It's a... poopy situation.
Dogs might have a good sense of smell, but that doesn’t mean they have a good sense of taste. They have a knack for finding awful stuff that can make for unpleasant walks. Photo: dpa
“Animals don’t look at best-before dates or whether a package is damaged,” says veterinarian and animal behaviour therapist Ronald Lindner. “They just digest and see if it tastes good or not.” However, it is also conceivable that the eating of dog excrement is just “something to do”. Dogs that grew up in shelters sometimes exhibit this behaviour, and it can sometimes mask a need for attention.
“It doesn’t take 10 minutes to teach them the basics,” says Lindner. “But then you have to practise it thousands of times until the behaviour is instilled.”