Poop Problem

Question
QUESTION: Hi there
I have two malteese pups they are brothers and about 7 months old ,I have two problems with them the first one is that they eat each others or thier own poop how do I stop this, the other problem is they will poop and pee whereever they want even if we moan with them but it does not help ,please help as I reallllyyyy love them but they are driving me crazy

ANSWER: Hi Livio,

Thanks for sending me your question at AllExperts!  Sounds as if you're having some concerns about your two seven-month-of-age Maltese littermate males.  

First, eating poop (called coprophagia, or coprophagy) is pretty common, especially in dogs of this age.  Although the habit seems disgusting to humans, dogs do this quite frequently (and some animals and insects are either required to eat poop to survive healthily, or eat poop for a living such as the Dung Beetle).  So relax - poop eating is not as unusual as you might think it is for dogs.

However, I understand that it's an annoying habit for humans and could be potentially unhealthy for dogs to continue doing.  

First, make sure that your dogs are eating a Complete and Balanced diet.  It should say Complete and Balanced on the package or can of whatever food you're feeding them.  If you're not sure if their diet is the best for them, check with your breeder or another Maltese breeder (you can find one at AKC.org), and also check with your veterinarian.  Your two fellows should also have a vet check to test for health and parasites.

The best suggestion I have to eliminate poop eating is to walk your dogs on leash, praise them when they do their business outside, and then remove them from the area immediately after they poop.  Out of their sight, pick up the poop.  Sometimes if dogs see you picking up poop, this adds to their perception that the poop is somehow 'valuable' and the dogs will continue eating poop.

Also, some dogs eat poop because they're bored and there's not much else to do.  If your dogs are left alone for many hours and/or are not otherwise stimulated much through training and walks outside, boredeom might be a contributing factor to the poop eating/coprophagy.

There are also some products that you can add to your dogs' diets to make poop taste less, well, if you're a dog, appealing.  These are Forbid and other products.  A little chopped pineapple in the food may work in a similar manner. I say 'may' help because if the act of eating their poop is more reinforcing to the dogs than the bad taste of the poop while using any of these products, the dogs will continue eating their poop.  If the products does work, you will need to continue to use it until the habit is broken.  This may be difficult, because many of these products have recommendations about how long you can use them, and that time may be less than it takes to break the habit.  Pineapple, if it works, may then be your best bet.  Ask your vet or breeder how much is safe to feed dogs of your dogs' weight on a daily basis.

The pineapple typically will work because it contains an enzyme that tastes good to dogs going in, but when it comes out the other end, it tastes pretty nasty to dogs.

Just to allay any fears you have about dogs eating each others' poop, it is probably not dangerous unless one or both of the dogs is carrying a disease or parasites.  In that case, disease and parasites can be transferred through the fecal matter from one dog to the other.  If both your dogs are healthy, this bad habit probably won't hurt them.  But if they eat other unknown dogs' poop as well, as I have explained, this could be a problem.  If one of the dogs in a poop-eating pair has parasites and they've been eating each others' poop, then both of the dogs probably have parasites now.  

I don't understand the other sentence about their pooping and peeing wherever they want even if you "moan" with them (???), but it appears that you're telling me that your dogs are not yet housetrained.  Seven months is still kind of on the young side, and I don't have the benefit either of knowing what methods you've already tried and why they may not be working for you.  It would be a good idea if you wrote back to me as a follow up and told me in some detail when they're fed, when they're walked and how often, if they're crate trained, paper trained, or other, and more about their and your schedules and the methods of housetraining you've already tried so I can help get you on the right road to having your dogs becoming housetrained.

Depending on what you've tried already, it might be a good idea to consult a professional dog trainer.  Again, I don't know what you've been doing or even how long you've had your dogs (for all I know you may have just gotten them), so this part of your question is hard to address and I also don't understand the "moan" with them part...so please feel free to write in again and provide me with more details.

Hope this helps -
Madeline (www.ny-njDogTrainer.com) at AllExperts

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

QUESTION: Hi Madeline

Thankyou so much for the quick response and will try these steps. I got my dogs from my sister as her female had pups. I have had these dog since they we only 3 months old. The problem I have is that we tell them not to do thier bussiness in some specified places in my house but they will ignore me and do as they like, even if I have shouted and spanked them I dont know what to do. I do leave the door open for them and they do go outside to do thier bussiness but yet when i am not looking or my back is turned they will leave me "suprises" around in the house.
please help
kind regards
Livio

Answer
Hi Livio,

Thanks for the follow-up!  It sounds like you can use some professional trainer help for housetraining your pups.  Spanking them and yelling at them will not accomplish anything, and it would be best if you stop spanking and shouting at them.  If you continue, especially with the spanking, the dogs may learn that hands approaching them hurt, and this may make them fearful and/or aggressive to people approaching to touch them.

I think you need to speak with an in-home professional about some management techniques as well as a schedule for feeding and walking your dogs.  Just because you leave the door open for the dogs does not necessarily mean that they will make the connection that Door Open = Go Out of the Door to Potty.  They really need to be shown, on-leash, what it is you expect, and praised when they do the right thing.  As for the pottying in the house, again, they are still quite young, and it appears that you could benefit from some techniques with a professional on how to best communicate with your dogs so that your message gets through and they understand what it is you want of them.  With better management/supervision, you should be able to 'catch them in the act' when they start to potty in the house, interrupt (not spank - simply say 'uh-oh - let's go out!) and then whisk them outside to finish their business, and praise to the skies when they do their business outside.  This will take time.  It can take up to a year for some dogs to 'get' housetraining, even using the best techniques, so please be patient and do consult a professional to come to your home for a visit that can help you out.

Best of luck!
Madeline at AllExperts