Your puppy is just being a ……puppy!  Sometimes the art of pet parenting is like the TV show Survivor–Outwit, Outsmart, Outlast.  

Be diligent in cleaning up after your puppy poo’s. Do not give him the chance to play with or eat poo. Try placing the puppy on a leash when you take him outside to relieve himself, and do not allow him to inspect his poo. Distract him from by calling him to you, and when he responds appropriately, reward him with a treat and verbal encouragement (go crazy and act like he is the BEST PUPPY ON THE PLANET!) and then take him inside before you go back to pick it up.

If he hates poo’ing on the leash this is where the “Outlast” portion of the program comes into play. You just have to wander around the yard with him until he does it.  

Some have found that adding meat tenderizer or natural additives to the puppy’s food makes a big difference, since these additives cause the stool to have a particularly unappealing smell that will discourage him from eating it. If you cannot immediately clean up the stool, or if there are some old stool piles in your yard, you can spray it with hot pepper sauce or mouth wash. It is  more effective to just clean up after the puppy.

A good resource for puppy training is The Complete Idiots Guide to Dog Training.  You can check it out of your local library.  Good luck!!

Hello Jennifer. My Great Dane did this and then my Golden Retriever starting doing it. Learned behavior? I agree with Dr. Mag’s suggestions. I taught the leave it command and do not leave them unattended when it is ‘potty time.’ I tried to read a lot of remedies for this issue. What I found was mixed reviews on the food additives to deter the poop eating. I read about nutritional deficits and remedies. What I read and think was going on with mine was most dogs like to keep their play and living areas clean. Sometimes when a mother has a new litter, she will demonstrate this issue to keep the area clean for her pups. I too have a fenced in back yard which doubles as their play area when I cannot take them out in the unfenced area. I taught the leave it command and keep the area clean of feces. Somehow, imo, your dog has associated the crate pooping as safe but then cleans the area since it is his ‘safe spot.’ It took a few weeks to dissuade my dogs from doing this. Still, if I am not diligent about watching over them and keeping the area clean, the issue will persist. Your reaction whether positive or negative outside, may be influencing what the dog believes to be ok so he returns to his ‘safe’ area and only poops when he thinks you are not paying attention (because of your reactoin?) then gobbles the tasty morsel up for maybe cleaning? I found with my dogs when there is an unwanted behavior/issue the best reaction is no reaction. Remember, running to the crate to stop him may be interpreted as him doing something wrong so he tries to ‘destroy’ the evidence. It is learned somehow.

An anecdote. My very sensitive Great Dane when she was young had what I perceived to be separation anxiety when my wife and I would leave. We would come home and rugs would be chewed, pillows destroyed, etc. I would come in and immediately react, negatively. I posted on here and in short, the response was it was my fault. I was at first offended thinking I was a great doggy parent, but then I thought about it. My Dane associated our leaving with her getting negatively in trouble when we came home. This caused her great stress and her acting out was a reaction to fear and anticipation. I quickly changed my behavior. When I came home I would simply clean up what was destroyed and before leaving I would remove anything I could. I did not react. She would cower in her chair while I cleaned. I simply went about my business without noticing her. When I was done, once she came out of her chair, I acknowledged her and said hello. It was my responsibility to break the association, not the behavior. It took a little time, but we became successful. Now when we leave, we make it no big deal. When we come home, it is not a big deal. She isn’t afraid of us leaving and her ‘just’ getting in trouble when we come home. We no longer come home to destroyed items or a fearful dog. I personified her hiding in her chair with her knowing she did something wrong. Nope. I taught her that when we come home I would yell at her so she anticipated that with great stress and fear.

Maybe, without knowing it, we teach our dogs to do negative things. The hard part is realizing and accepting it then correcting OUR behavior.

Good Luck!!!

I read your blog on Beau. It’s just a frustrating illness, because results take awhile. Ozzie is only our Veterinarians 2nd case of puppy strangles in her 30+Yr career. Her first case was just 6 mos. ago on an imported pup. Last night marked 1 wk. on prednisone & antibiotics, we 2 or those days being the double dose increase. Marked improvement over night last night! So thankful. His chops and eye area, have gone way down. And the fever has finally broke! I am thankful for your site Krista.

Could you tell me what you are feeding, what supplements you give and how long the gas has been going on?  How are his/her stools – firm, soft?  When does the gas occur – anytime, or only after meals? If the stools are soft it would be good to have the stool checked for parasites by your local veterinarian.

The quick and easy answer is to begin using probiotics. My favorite is Mitomax, a super probiotic. I have had many animals’ smelly gas clear up while using
this, though sometimes they need to stay on it. Unlike other probiotics, it is
very stable and is ok at the low stomach pH.There is an icon on my home page for it (www.MyHealthyAnimals.com). You could also get other pet probiotics if near a pet health store. (by the way, if you put in your city, we can be more specific in our answers)

The longer answer is to generally improve health. There are 7 keys that can help you do this, with a link on my home page. 

Please let me know a little more and if you have questions about the holistic approach (7 keys to health). 

the small worms you saw were probably tapeworms, whose eggs may not show up on a fecal, so be sure the vet staff saw the worms that you saw. they could also just be fly larvae and not from inside the dogs. 

Tthere are a number of holistic approaches that could stop the gas and even firm up the stools (raw meat diet, other diets, marshmallow root, aloe vera, charcoal, slippery elm, Reiki, flower essences to name a few) and conventional drugs. 

Since this has been a chronic issue, the very best approach will be to address the underlying energetic imbalance (Qi/Vital Force/Pranna) causing them to have a sensitive digestive tract. This is best done by an integrative veterinarian (links at my site – http://www.MyHealthyAnimals.com) who has many options to cure the underlying issues so you will not be dealing with digestive issues for life. 

Health is a journey, and there is not one right approach, so you may need to try different modalities or different practitioners on the path to deep healing. 

In terms of food, I would seriously explore feeding a fresh meat diet. What
are the best diets for people or animals — the most processed or the freshest,
most organic? The best ingredients should be the most
consciously raised – local, organic vegetables, free ranging protein sources.
Dogs and cats have ripping and tearing teeth, bone crunching teeth, no
digestive juices in the mouth, jaws that do not chew, a stomach full of acid
where the food sits for 4-12 hours and a very short transit time in the
intestines. Dogs and cats do not pull out a knife to de-bone their prey and do
not pull out matches to light a fire to cook their meat and vegetables.
Therefore the best diet for dogs and cats is raw meat including raw bones,
pureed raw and cooked vegetables and a few supplements (Calcium if no bones are
eaten is critical). There are many good books to guide you along with integrative veterinarians. Some TCVM (Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine) practitioners will suggest cooking meats or using specific foods as part of their food therapy. 

For processed foods, the Whole Dog Journal publishes a yearly review of the different brands. You want ones using organic sources, even to the point of organic grains being fed to the chicken and the beef not being finished with grains. The GMO and concomitant pesticides/fertilizers are causing a lot of intestinal distress in sensitive dogs. 

Hi Kathy,

There are a few things you can try. Offering other types of toys for her is one suggestion, there are toys that you can put small treats into, and the puppy can roll them along and a treat comes out. They keep them distracted from chewing. Also change up and rotate the toys you have so that they seem “new” and interesting.  

They make commercial sprays you can apply on furniture for this purpose, I’ve also heard people having success with putting hot pepper spray on furniture to deter them. Bitter Apple spray seems to work the best in my opinion (they sell this at most pet supply stores) 

I personally do not like rawhides, primarily because they are easy for a dog to choke on when they becomes slimy, soft and small. So unless you are supervising your puppy when they are using them at all times, I would avoid them.

There are super hard bones (marrow bones) that you can get that most dogs LOVE. They even are some that are filled with peanut butter or other fillings to keep a dogs interest. Try also offering antlers-most dogs go crazy for them and they are sold at most pet supply stores. 

Finally, make sure your puppy is getting lots and lots of exercise and walks outside. This alone will often lesson the problem.

Enjoy your new pup!

~kelly