Puppy pooping in house to eat it!

[julieandoscar]

My cairn Oscar is a little over five months old and I can't seem to keep him from pooping in the house.  He will pee outside without a problem now but generally refuses to poop when he needs to at least 2/3 of the time.  He acts like he doesn't need to go and then 30 minutes- 1.5 hours later he sneaks off to poop in the house the second i turn my back or go to the bathroom myself.  I then come back to find him eating the poop like it's Kobe beef.  Sometimes when I try to take away the poop, he even growls at me!  Not only is it frustrating and gross, but my roommate (who is not the biggest dog fan to begin with) is getting upset and feels he should already be completely potty trained.  I am afraid if this doesn't change soon, he might ask me to leave.  

 

Does anyone have any advice?

 

 

[Idaho Cairns]

I have had this problem with younger pups so both the pooping in the house and eating of poop is not all that rare, even in dogs the age of your dog.  Try a couple of things--pick up the poop in the house and take it outside to the yard where you want the pup to go.  Stay out in the yard with the puppy until it finds and recognizes it's stuff  then verbalize "go potty" over and over, and if that motivates the dog to then defecate, give a bravo to the dog, really get excited with the "good dog" feedback.  Over the top verbal rewards really help drive home the lesson you want taught.

As far as the eating goes you simply have to tell the dog "no" and pull it off the stuff--do not let the dog's growls or snaps stop you--discipline the dog to never growl or snap at a human.

Finally, clean up the spot in the home where the dog goes using a strong biological cleaner that erases all smells of the poop, leave nothing to remind him of his mistake.

Be persistent, he will "get it" eventually.  Let us know how it all works out.

[Tami]

Oh yes, I remember this stage of the poop-eating puppy ...  both of mine did it a few times. I know, it's gross.    Something to possibly help with the roomie is to get a small scrap of linoleum and put a small x-pen over it to contain Oscar when you can't give him 100% supervision. This way it's much easier to clean up any potential messes quickly. Also try to see if your pup has a pattern of when he likes to poop. My 1 yr old, Fiona, has always been a prolific pooper ... once when she first wakes up, then within 15 - 20 minutes of eating her breakfast and then later in the day another one and finally one after dinner.  As soon as we figured that out it was a lot easier to know when to take her outside for her business. And as Idaho Cairns said, we give lots of silly high pitched excited praise for going potty in addition to the words "go potty". That'll come in handy later when you want Oscar to pee before getting in the car, etc.

[DrMarm]

My first Cairn, Kerri T. Cairn was rescued from a pet store window after she had been there for 3 mos. She ate her poop...and many other poor behaviors. We used a product called For-bid. It was a packet with dry particles that you sprinkled on their food before being eaten. This finally worked for her...however, we lost her to stomach cancer at 3 y.o.

My second Cairn, Roxie D. Ate all dog poop, didn't matter if it was her own or another dogs. Just used repetition and no visits to dog parks!

My current love, Jessie Girl is 9 months old and will eat her poop if it is inside and not eat it if outside. Do not believe the breeder I got her from was as reputable as I thought...figure Jessie is being stubborn and doesn't want to be caught pooping inside.

Any helpful hints are welcome!

[Idaho Cairns]

As mentioned earlier, pick up the inside poop and put in a small area outside and leave it there for the dog.  Clean up the inside spot using a good biologic cleaner and deodorizer to remove all residue, smells especially.  Then, the first time Jesse does it outside on command, celebrate it like Bastille Day, jump up and down, clap, set off human fireworks of joy, and make her think she is the neatest thing since the six pack.  Your neighbors will think you are crazy but Cairns at this stage need BIG reinforcement to drive home what ever it is you want. 

I have never gotten anywhere with housebreaking unless I could catch them in the act--which is often hard or when the deed and the discovery where almost immediate--then the dreaded "NO's!" are applied and deep humiliation is slathered on the puppy.  A couple of time thru that and the reward celebration outside and the dog becomes a good citizen.
 

[Hillscreek]

Something to possibly help with the roomie is to get a small scrap of linoleum and put a small x-pen over it to contain Oscar when you can't give him 100% supervision. This way it's much easier to clean up any potential messes quickly. 

Keep Oscar confined to a small area where you can see him at all times. Do not shout or punish him if he is not actually in the act, He will not know what you are talking about. Pickup up and clean up silently. Take him out on leash often to the place you want him to go and where some of his poop already is like others have mentioned.Like they say above praise when he does the right thing.

It will take time. Be patient. Cairns are often not reliably house broken till over six months old.

[Emme]

I was told by an elderly gentleman that if a dog is given some pineapple with its food  it would stop it eating its own poop, he said it worked for him.    Did not have the problem so cannot verify it.    With Bonnie, I used to take her outside after her meal and waited (took a magazine) until she pooped, then as others have said gave her lots of praise. 

[Ivy & Lucy's Mom]

Julie,

 

My little Lucy is 4 1/2 months old. She will poop in the house sometimes as well-when I skip a couple of days without an accident, I am thrilled. I think she is playing and it comes too fast. Peeing in the house only occurs once a week or less. I think she isn't always sure how to let me know. A couple of times she has quietly whined by the door. I immediately let her out and she has gone so I think that might be her telling me but she doesn't always do that. I am super frustrated as well. No problem with the poop eating but my other cairn Ivy, who is 2 has that problem. It has lessened somewhat but I do watch her carefully. I have heard about the pineapple but haven't tried it. I probably wouldn''t want to try the powder because I am not sure how healthy it may be.

 

Anyways, I am having a trainer come to my house to work on Lucy following commands and they said they can help with housebreaking (I've potty trained many dogs before without having this difficulty). I let you know what tips they give me. 

[nclar0523]

I caught my little guy Rory doing this same thing for the first time today, and he is also 5 months old. But the kicker for me was that he pooped and peed on the pad like he was supposed to (which has only been 40% of the time lately) but I didn't want to praise him for snacking on his poop!! I was like "No!" (Rory runs away and peeks from around a corner-- I see everything on the puppy pad)..."Oh...um...no eating poo poo, but good! Poop on pad!" He is probably so confused lol.

 

In this case he was hungry, since after I brushed his teeth and washed him up I gave him an extra snack on a hunch and he wolfed it down- even though he had more than enough to eat for his two meals of the day...a possiblity that your guy is hungry? I heard puppies go through growth spurts and that's why some people free feed them. Then again, adding extra food will mess up his poop schedule so not sure if it was right for me to feed him then, but he was sure starving! A small consolation is that I think it is pretty common for puppies to go through this phase at some point from the volume of online discussions devoted to poop eating and housetraining- I think it will get better for us...good luck!