typical for a dog that age, probably not much to be done. Your lucky to have had him so long. sorry about his condition, just try to keep him pain free

is he aggressive? my female had this same problem. each time she bit i would take my hand and bob her bottom jaw. after a week she quit biting. and i mean. take your hand under his chin and swing up. 

My vet said I should put him down, and since the humane society won’t take him because he drew blood, should I?

Also the reason my dog bit the lady was because he didn’t get his way

That’s such a shame. This may have been a medical issue. Putting him down should have been a last possible resort AFTER having a vet do full blood panels and AFTER engaging a veterinary behaviorist.

No dog from an ethical, reputable breeder will cost auch a small sum. Please reevaluate your priorities with any future dog before running out and finding another one.

He is aggressive and you should never hit any animal.

As far as I can tell. It was only a little bit and was sort of dripped along the side of her head. I’ll take her to the vet tomorrow. I just wanted to be sure it wasn’t anything too serious or maybe just a build-up of ear-wax, etc.

Has your dog recently received Ivermectin or Trifexis?  Both can lead to permanent neurological damage I’m told.  Also some dry dogfood and dog treats are being recalled for fungus contamination.  One dog treat I gave my 3 dogs caused them to have the same symptoms and then they had seizures.  Luckily I figured out what it was and they all recovered.

She sounds super cute and a handful 🙂 Dont have anything to add, but have an injured kitten that im handling who sounds very similar to yours before she got injured. Didn’t know a drop trap even existed until now. i like it! Will try finding one for my next vet visit.

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!!!