[sand0r]

OK, I adopted this dog from the animal shelter when she was 4 months old. I don't know what she's a mix of because she doesn't look like what her papers call her (a shepherd mix). I keep her in her crate while I'm at work for 8 hours and it's 30 minutes to and 30 minutes from work and for the first two months, she didn't poop in the apartment once except when she got out due to my own negligence while closing it. She had peed in there several times until I took out her bedding since she was destroying it. She started excessively drooling and clawing/chewing at the crate but that's cut back. Now she's started pooping and eating it.

It started two weeks ago and I thought it was uncontrollable because it was liquid in her crate and since she pooped liquid outside but, when I came back in and she had some water, she pooped out of her mouth onto the carpet. It's not a daily occurrence, but it's reoccurring and it's quite disgusting.

Her crate is quite big but I've had it since 2 weeks after I adopted her and she went a month and a half without pooping. I don't know what to do to get her to stop pooping. It wouldn't be so bad if she wouldn't eat it, but I don't know why on earth she would start after 2 months of not doing it at all in her crate.

My crate doesn't have the capability of using dividers so I'm thinking of investing of a couple of cinder blocks to put in the back and hold them into place with bungee cords to reduce the area. I have some cardboard boxes but I know she'll spend all day chewing on it.

If anyone has any advice on this, I'd appreciate it. This is my first raising of a dog and I'm starting to get frustrated with it. Thanks

[simoneaugie]

Dogs will eat poop. The vet can give you stuff to put on her food that makes the poop taste bad. That usually stops the behavior. She does not realize that it seems gross to you, so love her in spite of it.

Is there any way that you can have a friend stop by your place while you're at work? Nine hours is a long time for the puppy to be alone. She is probably quite bored while waiting for you to come home.

[linnealand]

What you really need are a stack of books on dog training! YOU CAN NOT LEAVE A DOG IN A CRATE ALL DAY!! MAXIMUM 1 TO 2 HOURS DURING THE DAY!! What you need is a PEN with newspapers underneath. DO YOU HAVE SOMEONE TO WALK HER WHILE YOU'RE AT WORK? It's a PUPPY, A BABY. They can't even start to properly control their bodies until 4 to 6 months. If you keep doing what you're doing, your dog eating poop for stress, hunger and boredom is going to be the VERY VERY least of your problems. Truly, after reading the amazing puppy and dog books that are out there, I can't imagine trying to raise a pup without a single one of them.