March 9: Coprophagia

About a month ago my dog, Riley, developed a new, special problem. She decided that she wanted to start eating poop during our afternoon outing to the soccer field. There are all types of animals (rabbit, geese, deer, foxes, etc.) in the area and it doesn't seem as though she discriminates. She'll pretty much eat any kind of poop, except her own.

I recently discussed this with my friend Ninja, who provided me with a link that offered more information about the subject. It was then I learned that Riley has both intraspecific (animal eating stool of another within its own species) and interspecific (animal eating stool of a different species) coprophagia.

I placed a call to the vet who informed me that many dogs exhibit this behavior and that the best way to prevent it would be to muzzle Riley when we go to the field.