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Potty training/ my dog eats poop

19 9:10:54

Question
Hello!

I just bought a 3month old pomeranian and potty training is not going splendid...

I got him to pee in a litterbox but he eats the sand when no one is watching. I got him to urinate and defecate on our lawn and he does that really good during the day but not at night.

I have to wake up everynight around 4 a.m. to let him outside so he can use the lawn. Last nite i woke up a little latter than that and he used the litter box but then when i wasn't watching he pooed right on the carpet and ate it!!!

This is the second time he does this. Please help, it's driving me nuts!

Answer
Hello Alma!
Thanks for asking a question that is wondered about but not frequently asked.
 The act of eating ones own feces is a condition called Copraphagia and believe it or not is not all that uncommon especially in small breeds. There are a few things you can do to curb this behavior.
1.) If the feces is in the yard you can sprinkle cayenne pepper on the poop and when puppy goes to smell it, give him
a firm "NO!"and clean up waste every day.
2.)  AND THIS ONES IMPORTANT Switch your dogs food to a meat based food. Look on the ingredients, if corn is the main ingredient(the first ingredient on the list of ingredients is what the food is mostly made of) they are more likely to find it yummy,and they are not getting the correct nutrition that their body needs. Find a food that the first ingredient on the list is meat meal, this wont be as tempting.
3.)  There are products that you can purchase that will literally make the poop taste , well..., like poop! ;) lol!
These products such as Deter,or Dis-Taste, leaves the feces with a non palletable smell and will work for the most part.
With the issue you have I would recommend the latter two suggestions.
  I also have one more little bit of info I would like to share with you. They sell a product for litter training small dogs that is made of cedar shavings instead of using litter, because we all know dogs love kitty litter.
 I would put his accident poop into the litter box so he can smell what he is supposed to do there and he wont neccisarily want to eat wood chips.
 Also you buy some NO_GO and spray the areas he accidents
on so he wont get confused but make sure you are scolding him when you see the accident and show him where he should be doing that action (outside/litterbox) when he stars to sniff the designated area that you are showing him make sure to praise him but without a treat. and when he does go the correct area to do his buisness praise him greatly and offer a favorite treat with the phrase "good boy"
  Remember its a "dog eat poop world" out there !
Good luck and I hope all goes well!         Beth