[Rachel Zugg]

I know this is nasty, but Lily has been eating her poo. Not just eating it. But she poos inside her crate and then eats it. I don't know why she would be pooing in her crate. she has never done it since we got her, and now it seems like she does it everyday.

 

[Cinder]

How old is Lily?

 

[Erica]

Her food is not digesting all of the way and her body is not absorbing all of its nutrients..and she in a since is recycling it again..there was a thread awhile back on this...see if you can locate it..

e :wink:

 

[Rachel Zugg]

OH, thanks.

 

[i love remy]

Her food is not digesting all of the way and her body is not absorbing all of its nutrients..and she in a since is recycling it again..there was a thread awhile back on this...see if you can locate it..

e :wink:

This is not always true. Many dogs eat poop just because they like the taste (warm meal...yummy!), because they're bored, because they're trying to remove their scent from an area....any number of reasons, really. If Lily is eating her poop in her crate, it's likely that she's just trying to clean up her den. Most dogs don't want to lie in their own poop, so they eat it to get rid of it.

 

[Rachel Zugg]

So now Im confused. She is on a schedule. She never just sits in her crate all day without going to potty. But she will poo in there anyway. AND pee. I try to tell myself that dogs don't do things out of spite, but Im starting to think that maybe she is mad at me for going back to work. Since this didn't start til I went back to work........ I don't KNOW! She does it if Im here, or not. If Im gone for 10 minutes or 8 hours, she does it. It is really a headache, but I guess things could be alot worse....

 

[i love remy]

Is her poop solid? Bella only soils her crate when she's sick with diarrhea and just can't hold it. (It's only happened twice.) How big is Lily's crate? Is it just big enough (or at least sectioned off) so that she only has room to turn around, stand up, and lie down?

 

[Rachel Zugg]

Her poo is solid, and her crate is a big one, I guess maybe too big, I never thought of that. :?

 

[Cinder]

Ah yes, they say if they actually have room to poo, then the crate is too big, and they WILL poo in there. The eating thing...I don't know about.

 

[-removed-]

But I was under impression that once your dog is potty trained that you dont need to section them off anymore, you know give them some room to stretch out..Assuming im right and she is just doing it to do do you think it would make a difference if you sectioned her off again??

Of course I have no clue how old she is again so maybe she still needs crate training just as a fine tuning I guess...

Mason hasnt had a intentional accident in his crate for a long time now but im just wondering if ill have to section him off again if he starts too...Hmm

 

[Rachel Zugg]

I have no idea.... She is 4 months old, and she is housetrained. We have NEVER had accidents in the crate until we started using the big one. Not ever. This is making our house smell really bad, I have to figure it out.....

 

[-removed-]

Section her off, thats most likely what it is.. Does your crate allow you to section off? I didnt let mason have fulll swing of his crate until 6 months... he's goin on 7 this thursday

 

[Rachel Zugg]

No this crate is an older one that I bought from my mother. It was for their OES and she was a big dog. I put her back in the smaller crate that I bought when I knew I was getting her, but this means I have to go get yet another crate. I don't like leaving her in the small one, but she has enough room to lay and turn around and all, so I guess she will be ok until next week. The good news is, there is no more peeing and pooing! YAY!

 

[mom to many]

No this crate is an older one that I bought from my mother. It was for their OES and she was a big dog. I put her back in the smaller crate that I bought when I knew I was getting her, but this means I have to go get yet another crate. I don't like leaving her in the small one, but she has enough room to lay and turn around and all, so I guess she will be ok until next week. The good news is, there is no more peeing and pooing! YAY!

Check www.craigslist.org for your area, and look under the pets section...I have bought several crates (VERY inexpensive) off of there...I'v even sold my smaller ones, when my dog has outgrown them. Glad the problem seems to be clearing up!

 

[Rachel Zugg]

Thanks!

 

[Thor]

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Solid-Gold-SEP-(Stop-Eating-Poop)/140110.aspx

 

[Miakoda]

Has she had a fecal check done recently? Maybe she's picked up a parasite or something. Have one done if you haven't recently.

As for the kennel advice, sometimes that's true, but it depends on the dog. ALL of my dog's (who range in weight from 30-100lbs have Great Dane size kennels & have since birth. I've never had a problem with one going to the bathroom in their just because it was a big kennel.

Sometimes pups will have setbacks, just like kids, with pottytraining. It might just be a phase. Try to avoid feeding her after 5 pm & take her out to potty as late as possible. If she's doing this during the day, don't feed her right before you head off for the day. If you have to, wake up extra early just to feed her then go back to bed. Just let her out to poop at least once before heading out.

As for eating poop, I've got a couple that seem to enjoy the taste. They'll even vomit it back up in their crates to "share" with mommy. :roll:

 

[Rachel Zugg]

I believe it is the amount of room she has in the crate. Since we switched to the smaller one, no more accidents! And it isn't a potty train set back because she never does it in the house unless she is in that big crate! But Im just going to go get a larger one that I can section off to fit her as she grows....