Dog owners are always disgusted by the behavior of stool eating. The question is, “Why do dogs eat their stool?” While there may be various reasons why dogs eat their stool and as I heard one speaker recently say, “I know it’s not a nutritional issue!” and it may not be a nutritional issue, but the answer in my view is B-Vitamins.

We know that breeds of dogs that are food motivated, multiple dog homes and kennel/shelter situations, see an increase incidence of stool eating. We also know that if we feed a B-vitamin-free diet to a dog, the dog will stool eat, however if a dog stool eats, this does not necessarily mean the dog is B-vitamin deficient!

In the wild, a wolf will obtain his B-vitamins from eating the gut contents of the animal that they kill. Intestinal flora creates B-vitamins. The further back in the intestinal tract you go, the more flora there is and the more B-Vitamins there are. Unlike fat soluble vitamins such as A, D and E, water soluble vitamins like B-vitamins are not stored in the body for very long. Also, B-vitamins are used fairly rapidly. When we humans consume an energy drink loaded with B-vitamins, we are hopped up right away. If a wolf in the wild does not kill an animal for a few days, how does the wolf get his B-vitamins he needs on a daily basis? He gets his B-vitamins by eating the stool of other animals or eating his own if he has to! So, in the end instinct is telling the dog to stool eat!

If we are saying the dog is eating the stool for B-vitamins, can we make the situation worse by increasing the level of B-vitamins in the diet? The answer is yes! So how do we use B-vitamins to get the dog to stop stool eating? Well, there are probably dogs that may be B-vitamin deficient due to food processing losses, but more than likely there are dogs that instinct is telling them, “I am not B-deficient, but I am not sure when I will kill my next animal, so I had better eat that stool now!” Now go back to the energy drink! You may like energy drinks, but would you drink 5 in a day? Probably not! This may be an extreme example, but increased levels of B-vitamins may have instinct sending the signal, “No more B-Vitamins!” An answer that ends up being more of a training issue using B-vitamins than a nutritional one.

We have seen a high rate of success using any of our supplements Fido-Vite, SportzDog, Flexx and ResQdogz at the rate of 1 oz/20 lbs. body weight/daily. This usually means an 8-week process if the dog is not currently on our supplements. Two weeks to start slowly, 2 weeks at the high rate until the dog stops stool eating and then another 3-4 weeks at the high rate to change habits.

Are you wanting to know more? Give us a call, we would be happy to discuss it with you.