Potty training Pup and eating her own poop, help!!

[sexywrxchick]

Hello everyone. I have a 15 week old black Pug named Raven, I go to school 5 days a week (although I am off right now so now would be the perfect time to fix this problem, I have until Feb 13th) anyways.....I went to school 5 days a week and I was gone from 6:30am until 4:30 pm and she was in a crate, well the first week of that was hell, crying alllllll the time, I swear she never stopped at all, then she got used to it, now she would go to the bathroom when I fed her then took her out and sometimes poop, but the same problem as before wih the other person, when you would put her in the cage within 5 minutes she would pee and poop and walks in it, I dont know what to do, when I first got her she was using those puppy diaper pad things, now I just put newspaper in there because she goes through so much of it, does anyone know how I can get her to know that it is bad to go where she sleeps and to start going outside, and is it possible to have her started on that by then? Another problem I have is diarreah, when I first got her she got it really bad and she had a little blood in it and I took her to the vet and they said that she had worms that was why, well we dewormed her and it went away, but when I got her the breeders gave me the diamond food and she has all the symptoms of the problems they just had so that was why she had the blood in the poop, but anyways he gave me these anti diarreah pills and told me once I saw the first hard stool to stop the pills, and in the meantime during the time she was on the pills he had me have her ont he rice and meat diet to bind her up, well did it it went away, this was when she was 10 weeks, so I gradually put her back on her Purina puppy chow and she was fine on that whole meal for one day and then the diarreah came back so I switched to Beneful gradually she was fine for a day then the diarrea came back so I switched back to purina again, my ? is, why does she keep getting diarreah and how do I get it to stop coming back? The vet cant figure it out and I keep giving him money that I do not have, one last problem, when she has the runny poop she tends to eat it, I mean in a matter of minutes, I go to the bathroom and I come back into the kitchen and there is the piece of newspaper with a spot on it where there was poop but the poop is gone, and it is on her face which is DISGUSTING, is she doing this for more attention or will it just go away, someone told me aboout deter some pill I could give her which would make her poop taste "sour", Please help guys anything is appreciated.....

April

[Shalva]

Originally Posted by sexywrxchick

Hello everyone. I have a 15 week old black Pug named Raven, I go to school 5 days a week (although I am off right now so now would be the perfect time to fix this problem, I have until Feb 13th) anyways.....I went to school 5 days a week and I was gone from 6:30am until 4:30 pm

waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy to long for a baby to be in a crate...... she can only hold it one hour for every month she is old so she is 3.5 mos. so 3.5 hours... this means that someone needs to make arrangements for her to go out at least twice during the day...... probably 3 times but twice would be good.......

now she would go to the bathroom when I fed her then took her out and sometimes poop, but the same problem as before wih the other person, when you would put her in the cage within 5 minutes she would pee and poop and walks in it,

the crate is to big and she doesn't understand that dogs are supposed to be clean..... this is a big problem and is going to take some effort to fix.......

I dont know what to do, when I first got her she was using those puppy diaper pad things, now I just put newspaper in there because she goes through so much of it, does anyone know how I can get her to know that it is bad to go where she sleeps and to start going outside, and is it possible to have her started on that by then?

I hate those **** potty pads or newspapers..... there is an article on this board about crate training...... in this thread.....
http://www.globalpaw.com/thread11975.html

read it, the problem is that basically your pup has learned that being dirty is ok...... you are gonig to have to break that habit....... I would do what this article says, it is the one I give to my puppy people .... make the crate smaller so she doesn't have the room to get away from her poop and start feeding her in the crate......

Another problem I have is diarreah, when I first got her she got it really bad and she had a little blood in it and I took her to the vet and they said that she had worms that was why, well we dewormed her and it went away, but when I got her the breeders gave me the diamond food and she has all the symptoms of the problems they just had so that was why she had the blood in the poop, but anyways he gave me these anti diarreah pills and told me once I saw the first hard stool to stop the pills, and in the meantime during the time she was on the pills he had me have her ont he rice and meat diet to bind her up, well did it it went away, this was when she was 10 weeks, so I gradually put her back on her Purina puppy chow and she was fine on that whole meal for one day and then the diarreah came back so I switched to Beneful gradually she was fine for a day then the diarrea came back so I switched back to purina again, my ? is, why does she keep getting diarreah and how do I get it to stop coming back?

sounds like you have a food problem and not to offend here but purina puppy chow is nothing I would EVER feed to my dog and I can tell you that if one of my puppy people fed either of those foods you are talking about they void their health guarantee.... those foods are junk....

If you can't afford a better food then at least switch your pup to Purina One it is the better of the purina foods.... still not good but better. Also you might try a food like Innova Evo if you can afford a more expensive food as it has few grains in it.... if you have wormed your dog and he is fine on hamburger and rice and then wehn you switch to kibble he starts having bloody stool again.... first if your breeder is reputable I would talk to her and it sounds to me like a food problem..... If your dog indeed has been eating the diamond then it may be that you need to go to the vet and rule out an liver problems..... I would think though (non medical opinion) that if your puppy had aflatoxin poisoning you would have seen a much more severe illness than you are at this point.

The vet cant figure it out and I keep giving him money that I do not have, one last problem, when she has the runny poop she tends to eat it, I mean in a matter of minutes, I go to the bathroom and I come back into the kitchen and there is the piece of newspaper with a spot on it where there was poop but the poop is gone, and it is on her face which is DISGUSTING, is she doing this for more attention or will it just go away, someone told me aboout deter some pill I could give her which would make her poop taste "sour", Please help guys anything is appreciated.....

April

dogs do disgusting things but her eating her poop may actually be a good sign in that she is trying to clean up after her.... the issue to me is that you need to keep a better eye on her and she should not have the opportunity to poop in her crate.... so if that means you ahve to take her out every twenty minutes until she understands that being clean is what she wants then you have to do that.....

read the crate training and housebreaking article and then see if you have any more questions.....

S

[Tiffany0204]

I've been having an ongoing issue with Gizmo eating his poop as well. I've tried the pineapple... doesn't work. I'm in process of the canned pumpkin...it's helping a bit, but not entirely.

I also try to get it cleaned up asap. It's tough though, because I'm still housetraining him, so it's difficult to try and praise him for pooping outside then in the next breath be telling him not to eat his poop! I'll follow him around and be right beside him, but he'll turn around mid-poop and try to get to it before I do. I think he thinks it's a game.

I was hoping to try and not go the Forbid route, or pills and whatever to make it taste funky, but I'm starting to wonder it might be better.


Shalva gave some good advice about the crates. If you get a divider you can make it smaller, which would be better. I remember reading somewhere that if you are purchasing a crate, go for the size you'd need when the dog is full grown, and get a divider. "Think den, not condo".

[Spiritus]

I see this situation in a little different light.

...now she would go to the bathroom when I fed her then took her out and sometimes poop, but the same problem as before with the other person, when you would put her in the cage within 5 minutes she would pee and poop and walks in it, I dont know what to do,

Dog's naturally like to be clean. That is why most times, crate training is such a great tool to use when house training. Raven is being crated for 10 hours per day when the maximum time she can hold it is about 4 hours. She has no choice but to urinate and deficate in her crate. She also has no choice but to live in it, and now it is "normal" for her.

I am a stong believer in crate training. I think that crate training is a wonderful thing to do for your dog. So, this may sound a bit off, but I would say stop crating her. She has learned that her crate is where she goes potty, because that is the only choice she had. Buy an xpen (a 4' x 4' portable wire pen) and set it up for her with an area for sleep/play, an area for potty, and an area for water. If you can't afford a pen, gate her in a small area. Some people use the bathroom, but I have heard of dogs finding the water hoses behind the toilet and chewing through them.... not a pleasant thing to come home to.

I am assuming that since she was crated for 10 hours a day, she did not have access to food or water. This can be very hard on a puppy, if not dangerous, and this alone can explain the loose stools and the coprophagia (poop eating). It is not known exactly why dogs eat their own poop. It can be a stress behavior, a boredom behavior, sometimes it can be because the dog is lacking nutrients in it's diet, though there is no research that explains THE REASON for it. As Shalva says, this is a BIG problem. I recommend giving her the room so that she has a choice to stay clean.

...so I gradually put her back on her Purina puppy chow and she was fine on that whole meal for one day and then the diarreah came back so I switched to Beneful gradually she was fine for a day then the diarrea came back so I switched back to purina again, my ? is, why does she keep getting diarreah and how do I get it to stop coming back?

If you've been to the vet and know she's healthy, find a good quality food and stick to it. Stop switching back and forth. Crating for long periods, having worms, changes in diet, poor diet, lack of water... all of thse can cause her bowel to be irritated, which could cause the diarrhea.

I have a question about the diarrhea.... is it uncontrolable diarrhea, or is it just runny stools? If it's uncontrollable, you need to keep investigating with your vet. If it's runny stools and the vet has cleared her, pick a good food, put her on it, and give her time for her bowels to settle. Also, as long as she has runny stools, she needs to have access to water so that she doesn't dehydrate. She could be eating her own stools for the water content....

Good luck with your girl. Please let us know how she does.

[fancychicken]

Thats my question also ..is it just runny stool? Her tummy may be a lttle upset ect.. try changing her food. will she eat plain rice? try mixing that in with her food. As for the poop eating thing...I have an excellent solution. Worked wonders for me and anyone I have recommended it to. Ready??? Buy some meat tenderizer, the kind you sprinkle , put some on their food. Dogs love the taste , but for whatever reason, it tastes really bad once it has been digested and comes out. Hopefully it will work for the rest of you as well.

[Roie]

it seems like the crate is too big, try putting a pillow in one half, she can sleep on it, and it leaves less room for messes. she will keep it cleaner because she doesn't want to mess up her space, when a puppy has a big crate they can roam around and do buissness in one corner, sleep in another, and them play on one side, you want to eliminate that possibility as soon as you can!!

[calgal]

Your baby is also suffering from stress and maybe seperation anxiety syndrome too. These WILL cause dirreah. Sounds like she wasn't crate trained before you put her in it and left her for hours. Your feeding her terrible food and leaving her much, much too long at a time. Simply put, your puppy is really messed up. You have to start over or your pup will not become a well rounded adult. PLEASE take the advice of these folks or buy the necessary books on training. I'd also change Vets.

[Shalva]

Originally Posted by Roie

it seems like the crate is too big, try putting a pillow in one half, she can sleep on it, and it leaves less room for messes. she will keep it cleaner because she doesn't want to mess up her space, when a puppy has a big crate they can roam around and do buissness in one corner, sleep in another, and them play on one side, you want to eliminate that possibility as soon as you can!!

I would never recommend putting anything in a crate with a baby..... puppies chew and could easilly swallow pieces of material or stuffing in a pillow causing very serious health consequences..... I never recommend putting any kind of fabric or mat in with a puppy.
s

[sexywrxchick]

Her poop is basically just a little runny sometimes, like today it was hard.....I tried this, I put a kind of big box in her crate with her, takes up about half of it and is a 24'' crate, put a blanket in it, works perfectly! Took her outside about 20 minutes after she ate dinner, and we got a #1 and #2 out of her brought her back in gave her a treat, put her in her cage to take a shower, came back out she was sleeping in her box, I woke her up and took her outside, same result, #1 and #2, praised her gave her another treat and played with her for a bit gave her some water took her out one more time and she peed, put her in her little box she slept all night and when I woke up the pad on the outside of the box had a little piece of poop, which is ok over an 8 hour time period, I mean she cant hold it forever. She had a great day today, everyone will laugh, but I got her up fed her took her outside she went potty I gave her a treat and then it was bathtime which she loves, brushed her teeth which she also doesnt mind. Then it was time for her nail clipping her manicure and pedicure, and we painted her nails red to match her collar and leash, she looks soooo cute, but this seems to be going ok I will keep everyone updated, thanks for ALL the help guys. I will post pics soon

April