Help with new puppy!

[goldfish]

My 4 month old chihuahua is eating poop! She''s really properly paper trained, and I always rush to pick up after her when I''m home. But when I''m gone or asleep she just eats it up. Or she brings it to her bed and saves it for later.

I googled and came up with meat tenderizer, which has had no effect at all. Does anyone have any advice? Are there any products that have worked for you?

 

[Puppmom]

What are you feeding her? I''ve heard that if you feed your dog food that''s poor quality - it comes out tasting just as good as it did when it went in.

Also, I know really small dogs can be a little harder to housebreak but I think it''s time to move her to doing her business outside if possible.

 

[waterlilly]

agreed - poor quality food is made up of ingredients that are not nutritionally useful, therefore, go right through their system - tasting much the same as when the went in.

there is product you can buy to sprinkle on her food to make it taste yucky...

here and here

 

[goldfish]

She gets really healthy food. Science Diet dry and Innova puppy wet twice a day.

I just wish there was something I could do besides adding stuff to her food. I''m not excited about that. She''s only 3 lbs, so I''m always worried about what gets in to her system. Maybe I shouldn''t be that worried about adding a product if it would really get her to stop eating her poop.

 

[firebird]

Date: 5/12/2010 12:54:48 PM
Author: goldfish
She gets really healthy food. Science Diet dry and Innova puppy wet twice a day.


I just wish there was something I could do besides adding stuff to her food. I''m not excited about that. She''s only 3 lbs, so I''m always worried about what gets in to her system. Maybe I shouldn''t be that worried about adding a product if it would really get her to stop eating her poop.

Hi goldfish, I''m answering because I had this same problem w/ my dog when she was a pup! Science Diet pays vets to advertise for them and stuff, but it''s unfortunately not the most healthy food, or even on the top 10 list, imo... it has a lot of corn in it, which goes straight through the dog''s system and comes out smelling (to them) delicious (yech).. especially if your dog has a tendency to gobble her food down, which makes less of it get digested. I don''t know about Innova since I haven''t tried that particular food. Have you considered feeding your puppy something along the lines of air dried brands or raw food (like Ziwipeak?. If you''re set on kibble, you should check out dogfoodanalysis.com and consumersearch.com to decide what brands are best. If she''s also getting gas/having digestive upset, you could try putting a teaspoon of canned pumpkin (just pure canned pumpkin, not the kind you get to make pies with) in her food. That helps with constipation and diarrhea, too, fyi... I know you aren''t keen on the idea of putting stuff in her food, and neither am I, which is why I tried switching her foods around and just did behavioral training until the yucky habit went away eventually.

I''d also suggest putting her potty pads outside on the balcony if it''s at all an option (walking her is even better). And then you can have her sleep in her crate so she won''t go potty on your carpet while you''re sleeping. It''s better being able to see her and pick up after her so that she won''t even have a chance to eat it. I heard varying things about why a dog might eat their poop, but one of the most convincing arguments is that while young, a pup''s mom will eat their poop to keep the den clean... sooo... puppy learns from mommy to pick up after herself by eating it! yech.

 

[lilyfoot]

Date: 5/12/2010 1:20:49 PM
Author: firebird
Hi goldfish, I''m answering because I had this same problem w/ my dog when she was a pup! Science Diet pays vets to advertise for them and stuff, but it''s unfortunately not the most healthy food, or even on the top 10 list, imo... it has a lot of corn in it, which goes straight through the dog''s system and comes out smelling (to them) delicious (yech).. especially if your dog has a tendency to gobble her food down, which makes less of it get digested. I don''t know about Innova since I haven''t tried that particular food. Have you considered feeding your puppy something along the lines of air dried brands or raw food (like Ziwipeak?. If you''re set on kibble, you should check out dogfoodanalysis.com and consumersearch.com to decide what brands are best. If she''s also getting gas/having digestive upset, you could try putting a teaspoon of canned pumpkin (just pure canned pumpkin, not the kind you get to make pies with) in her food. That helps with constipation and diarrhea, too, fyi... I know you aren''t keen on the idea of putting stuff in her food, and neither am I, which is why I tried switching her foods around and just did behavioral training until the yucky habit went away eventually.

I''d also suggest putting her potty pads outside on the balcony if it''s at all an option (walking her is even better). And then you can have her sleep in her crate so she won''t go potty on your carpet while you''re sleeping. It''s better being able to see her and pick up after her so that she won''t even have a chance to eat it. I heard varying things about why a dog might eat their poop, but one of the most convincing arguments is that while young, a pup''s mom will eat their poop to keep the den clean... sooo... puppy learns from mommy to pick up after herself by eating it! yech.

Super ditto to the highlighted portions above. Innova is a great food, Science Diet is low quality. I''d cut the Science Diet out if I were you.

And yes, dogs like their area ("den") to be clean, so they will eat their poop in order to keep their territory clean. It''s yucky to us, but they''re just dogs, they don''t know any better!

 

[waterlilly]

Date: 5/12/2010 2:22:22 PM
Author: lilyfoot

Date: 5/12/2010 1:20:49 PM

Author: firebird

Hi goldfish, I''m answering because I had this same problem w/ my dog when she was a pup! Science Diet pays vets to advertise for them and stuff, but it''s unfortunately not the most healthy food, or even on the top 10 list, imo... it has a lot of corn in it, which goes straight through the dog''s system and comes out smelling (to them) delicious (yech).. especially if your dog has a tendency to gobble her food down, which makes less of it get digested. I don''t know about Innova since I haven''t tried that particular food. Have you considered feeding your puppy something along the lines of air dried brands or raw food (like Ziwipeak?. If you''re set on kibble, you should check out dogfoodanalysis.com and consumersearch.com to decide what brands are best. If she''s also getting gas/having digestive upset, you could try putting a teaspoon of canned pumpkin (just pure canned pumpkin, not the kind you get to make pies with) in her food. That helps with constipation and diarrhea, too, fyi... I know you aren''t keen on the idea of putting stuff in her food, and neither am I, which is why I tried switching her foods around and just did behavioral training until the yucky habit went away eventually.


I''d also suggest putting her potty pads outside on the balcony if it''s at all an option (walking her is even better). And then you can have her sleep in her crate so she won''t go potty on your carpet while you''re sleeping. It''s better being able to see her and pick up after her so that she won''t even have a chance to eat it. I heard varying things about why a dog might eat their poop, but one of the most convincing arguments is that while young, a pup''s mom will eat their poop to keep the den clean... sooo... puppy learns from mommy to pick up after herself by eating it! yech.

Super ditto to the highlighted portions above. Innova is a great food, Science Diet is low quality. I''d cut the Science Diet out if I were you.


And yes, dogs like their area (''den'') to be clean, so they will eat their poop in order to keep their territory clean. It''s yucky to us, but they''re just dogs, they don''t know any better!

And super thritto

Science diet is a racket. Don''t buy the hype. I remain utterly baffled about why vets aren''t more aware of decent dog foods. Yes, they get kickbacks from selling Science - but how can they never have heard of the other high quality brands?? My vet tech. looked at me like I had 3 heads when I told her I feed Evo. I had to spell it and say it several times, never heard of it. I wanted to say "You work in the animal health care field and have never heard of one of the highest quality kibble brands out there? Really?!"

 

[lilyfoot]

Date: 5/12/2010 2:38:26 PM
Author: waterlilly

Date: 5/12/2010 2:22:22 PM
Author: lilyfoot

Date: 5/12/2010 1:20:49 PM

Author: firebird

Hi goldfish, I''m answering because I had this same problem w/ my dog when she was a pup! Science Diet pays vets to advertise for them and stuff, but it''s unfortunately not the most healthy food, or even on the top 10 list, imo... it has a lot of corn in it, which goes straight through the dog''s system and comes out smelling (to them) delicious (yech).. especially if your dog has a tendency to gobble her food down, which makes less of it get digested. I don''t know about Innova since I haven''t tried that particular food. Have you considered feeding your puppy something along the lines of air dried brands or raw food (like Ziwipeak?. If you''re set on kibble, you should check out dogfoodanalysis.com and consumersearch.com to decide what brands are best. If she''s also getting gas/having digestive upset, you could try putting a teaspoon of canned pumpkin (just pure canned pumpkin, not the kind you get to make pies with) in her food. That helps with constipation and diarrhea, too, fyi... I know you aren''t keen on the idea of putting stuff in her food, and neither am I, which is why I tried switching her foods around and just did behavioral training until the yucky habit went away eventually.


I''d also suggest putting her potty pads outside on the balcony if it''s at all an option (walking her is even better). And then you can have her sleep in her crate so she won''t go potty on your carpet while you''re sleeping. It''s better being able to see her and pick up after her so that she won''t even have a chance to eat it. I heard varying things about why a dog might eat their poop, but one of the most convincing arguments is that while young, a pup''s mom will eat their poop to keep the den clean... sooo... puppy learns from mommy to pick up after herself by eating it! yech.

Super ditto to the highlighted portions above. Innova is a great food, Science Diet is low quality. I''d cut the Science Diet out if I were you.


And yes, dogs like their area (''den'') to be clean, so they will eat their poop in order to keep their territory clean. It''s yucky to us, but they''re just dogs, they don''t know any better!

And super thritto

Science diet is a racket. Don''t buy the hype. I remain utterly baffled about why vets aren''t more aware of decent dog foods. Yes, they get kickbacks from selling Science - but how can they never have heard of the other high quality brands?? My vet tech. looked at me like I had 3 heads when I told her I feed Evo. I had to spell it and say it several times, never heard of it. I wanted to say ''You work in the animal health care field and have never heard of one of the highest quality kibble brands out there? Really?!''

Apparently, from what I understand, when you''re in vet school, the nutrition part of the curriculum is verrry slim. I''ve also heard that Science Diet not only pays vets to sell their food in their offices, but also contributes money, etc., to vet schools (and I''m sure they''re mentioned in the lessons somewhere ..)

It''s all pretty shady with Science Diet ..