Sunday, January 16, 2011

Why do Dogs eat Poop?

Here's a question I've had for a long time...  Why do dogs eat poop?

The Alpaca Dog loves to eat alpaca poop.  He will stop when I tell him "NO!" But he snags a few beans every day.  He loves it so much that I bet he would do a good job mucking, if we let him.

The Alpaca Dog looking for poop
Years ago we had another dog that thought horse poop was the best thing on earth and our neighbor's dog used to eat cat poop.

Oh, and this brings up another question.  Why do dogs roll around in poop?

The Alpaca Dog went to visit our neighbor's cows last fall and came back covered in fresh cow patty.  He was so proud.  At least until he found himself in the middle of a freezing-in-the-back-yard-cold-day-bath.

So those are my questions for today...  (1) Why do dogs eat poop? and (2) Why do dogs roll around in poop?

If you have any theories or actual knowledge on these subjects, I would love to know.  :-)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

No theories or knowledge since I've never had a dog, but I'd like to point out that an upside to cats is that they do not eat anyone's poop ;). But really, I'm just happy you posted some more alpacas. That medium brown one sitting down to the right is soooooooo cute.

Kathryn Ray said...

That is true about cats. I can't imagine one being caught dead eating poop. It's just not civilized enough for cats. :-)

The alpaca is Daisy. She was our second cria and first girl. I love her so much. She's expecting her first cria in August. :-)

AllyB said...

I've heard that dogs roll in feces to mask their scent when they are hunting. Not sure how that relates to whatever situation your pooch was in when he rolled in it though, LOL I have a pug that likes rabbit pellets...which he is great at finding in our backyard, ew.

Kathryn Ray said...

That makes sense. He's has caught 2 rabbits so far and has been trying to catch squirrels and mice.

Funny that Little Dog eats rabbit poop.