Poop eating, also known as coprophagia, is one of the more unpleasant dog behaviours! It is a normal, but anti-social habit for our canine companions.

Mother dogs will clean up after their puppies, and often pups will investigate and eat poop while they are young. They usually grow out of this though.

While eating poo is normal and generally nothing to worry about, we often want to train our dogs NOT to do it. It’s a good idea to start with a check-up at the vets, especially if this is a new behaviour, just to rule out any health issues and make sure your dog is up to date with parasite treatment.

Check your dog’s diet. Are they eating a decent quality complete food? Dietary deficiencies can cause dogs to eat inappropriate things.

If your dog is healthy and poop eating is just a nasty habit, you can manage this, and training will help. Reducing your pet’s opportunity to practice this behaviour may include keeping them on a lead while on walks, and even in the garden, until they’ve been to the loo, and you've picked it up.

Your dog’s recall will need to be very good before letting them off-lead again, and you can also teach a “leave” cue which will stop them picking poo up in the first place.

Take a toy on a walk for your dog to carry and play with, as if they focus on something else, they’re less likely to go searching for poop to eat!

Some animal poop is quite nutritious for dogs, which is why they find it so appealing. Faeces from herbivores such as rabbits, cows and horses can all provide a much more digestible form of fibre than plain vegetation. If your dog is likely to eat horse or cow poop, you should work on the “leave” cue and try to prevent them eating it. Horses and cows are treated with anti-parasite drugs that can be toxic to dogs if ingested.

Muzzling your dog may also be an option, but this will not replace good training, many dogs learn to eat through their muzzle!