# 5 month old boy eats his poop



## kmjeffus (Feb 4, 2016)

Help! I have 2 questions!!
#1. I have a 5 mo. old boy who eats his or our female dog's poop. They will be in the back yard running and playing, he'll stop to poop and then turn around and eat it... or find a pile from earlier in the day and pick it up like a stick, play with it and eat it. I pick up our yard every 2-3 days but it is frigid cold here and honestly, i just let them out to do their business, get some energy out and then come back inside. This is a new behavior... well, we noticed him doing it after a week-long stay at out breeder's farm (where he goes to stay and play when we travel). Maybe it's a goofy puppy phase but in all of the dogs I've had since childhood, I've never had one eat their own poop (horse poop or cow poop, yes!)... but this is just gross. Ick. Any recommendations? 

#2. Same puppy is completely house broken and crate trained, but for some reason, when he gets cozy snoozing (while our family is lounging before bed), he falls asleep and pees on our female's bed. It doesn't happen everyday, but I can't figure out why he won't get up to go out or hold it until I let him out at bedtime. My husband and I have decided that he is comfortable and just lazy, because he sleeps through the night every night in his crate. 2 nights ago, I let him out (say at 8:00) to go potty. He came back in, the dogs were asleep on their bed, but then I noticed around 9pm (an hour later) that out female wouldn't lay down and was pacing and whining. He had completely soaked the bed. He only does this when laying on that bed. Any tips on what to do for both questions?! Thank you!!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

You need to try and break the habit. It means going outside with them, and cleaning up poop as soon as it happens. Pups may start doing it because of undigested protein in the poo, but it can become a life long nasty habit. 
There is also food additives you can try. It's suppose to make it taste bad to them. 

As for as the wetting, he may or may not be able to control it when overtired. Rule out UTI, take him out often, and try and keep him off her bed.


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## kmjeffus (Feb 4, 2016)

ok. I am going to look into food additives and try to pick up after them every time - I'll see if that helps. Our breeder said its normal, but normal or not, it is not an "ok" habit for me... especially since I have 3 children who love to get in his face. YUCK!

As for the peeing, I have 2 new beds on the way for each of them. Her bed is enormous and was getting worn out anyway, so I was trying to get him through the puppy chewing stage before buying them new beds. They have loved to snuggle together up to this point, but at 5 months, he is almost as big as she is now and they both barely fit on that bed now. The new beds are smaller and less cushy, so I'm hoping that may also help. We do let them out just about every hour but I am going to maybe try to monitor his water intake more at night. He is a gulper, so drinks a lot of water very quickly. I'm thinking that could be part of the problem. During the day he's always in and out of the house - but at night he's zonked - so after drinking a lot, maybe he just can't hold it when in a deep sleep. I'm usually pretty good about keeping the water dish up and offering it through out the evening but sometimes my kids will get it down and forget to pick it back up.


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