their puppies' fresh feces

  • before the parasite eggs inside the poop become infectious.

  • Puppies will often mimic this behavior, but most will grow out of it by adulthood.

  • That said, according to the American Kennel Club, about 16 percent of dogs areserious

  • stool eaters.」

  • Coprophagia is the technical term for the act of eating poop, and adult dogs will do

  • it for a variety of reasons.

  • To begin with, it could be related to nutrition.

  • A dog might just not be getting enough of a particular nutrient in its diet.

  • Also, according to a 1988 paper, the dog could have a condition that causes food to pass through it before it's been digested

  • so the dog eats its poop to recoup the lost nutrients.

  • So, you should definitely see your vet to determine if the cause of your dog's coprophagia

  • could be related to his or her health.

  • Alternatively, the coprophagia could be due to anxiety or environmental stress.

  • For example, according to the American Kennel Club, if a dog is severely punished when it

  • poops in the wrong place, it might get the wrong idea and assume it was punished because

  • it was pooping.

  • So in the future, it may eat its feces to hide the evidence.

  • Or, depending on the circumstances, eating poop could be an attention-getting behavior.

  • Another idea is that the dog may have an inappropriate association with the scent of poop.

  • Perhaps the dog is fed close to where it goes to the bathroom, so it begins to equate the

  • scent of poop with food.

  • Or perhaps it associates the smell with its mother, who as I mentioned, may have eaten

  • its poop, or licked its behind to encourage it to go to the bathroom when it was young.

  • Unfortunately, there's not a ton you can do to keep your dog from eating poop.

  • The best strategy is just to swoop in as quickly as you can and clean up the mess before your

  • pooch has a chance to get into it.

  • Some people recommend treating the dog's food with meat tenderizers, or baiting the

  • poop with something unsavory, like tabasco sauce, but I've heard conflicting reports

  • about the effectiveness of those methods.

  • Above all, don't make a huge fuss if your dog does eat poop, because it might just reinforce

  • an attention-getting behavior, so just try to stay calm.

  • And remember, you know, if your dog eats a little of his or her own poop, it probably

  • won't get sick.

  • But I know that doesn't really help.

  • It's still totally disgusting.

  • I hope you don't ever eat your own poop.

  • Ew.

Hi everyone, I wanted to introduce you to the new puppy I brought home yesterday!

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