There are reasons your dog will even eat that

While humans may refer to their dogs as fur babies, it’s undeniable they have some distinctly non-human habits — very thorough tongue bathes, social derriere sniffing, and perhaps the worst of all, eating not just the leavings of other animals, but snacking on their own as well.

Believe it or not, while repulsive to humans, eating the feces of other creatures, for instance those horrifying moments when the family pooch snags a gravel coated morsel from the cat box, is more common than one might think.

A behavior known in the scientific realm as coprophagy, consuming the feces of others can come in handy in the wild, particularly since some animals do not fully digest nutrients, which can make a great find for a hungry critter that stumbles across a fresh donation.

To humans who catch their beloved dog snacking on fresh waste, the stomach-turning reaction can send them scrambling for something that will curb their dog’s appetite because it’s the last thing one wants a horrified dinner guest to watch through the window, and completely destroys any sentimental attachment to kisses from the dog.

While theories abound as to why dogs in particular are known to engage in coprophagy, little is known about the actual factors that encourage the behavior, according to a researcher from the UC-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

With that in mind, Benjamin Hart and four others from UC-Davis set about learning the reasons and influences that could be involved. Their findings were published in mid-January.

Using a survey method, the team conducted two rounds of questionnaires, the first of which involved 1,552 dog owners to evaluate coprophagic versus non-coprophagic pets. The second focused on 1,475 owners of dogs known to engage in coprophagy to try and understand the characteristics of the behavior.

Of those surveyed in the first group, owners reported behaviors in between 16 and 23 percent of the dogs that could be classified as coprophagy.

And they seem to be fighting a losing battle, because of those owners trying to address the issue, the majority reported between 0-2 percent success using commercial products designed to stop feces eating.

When evaluating the dogs known to indulge, the researchers found, contrary to popular theories, coprophagy does not appear related to how long a puppy remains with its mother, coprophagic dogs are just as easy to house train as non-coprophagic dogs, and gender, spay/neutering, age and diet are also not factors in the behavior.

In fact other than identifying breeds such as terriers, hounds and Shetland sheepdogs as slightly more prone and noting that poodles included in the surveys didn’t show any tendency at all, there were only two factors consistently tied to coprophagic dogs — greedy eating and dogs in households with two or more dogs.

In the end, the researchers’ best guess was it hearkens back to the wolf, which uses coprophagy as an efficient way to move parasite infected feces from areas around the pack’s den because there’s a 48-hour window in which most parasites can safely pass through the digestive system without infecting the consumer.

Interestingly enough, the domestic dogs in the study only ate feces two days old or less, lending credibility to the theory.

So as revolting as it is to see your beloved pooch snacking on waste, there is a good chance your pal is actively working to clean the area around the family to help keep parasites away from the ones they love — a small consolation, but a sweet gesture nonetheless.

Sharna Johnson is always searching for ponies. Contact her at: [email protected]