Chihuahua eating feces

Question
Lora, my fiance, and I have a  female Chihuahua named Reesie about 8 months old.  She has been trying to eat her feces since she was about 2 months old.  We have used puppy pads for potty training and she urinates on the puppy pad nearly every time so that is not a concern.  She is in an aparment for now (will be buying a house within the year).  We keep her in a crate at night.  She stays out of her crate all day in the living room only.  She has access to food and water all day.  She only eats a little bit of food at a time when she eats.  Maybe feed her two times a day??  The problem is, she gets nervous when she has to poop.  She will do it anywhere when we are not looking.  She seems to think it is wrong to poop.  We used to pop her butt when she pooped and moved her to her pad.  Now we just move her to the pad and do not pop her butt. She poops before bed and first thing in the morning but when we are gone she will poop and eat her feces.  I go home today and it was all over the couch in little pieces.  We tried using Deter but it did not work.  How do we break her of this habit of eating her feces?  Do we put her in the crate while were gone too until she learns, if so how long do we do this routine? She has began using the pad here and there but still not the way she needs to be.  She just gets sooo nervous and starts shaking when she poops.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Reminder--We can't take her out to poop until we move from our apartment this summer due to rules we did not know-- no pets!!!

Answer
Poo eating is largely a puppy thing, but it does need to be stopped unless you want it to continue. I do recommend that you put her on a feeding schedule, leaving her bowl down for 30 minutes and then picking it back up again and putting what's left back in the dog food storage container. Do not add this amount back to her next meal; she will soon figure out that she needs to eat when you feed her, or she'll have to wait until the next mealtime. This will help get her digestive system on a better schedule.

When you are away, then yes, put her in her crate. Make SURE she goes to the bathroom before being crated, so she's less likely to go in the crate.