Many owners are shocked when their sweet little French Bulldog eats poop. It is common enough to have its own name called coprophagy. Not all Frenchies will do this but some will. Let’s help you understand why and how to prevent it.
Medical Reasons Your French Bulldog eats poop.
- Enzyme Deficiency:
Wild dogs were depending on eating whole prey for food which would provide them with additional digestive enzymes that just the ones they produce. Think pancreas. With kibble as most dogs main source of food they aren’t provided much in terms of digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes help break down nutrients in a way that they can be digested. If they are not getting enough nutrients they could turn around and eat their poo.
2. Parasites
Your Frenchie could have parasites. Parasites need food too to stay alive and may cause your French Bulldog to not be able to absorb nutrients.
Increased appetite from conditions such as diabetes, thyroid disorders, or taking steroids may make your little one feel hungry
3. Hydrochloric acid deficiency
If your Frenchie doesn’t have enough hydrochloric acid he may not be able to properly digest food resulting in a loss of nutrients. He may then turn to finding those nutrients in his feces.
5. Underfeeding.
If your French Bulldog is losing weight he may not be getting enough nutrients from his food. A hungry dog will look for other sources of food.
Behavioral Reasons Your French Bulldog Eats Poop.
- Learned behavior from mother.
One of the reasons they might is they learn it from their mother. Momma’s eat their puppies puppy poo to keep things clean and tidy. Some of their little ones just might catch on and make it a habit.
2. Exploration
Most puppies put everything in their mouths to learn more about their environment…including poop. Fortunately, I have noticed most Frenchies who do tend to grow out of it in a few weeks, months, and at the latest around one year old.
3. Boredom.
Sometime they eat poop because they don’t have anything else to do.
4. Scavengers.
Dogs are natural scavengers and unlike us it smells great to them.
5. Stress.
Some dogs eat their own poo to relieve stress.
6. Attention seeking
It may seem weird but some may think bad attention is better than no attention. They may do it for attention.
7. Punishment.
Some dogs are concerned with being punished so they eat it to hide the evidence.
How to stop your French Bulldog from eating poop.
- Keep it clean.
Go outside with your Frenchie and pick up the poop as soon as he goes.
2. Develop Play.
It’s important to keep your Frenchies mind stimulated with play and toys that stimulate his brain. Make sure they are safe and always supervise when playing with toys.
3. Feed a good quality diet & consider adding a multivitamin, digestive enzymes, and probiotics.
Add a good quality multivitamin with minerals. Giving your French a good multivitamin/mineral can prevent him to looking at his poo to meet his nutritional needs.
For a hydrochloric acid deficiency consider adding apple cider vinegar in their water or mixed with food at 1 tsp per 25lbs body weight. If your puppy is around 12lbs then give about 1/2 tsp as a reference.
4. Check for parasites.
Call your vet and ask for him to do a fecal sample. Deworm your Frenchie regularly as well.
Studies show punishing your French isn’t effective. The food additives are only effective 2% of the time. Keep your French Bulldogs digestive tract in consideration when eating poo. He may be deficient in something. I will tell you that each of mine has outgrown it. Sometimes it’s a few weeks, months, and others stop around 1 year old.
