# Poop eating and xpen question



## sfrt (Jan 5, 2016)

Puppy is now almost 3.5 months old. He's in a Midwest crate that's attached to an xpen. We use a peepad inside and for now, that's where he does all his business. (The topic of why he doesn't go outside yet is for another discussion! Short story is: long winter here, trained on paper by breeder and we continued indoors. Will start transitioning soon!)
It's been a while since I cleaned up any accidents and he'll consciously run into the pen himself to go when he has to. So I'd say he's pretty reliable at the moment. 
My concern is that if we aren't there at the moment he poops to pick him up or otherwise lead him away the instant the poop leaves his butt, he will eat his poop. I've read about this and understand that it may point to various issues and/or just be normal puppy behaviour. I can say that he does eat enough, he's on a decent quality diet (Fromms puppy kibble) and appears healthy to me. FWIW, He also will put many things in his mouth at the moment when walked outside!
The challenge is if I need to leave him for more than a couple hours and don't want to restrict him to just his crate, I can't because leaving him free in his xpen could lead to him eating his poop (and I may not know if I'm gone).
I know regular timing of poops would help this - but despite pretty regular meal timing, he's not totally predictable outside of the morning poop(s).
Advice?


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## fern (Jan 19, 2016)

I found a teaspoon of canned, crushed pineapple in her food worked wonders!


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## sfrt (Jan 5, 2016)

fern said:


> I found a teaspoon of canned, crushed pineapple in her food worked wonders!


Thanks for the suggestion. Would this be put in every meal? Is this ok for a puppy? And does this lead to any stool issues (runniness etc?). Thanks.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

how big is the expen? He could be fussy about poop being left too close ?


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## LochTess (Aug 22, 2009)

I have the same problem with Kylie and unfortunately at night I have to leave him in his X pen and I know he's eating it:hungry:

For me the only way to control it is to pick it up as soon as possible and:brushteeth:


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## Dee Dee (Jul 24, 2015)

Sophie is also a member of PEA. (Poop Eaters Anonymous)
She falls off the wagon regularly.


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## LochTess (Aug 22, 2009)

Dee Dee said:


> Sophie is also a member of PEA. (Poop Eaters Anonymous)
> She falls off the wagon regularly.


 I wouldn't wish this "acquired taste" on any dog and I'm not proud Kylie is a member of the "PEA club" but It helps to know we're not alone!!

I wonder if this happens more with dogs that have a high food drive?


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## articshark (Apr 4, 2016)

I am so knocking on wood because Java doesn't even like being in the same area as she poops after she does her business. If this changes, I might regret working on her "kisses" command- her touching her nose to mine. Because... YUCK! lol


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

LochTess said:


> I wouldn't wish this "acquired taste" on any dog and I'm not proud Kylie is a member of the "PEA club" but It helps to know we're not alone!!
> 
> I wonder if this happens more with dogs that have a high food drive?


I doubt it. Two of my three are VERY food motivated, and none of them eat poop. I think I just got lucky!


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## Dee Dee (Jul 24, 2015)

Sophie is the least food motivated dog I've had and the only one that eats poop. 
Wheee!!


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## LochTess (Aug 22, 2009)

Yeah doesn't seem that food drive has anything to do with it…

I'm so jealous of dogs that don't like it!!


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## sfrt (Jan 5, 2016)

Ha! I had a talk with the little guy today and he did confirm that he is indeed a charter member of PEA. Who knew? 😀
I may try the pineapple idea. Today I actually started training him to go outside, cold turkey - but didn't shut off the indoor peepad option so as to not confuse him. Weather is great now and he's happy to be out so I took advantage. He seems fine going outside and with a leash on, it's simple to restrain him from going after the poop after he's done. 
But yeah, as a card carrying PEA member, if he had his druthers ... In the meantime, he's driving me nuts putting everything else he can find in his mouth. Rocks. Dried up worms. Lots of leaves. Stools have been a bit looser and lighter coloured today and I'm hoping it's just because of all this junk in him. Haven't changed the diet I provide 😀.


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## fern (Jan 19, 2016)

I use 1/2-1 teaspoon of unsweetened crushed pineapple in each meal. There has been no change in her stools and, although she sniffs, she no longer eats it!


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Emmie's very food motivated and is NOT a poop eater.

I give her probiotics in her food everyday, she is not on a kibble diet, and when she was a puppy I took her outside on a leash to poop and picked it up right away. She never had an opportunity to eat it and I didn't let her near other dogs' poop, so perhaps diet and lack of access prevented her from developing a taste for it.


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## Dee Dee (Jul 24, 2015)

I'm envious Jeanne! I did all that and then some but Sophie is still a hardcore member of PEA.  She's on raw, probiotics, keep yard picked up, have tried every bitter, sour, nasty product on her poop since the day I brought her home. Even remote citronella collar (she thought that was a nice refreshing spritz to accompany her poop meal). I was desperate enough to consider very briefly something in the poop that would give her a mild shock but of course came to my senses and would never do that. (it was a nice fantasy for a bit though) 

Who would have thought you'd need to add something to poop to make it taste bad... hahaaa

Good girl Emmie we need to hire her to counsel Sophie on appropriate yard behavior LOL


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## LochTess (Aug 22, 2009)

Before I was able to control it more because Kylie would sleep in a crate in my room and then I would take him in the morning to poop and be I'd be able to clean it up right away.
These guys are so smart…and sometimes he'd wait to poop until I left the room and in a second he would poop and eat it :-( :frusty:

Now I'm in big trouble because he sleeps in the exercise pen in the living room and I know he poops before I get up and eats it every day :hungry:


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## Chi-Chi's Mom (Dec 10, 2015)

Hello, My puppy's name is Chi Chi and she is a poop eater. :crying:


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## sfrt (Jan 5, 2016)

LochTess said:


> Before I was able to control it more because Kylie would sleep in a crate in my room and then I would take him in the morning to poop and be I'd be able to clean it up right away.
> These guys are so smart&#8230;and sometimes he'd wait to poop until I left the room and in a second he would poop and eat it :-( :frusty:
> 
> Now I'm in big trouble because he sleeps in the exercise pen in the living room and I know he poops before I get up and eats it every day :hungry:


I can totally see my guy doing the same thing! I try to watch him like a hawk but there have been a couple times where he's got that guilty puppy look and I wonder what he's been up to. I usually do a quick sniff of his face/mouth to see if I catch a whiff. 
This is extra insanely important to me because he's a real licker and we kinda like that - but not if he's been dining at the wrong buffet!!!


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## Dee Dee (Jul 24, 2015)

> Hello, My puppy's name is Chi Chi and she is a poop eater.


HI CHI CHI!
Welcome to the PEA club.
We have a 12 step program for training your parent to accept we are poop eaters. Some are tougher nuts to crack than others but with each others support, we usually succeed.

>


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## LochTess (Aug 22, 2009)

sfrt said:


> I can totally see my guy doing the same thing! I try to watch him like a hawk but there have been a couple times where he's got that guilty puppy look and I wonder what he's been up to. I usually do a quick sniff of his face/mouth to see if I catch a whiff.
> This is extra insanely important to me because he's a real licker and we kinda like that - but not if he's been dining at the wrong buffet!!!


 I know what you mean Kylie loves to give kisses too!!:Cry:

Most of the time when Kylie's had his puppy Rocha his breath didn't smell of it so just because you don't smell it on their breath doesn't mean they didn't eat it


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## sfrt (Jan 5, 2016)

LochTess said:


> I know what you mean Kylie loves to give kisses too!!:Cry:
> 
> Most of the time when Kylie's had his puppy Rocha his breath didn't smell of it so just because you don't smell it on their breath doesn't mean they didn't eat it


Oh no!!!!!! Ignorance _was_ bliss!!!


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## M&J (Mar 1, 2016)

WOW!!!! We are lucky. Tucker has no use for poop. Since he was about 3 months old he won't even poop in the yard anymore. He drags me to the woods to do his business and won't even go in the same 3 foot radius for about 2 days. Weird but I like it. He pooped in the yard when we first brought him home but not anymore and there were only 2 accidents in the house the first week and none since.


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## articshark (Apr 4, 2016)

This thread makes me bust out in laughter. hahahaha


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## LochTess (Aug 22, 2009)

Dee Dee said:


> HI CHI CHI!
> Welcome to the PEA club.
> We have a 12 step program for training your parent to accept we are poop eaters. Some are tougher nuts to crack than others but with each others support, we usually succeed.
> 
> >


 I think I need a 24 step program!! I wish I could be in complete denial!!:crying:


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## Raffi'sMom (Jan 25, 2016)

I am thankful Raffi is not a member of PEA but you all are cracking me up!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

M&J said:


> WOW!!!! We are lucky. Tucker has no use for poop. Since he was about 3 months old he won't even poop in the yard anymore. He drags me to the woods to do his business and won't even go in the same 3 foot radius for about 2 days. Weird but I like it. He pooped in the yard when we first brought him home but not anymore and there were only 2 accidents in the house the first week and none since.


Kodi used to want to go down to the edge of the woods to poop, and I used to let him (on leash). But after having had an evening where a pack of coyotes surrounded us, and I had to scare them off to get back to the house, I don't let him go down there at dusk anymore. WE got the back yard fenced at that point, and he has HAD to alter his habits and learn to poop there. Even in the back yard, we supervise, but we have a LITTLE more separation from the coyotes.


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## M&J (Mar 1, 2016)

krandall said:


> Kodi used to want to go down to the edge of the woods to poop, and I used to let him (on leash). But after having had an evening where a pack of coyotes surrounded us, and I had to scare them off to get back to the house, I don't let him go down there at dusk anymore. WE got the back yard fenced at that point, and he has HAD to alter his habits and learn to poop there. Even in the back yard, we supervise, but we have a LITTLE more separation from the coyotes.


We have yotes here too but I have a cure for them. S&W Military and Police .357 Sig. They are such a nuisance here we trap or take out everyone we see. They are tough on the baby deer and turkey population here. This was taken just before this bad boy met his maker. Talk about mean.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

M&J said:


> We have yotes here too but I have a cure for them. S&W Military and Police .357 Sig. They are such a nuisance here we trap or take out everyone we see. They are tough on the baby deer and turkey population here. This was taken just before this bad boy met his maker. Talk about mean.


This guy looks scared, not mean. They are wild animals, doing what wild animals do when they must learn to live in areas of human habitation. In our area, the deer population is way too high... We need some predators around.

You can shoot them if you want... it's not legal here unless you are a farmer protecting stock. And I don't shoot animals anyway.  I prefer to learn to live with wild animals... which means keeping my pets safe from them without hurting them.

Except ticks. I believe in extermination of ticks.


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## M&J (Mar 1, 2016)

Unfortunately we have a lot more coyotes here than you have. Only 14% of deer fawns here survive the first 16 weeks of life due to coyotes so we have to take action here in the southeast to make sure to protect the deer, rabbit and turkey populations. It's sad but we have to do something.


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## Sassy's Mom (Feb 4, 2015)

Sassy doesn't eat her own poop but will go after the wild stuff in the yard. There's a wild animal in the neighborhood that occasionally uses the mulch around some of the plants for a bathroom. It's not very often but somehow Sassy will sniff it out. Once she has it she'll run and hide while she goes :hungry: LUNCH


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## Cassandra (Dec 29, 2015)

As long as we are on the subject of other animal poop, one day I saw Cassie roll over on her back, blissfully waving her feet in the air. Turns out she found some wet bird poop on our backyard pavers, and decided to roll in it and get as much on herself as she could..needless to say, She got an immediate and unscheduled bath. Yeah, she is a dog alright.


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## Tdoubleu (Mar 15, 2016)

This has worked for us. A half a tablet in the AM and PM. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0037...ating+poop&dpPl=1&dpID=414+e8SvdgL&ref=plSrch


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

M&J said:


> Unfortunately we have a lot more coyotes here than you have. Only 14% of deer fawns here survive the first 16 weeks of life due to coyotes so we have to take action here in the southeast to make sure to protect the deer, rabbit and turkey populations. It's sad but we have to do something.


I understand the need to control populations of certain species of animals. But it's not fair or accurate to characterize them as "mean" when they are staring into the face of a gun... nor for simply following their instincts to feed themselves and their young. We may not like it, but it is because HUMANS upset the balance of nature that we have these problems.


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