Hi everyone! I need some help. My 1 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel keeps pooping and peeing in my house..and EATING the poop! It's so gross! He is potty trained, but whenever I don't give him full attention, he will poop and pee in the house. He knows it's wrong, because he goes and hides after he does it. It's almost like he would rather get negative attention than no attention (even though he gets *alot* of attention.. just not 100% of the time!). To make it worse, he LOVES to eat cat poop. He will smell it from rooms away and make a mad dash at it. I got an automatic litter box and he figured out how to get into the container to get the poop. I am at my breaking point.. should I take him to obedience school? Will it help? I know it doesn't have to do with missing nutrients in his food, as he eats the cat food too.. so nothing in their poop is anything he is lacking...
HELP With My 1 Year Old Dog!
- Thread starter Miss Kris
- Start date
Many dogs at one year old still aren't 100% house trained. I would keep a really close watch on him and when you see him getting ready to go to the bathroom give him a firm "NO!" and quickly take him outside to do his business. You could try to keep him in the same room as you so you can easily see when he is about to have an accident.
Dogs love to eat poop! It's their thing lol. Usually they don't eat their own poop though. Is there a way you can prevent him from getting at the kitty litter? Maybe a different type of litter box. This one is apparently fantastic at keeping dogs out. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754439&lmdn=Cat If you don't want to get a different box and can't keep him away from the box you could try to prevent him from doing it by keeping an eye on where he is. If you notice he is heading off towards the kitty litter follow him. When you see him going for it once again a firm "NO!" should get him to stop. It may take time and several tries but more than likely he will eventually kick the habit when he learns Mommy doesn't like it.
Dogs love to eat poop! It's their thing lol. Usually they don't eat their own poop though. Is there a way you can prevent him from getting at the kitty litter? Maybe a different type of litter box. This one is apparently fantastic at keeping dogs out. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754439&lmdn=Cat If you don't want to get a different box and can't keep him away from the box you could try to prevent him from doing it by keeping an eye on where he is. If you notice he is heading off towards the kitty litter follow him. When you see him going for it once again a firm "NO!" should get him to stop. It may take time and several tries but more than likely he will eventually kick the habit when he learns Mommy doesn't like it.
There is an additive that you can search for online that is sprinkled on cat food that doesn't change the taste of the food for the cat but is foul tasting in poop. It is used as a dog deterrent.
Uh oh.
I hate to tell you this...........it's a really, really, REALLY hard habit to break. We rescued our puggle who was severly neglected by her first owner, and locked in her crate for 10+ hours a day with no potty breaks or food. Therefore she developed copraphagy (yep, it has a name), or feces eating. It happens in about 10% of all dogs, if I'm not mistaken.
KittyKat is right, there are things you can buy and sprinkle in their food to make the poop taste bad (which is really an oxymoron, if you think about it) OR, I've heard that canned pineapple mixed in with the dog food makes it taste bad also, if you don't want an additive.
As for the cat box, our Lab used to think it was an absolute delight to nosh on cat poop, so if there's a way to just keep him from getting at it, that may be your best bet.
I hate to tell you this...........it's a really, really, REALLY hard habit to break. We rescued our puggle who was severly neglected by her first owner, and locked in her crate for 10+ hours a day with no potty breaks or food. Therefore she developed copraphagy (yep, it has a name), or feces eating. It happens in about 10% of all dogs, if I'm not mistaken.
KittyKat is right, there are things you can buy and sprinkle in their food to make the poop taste bad (which is really an oxymoron, if you think about it) OR, I've heard that canned pineapple mixed in with the dog food makes it taste bad also, if you don't want an additive.
As for the cat box, our Lab used to think it was an absolute delight to nosh on cat poop, so if there's a way to just keep him from getting at it, that may be your best bet.
One of my Chihuahua's eats her poop every now and then. I took her to the vet and was told it's most likely because she was the runt of the litter so she had to eat her poop to survive as a puppy. It's a very bad habit to break and I haven't had any luck yet and she's 2 years old now. Good luck!
I hate to say this but Iams is a really lousy food. Its a 1 start grade dog food. So it's true that your dog might not be getting enough nutrients from its diet. I have no idea if changing his food to a better kind will stop him from eating his own poop but it will make him healthier all around. I just looked up the food and the main ingredient is corn. Dogs aren't really supposed to eat corn as it's very difficult to digest let alone have it as their main ingredient.
Iams Dog food for Toy and Small breed has actually worked wonders for my dog.... She was losing patches of hair before, and as soon as I changed her over to Iams, within a month, all her hair grew back. Her fur looks so good now, and she's nice and hairy and fluffy.... never looked better...She suffered for so long with ithcy skin and hot spots, and missing hair.... she looked diseased...
I've spend so much $$$ at the vet about her hair loss patches and itchy skin, and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. All they could do is give her steriods to relieve her itchiness.... Who knew something as cheap as IAMS would be the solution!
So morale of the storey, what is bad for one dog, might work wonders for another....
I've spend so much $$$ at the vet about her hair loss patches and itchy skin, and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. All they could do is give her steriods to relieve her itchiness.... Who knew something as cheap as IAMS would be the solution!
So morale of the storey, what is bad for one dog, might work wonders for another....
I can't help you with you dog eating it's own poop...but I have 2 labradors who think the kitty boxes are a treat...so we have the kitty boxes in a "dog free zone" which is either a room with a baby gate so kitties can jump in, but doggies cannot, or we have a kitty hole in our downstairs unfinished side of the basement door...which is a hole bit enough for the kitties, but the dogs can only stick their heads in...
This has solved the kitty box problems in my house!
This has solved the kitty box problems in my house!
You can try adding this to his food:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=595
I had a dog that would do that and this seemed to help. Of course that was only if it was his own poop he was trying to eat.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=595
I had a dog that would do that and this seemed to help. Of course that was only if it was his own poop he was trying to eat.
thanks everyone! I will have to check all of your suggestions out and I will be sure to let everyone know what works!!
As for Iams, I did read bad reviews on it but I asked my vet and she said it was fine. Now, they could be funded by iams or something, but who knows!
As for Iams, I did read bad reviews on it but I asked my vet and she said it was fine. Now, they could be funded by iams or something, but who knows!