Pomeranian Poop Mania!

Question
QUESTION: Hi
We have male and female Pomeranians that are just about 5 months old.  They share a small pen in our home with a crate, free food and water and a litter box.  They use the litter box well but when one of them poops, they eat it, smear it all over and carry it into their beds like a big treat.  This can happen in just a matter of minutes when we turn our backs for a moment.
We really need help stopping this. I am ready to give them away.  Any advice is helpful!!!
I am afraid to take away their free food (the breeder said they could get low blood sugar if they cant eat whenever they need).  
Also, they have a fit when they are separated but should we crate them separately if we are not right there to watch over them?  (We have never closed the crate door we use it only as a bed)
I am concerned that they will just poop in their crates and make a mess and eat it there.
Also, how long can we safely/humanely crate them?
Please help.
Thanks






ANSWER: Your puppies have learned some very bad habits that are going to be very, very difficult to break, if at all. First, they should have been separated at eight weeks so that they could learn to be individuals. That did not happen, so they have become extremely dependent on each other. They probably aren't as people-oriented as they could have been because of this, and may never be now.

I don't believe in free-feeding. The dogs think that the food just grows there instead of realizing that it comes from the person/the alpha. It means that they also do not have regular elimination times, which would make it harder to housebreak. Not important in your case since you trained them to use a litterbox. But now they are eating their stools! This has become a habit, and I venture that they will never stop doing this now. You could put something in their food like "ForBid" to make their stools less tasty, but that still won't help with the primary problem of two puppies that were purchased at the same time and raised as one.

Make sure that you are feeding a quality food like Eagle, Canidae, Wellness, Solid Gold, or Flint River Ranch, in case poor-quality food is what initiated the stool eating. Feed them several times a day instead of leaving the food down. Separate those two puppies and treat them like the individuals that they should be.

Five-month-old puppies can be crated for about five hours at a stretch if no one is home to let them out.

Get yourself the book "How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With" by Rutherford and Neil. It is a most excellent book that every dog owner should read.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your reply.
 
I have just a couple more questions:
How long should we go between feedings?
Can they go all night (8 hours) between feedings?
Also, is the ForBid from a vet or the store?

We feed them Bench and Field Holistic Canine Formula.  Do you know anything about this? Is it considered a good brand?

Thankfully, they are quite people oriented, but they still get upset when separated.
Can we start now treating them more as individuals?
Should we crate them separately?
Take them on walks separately?

Thank you so much for your expert advice.

Jacquie

Answer
I have heard that small breed puppies need to be fed four times a day, so that would be like every four hours or so. I would think they should be able to go through the night safely, but that might be a better question to ask your veterinarian.

ForBid is available online. A vet might carry it, as might a pet supply store such as PetCo or PetsMart. If you call around, you might be able to find a source near you.

Bench and Field is one of the "off brands" that is manufactured by Eagle Pet Products in Mishawaka, IL. There are only a half-dozen or so dog food manufacturers in the country and many dog food companies give their "recipes" to one of those manufacturers and have them make and package their products for them. I never knew this until I took a tour of the Eagle plant several years ago, as the dog food companies sort of keep this information under their hats. Reading the label of the holistic food you are feeding, I see it is very similar to Eagle's own formulas (I feed Eagle). I have total trust in Eagle, particularly after touring their plant and talking with their nutritionist for over an hour.

Yes, I would start immediately with separating your puppies. (Well, not at bedtime... do it in the morning and leave for a few hours*G*). Yes, do things with one dog, and then the other... always separately. But be sure to vary which one you work with first. I still remember two littermates in a beginner obedience class years ago. The husband had one and the wife the other. The entire time, week after week, those two littermates did nothing but try to get to each other.

One should never buy two littermates at the same time, but only one. Train that dog into the dog of one's dreams, and then bring in the second dog a year or so later. That first dog will help to train the second one.