Expert: Have4Paws - 12/27/2009

Question
My friend has a beagle that I'm taking care of for a week and he had asked me if I can try to potty train the beagle. I told him I'll try, but I know I'm the worst person to try because I'm impatient. I know I've been doing all the wrong things possible based on what I've read, but it never fails that he pees and craps in like 5 of the same areas. He has a litter box, but he uses it as a bed. I can't do the whole clean up after him and say nothing because it drives me crazy and I'll know he'll do it again. And on top of all of this he eats his own crap. I saw him play with it outside. I've even had him attached to my hip everywhere i go and he still manages to go without me looking. he will never do it while I'm looking which makes it harder to praise him because i can't study when he has to go. I don't know what else to do and I doubt my friend knows because this is something he should've been doing 3 months ago.

Answer
Hi here is my personal recommended guide for housetraining and then after that is an article on dogs eating their own feces that is very informative. This is very long and I suggest you print all of this out......

HAVE 4 PAWS' INFO ON HOUSEBREAKING YOUR PUPPY OR DOG

This will be one of the most important training efforts (or
REtraining efforts) you will ever do with your dog so commit to yourself that you will be consistent and persistent at all times!

I usually recommend devoting one weekend (Fri night to Sun night) where your entire weekend is concentrated on housebreaking, that’s right 24/7!! Then during the time when you are attempting this housebreaking you should literally take your dog out EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR without fail. Until your dog is trustworthy about going where it should (outside) take it out on a leash (see below on Potty Area). Fresh drinking water should be available to your dog at all times but with a young puppy you may want to time its' drinking to just prior to taking it out for its' scheduled hourly relief. If you are free feeding your dog or puppy this can be contributing to your dog’s accidents, as there is always something in its bowels to get rid of. It also leads to obesity so PLEASE, feed your dog once or twice a day only! Your dog should be taken out 5-10 minutes after eating which is about how long it takes to stimulate a bowel movement. (FYI-I am happy to give you more detail on scheduled feeding vs. free feeding if you need it.)

UNTIL YOUR DOG IS TRAINED KEEP A CONSTANT EYE ON IT!
The ONLY time a puppy or non-housebroken dog should have free run of the house is when you are right there with them to watch them! This will avoid unnecessary accidents and allow you to see "pre-toilet" behavior and whisk them outside.

I recommend attaching a leash or long clothes line to them during this learning period (or retraining period) and hooking it to your belt, leg, arm etc. This way the dog can never be out of view and if you are truly watching them, as you should be, will seldom have an accident. It will also teach them that you are in charge, which will help in the future with other training. Remember that this is only temporary! If you really follow this to the letter your puppy/dog will be housetrained in a matter or weeks or retrained in a matter of days! (This varies depending on the age of the dog)

Remember.........a puppy can only be expected to hold it for as many hours as it is old, plus a month. So if your puppy is 3 months the most you can ask for is 3-4 hours.......and that is only if you have trained them. Otherwise they will just go when the urge comes. Puppies and adult dogs USUALLY won't go to the bathroom where they sleep or eat HOWEVER, if they have been allowed to become accustomed to this it will negate that natural instinct.

DESIGNATE AN APPROPRIATE AREA OUTSIDE FOR POTTY
Many people have made the mistake of not restricting the area where their dog can go potty. This can lead to a lot of backbreaking pooper-scooper activity and taking on a second job as a "Treasure Hunter", not to mention the possibility of encouraging coprophagia (stool eating). Take it from me that you want to get it right the first time and limit where they go to a certain area. Always take them to that spot and if they roam out of that perimeter lead them back. Praise them lavishly when they stay within their perimeter and if they manage to roam out and go they should be led back and then told they are good for being in the right spot.

CLEANING UP MESSES
You will need to invest in a product called NATURE'S MIRACLE or PET FORCE, which are the best I have found on the market. You can buy them at any pet store or even at a vacuum store where they rent steam cleaners. They are enzymatic cleaners which remove all traces of odor if applied properly (read directions carefully). This is extremely important because if your dog/puppy can still smell something inside he will continue to think this is OK to do. Forget about using any of the other kinds, they won’t work! If you have many soiled areas from before you apply this, you can buy a black light at the pet store also which will show you all the areas your dog has gone and then you can be sure to treat them all. Both can also be used in carpet cleaning machines and this is recommended if you have a whole room that has been soiled. They can be applied to any surface and should (IE: carpet, walls, cement, linoleum, fabric etc.)

All messes should be cleaned up quietly and quickly with NO comments made. PLEASE do not scold or punish your dog for an accident. It is not their fault, it is YOURS! If you are doing what you are supposed to it won’t happen (obviously in the very beginning there will be a few mistakes!) Your dog is only doing what comes naturally. It is up to US to teach them how to live in a human world. Rubbing a dog’s nose in his mess, yelling at him, or swatting him does absolutely nothing but teach him to fear you. They do not have the reasoning ability to connect what is on the floor to what you are upset about and sometimes you can inadvertently reinforce the very thing you were trying to eliminate!  If you happen to catch them IN THE ACT and I do mean midstream or mid drop, grab them, whisk them outside and put them where they should be going and then tell them “This is where we go, good doggie!” Timing is everything in training a dog so if it is after it won’t help.



Please know that locking your dog in his crate also does nothing to stop the behavior. Remember, the whole concept of a crate is that it is a dog’s castle, it is supposed to be a place of safety, comfort and relaxation. It should NEVER be a place to be banished too or used for punishment. Using it in the incorrect way will make your dog not want to go inside it or be in it and then you will have two problems!

Some people also get so discouraged that they just leave their dog outside because they cannot get a handle on the housetraining. Unfortunately, this is one of those things that reinforces the behavior because they have no clue what to do when they are finally allowed in and so they continue to do it not to mention act wild when allowed in.


REWARDS
It is my opinion (and that of many leading animal behaviorist/trainers) that the most successful way to train your dog in anything you endeavor is to use a reward system. Your dog is eager to please you and if he gets a reward for doing something right he will remember it and try to do it again and again.

I recommend using treats with housebreaking (& all training) with lots of exuberant praise. When your dog/puppy is successful in going outside in his spot immediately give him a treat for doing so and lavish him with exuberant praise. As with the above, timing is everything so you want to do it immediately upon his finishing his job.

ESTABLISH A ROUTINE WITH YOUR DOG:
Once you have a handle on housetraining don’t think your job is done forever. If you have a doggie door, do not just assume he will now go on his own. At least each AM as soon as you wake up and each night just before retiring make it a habit to go to the door with your dog and take them outside (in inclement weather at least stand at the door and send HIM out). When they do their thing praise them. This is continued reinforcement to do the right thing and you can never do it for too long in their life!


REMEMBER …..

DOGS ARE LIKE COMPUTERS,

GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT!

Your dog can only be as good and behaved as the time and effort YOU as the leader have put into teaching him! If you spend little time, expect a misbehaved dog, if you spend a medium amount of time, expect a dog who does some things right and others not. If you want a dog that is well behaved, a pleasure to be with and take anywhere, YOU are the only key to that formula.

Good luck and feel free to contact me again if you have any further questions!
Have4Paws


Owner Documentation of Coprophagia in the Canine
Erik Hofmeister; Melinda Cumming, DVM PhD; Cheryl Dhein, DVM, MS, DACVIM
Overview
Coprophagia is defined as the consumption of feces by an animal and is a common complaint of owners to their veterinarians. Since there has been little research done on this particular behavior, the veterinarian is usually poorly equipped to give a recommendation to the owner. This study is intended to provide epidemiological information about the incidence of the behavior in the canine population, the age of onset, age of disappearance, and various other pieces of information crucial to form a basis from which to study this very important behavior.
Proposed Causes
Coprophagia may result due to various medical problems. Primary among them are exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, pancreatitis, intestinal infections, malabsorptive syndromes, and over-feeding (especially high fat content diets). However, with the majority of these conditions, many other signs beside the coprophagia will be prominent, particularly diarrhea. Coprophagia is usually only a small aspect of these medical conditions.
There have been a variety of behavioral theories put forth as to why canines engage in coprophagia. It is important at this time to define different kinds of coprophagia. Autocoprophagia deals with an animal eating its own feces. Intraspecific coprophagia deals with an animal eating feces from another animal within its own species. Interspecific coprophagia deals with an animal eating feces from another species (dog eating cat, deer, rabbit, etc feces). Several behavioral explanations of coprophagia are discussed below.
Attention-seeking behavior: When the dog engages in coprophagia, their owner tends to reprimand them and, therefore, pay attention to the animal. This may be a sequellae to a medical condition which brought about the coprophagia initially and, now that the medical condition has cleared, the animal continues to engage in coprophagia in order to get attention from the owner. This is unlikely in well-treated animals, however, because they will likely get all the attention they need without having to draw negative attention to themselves. This is being examined in our study.
Allelomimetic behavior: The dog observes the owner picking up the feces and learns from them to do so as well.
Learned behavior: The dog observes other dogs engaging in coprophagia and mimics their activity, thus 'learning' it from other dogs within the household or those living nearby. This begs the question as to what started the first dog to engage in coprophagia. This is being examined in our study.
Maternal behavior: A bitch with puppies will often engage in coprophagia, and this behavior is normal. There are many theories as to why the bitch does this, including keeping the den clean and preventing the scent of the feces from attracting predators. This is being examined in our study.
Dominance behavior: There have been reports of a submissive dog consuming the feces of one or more dominant dogs in the same household. There are other examples in nature where the submissive members of a group participate in apparently bizarre behaviors. This is being examined in our study.
Reinforcement: Something about eating the feces itself reinforces the behavior. Things such as taste may be a factor in this. It's simply appealing to the dog to eat the feces, so it does so. This is the likely mechanism in interspecific coprophagia such as eating cat feces.
Feeding behavior: Many people feed their dogs only once per day. Some postulate that dogs naturally want to have multiple meals throughout the day, hence they use coprophagia to supplement their feeding schedule and fulfill this need. This is being examined in our study.
Treatment Options
These treatments are all the opinions of the authors of this study. We make no claims about the efficacy of these treatments, nor do we endorse using any specific products herein. This is provided merely to inform interested individuals of what has been used in the past, and the authors' opinions of these treatments. Our study will provide more objective data regarding the efficacy of some of these treatments.
Meat tenderizer: Some people theorize that adding various enzymes to the diet of a coprophagic animal may help. The suspicion is that these enzymes break down more of the nutrients in a dog's diet so that it gets adequate nutrition and need not ingest its feces to get a proper influx of nutrients. There are some reports of this treatment working.
Forbid (TM)(R): This is a powder supplement added to a dog's food. It is thought that this makes the feces taste bad for a coprophagic dog. Note that this must be applied to the food of the dog whose feces is being eaten. It is by veterinary prescription only. The efficacy has not been proved to the satisfaction of the authors. Note also that this can only be given to dogs, so will only be effective with autocoprophagia or intraspecific coprophagia.
Deter (TM)(R): This is a pill given to a dog with its food. Like Forbid, Deter is suspected to make the feces distasteful. It is not veterinary prescribed, but the same issues exist as with Forbid.
Bad taste on feces: This is perhaps the most common treatment for coprophagia. Owners are advised to put something like hot sauce on or in their dogs' feces. The theory is that the dog will consume the treated feces and will have an aversive response to it (due to bad taste) and will eventually cease the behavior. For this behavior to be effective, it must be used 100% of the time. Every feces must have hot sauce or other noxious tasting element on it or else the dog will not associate the bad taste with eating the feces. It is the opinion of the authors that the owner should simply pick up the feces instead. Lack of access to feces is the most effective treatment option (described below). Some dogs will stop engaging in coprophaga if the cycle is broken by picking up feces, so that treatment is much easier, much simpler, and more effective means of controlling coprophagia.
Scolding/Punishment: This is a common method of trying to have an animal stop a behavior. Barking is a good example- owners think if they scold their pet for barking, it will cease to bark. Punishment almost never works as well as reinforcement, however, and should only be used as a last resort. This may actually lead to more coprophagia as the dog learns that it gets attention (being scolded) if it eats its feces.
Ignoring: This is often used by owners because they have figured out that their dogs may want attention from eating the feces, so they ignore the dog when it's engaging in coprophagia. This is likely better than scolding and punishment, but probably not as effective as reinforcing a good behavior (such as coming when called).
Pickup: This is a treatment strategy by preventing access to the feces by the animal. In extreme cases of coprophagia, a muzzle may have to be administered when the dog is let outside to prevent it from eating the feces. Usually simply picking up shortly after the dog and preventing the dog from eating feces during walks is sufficient. Often this may break the cycle of behavior as described above under scolding/punishment.
Other chemicals: There are no less than several dozen purported chemical treatments for coprophagia, including homeopathic remedies. Of course, only anecdotal information is available about these compounds. Some supplements which have been suggested include pumpkin seeds, breath mints, papaya, anise seed, and pineapple. If you're aware of a compound which worked, please email Erik and he will hopefully add a comprehensive list and discussion of rare or exotic remedies.
Muzzle: If the dog engages in this behavior when unattended, or consumes the feces directly when it comes out, a muzzle may be a practical solution to the problem. If it is well tolerated and the dog does not have to have it on for extended periods of time, this may be one of the more practical ways to deal with a dog who is coprophagic and unsupervisable.
Wait: Anecdotally, this seems to be a behavior most often occurring in younger dogs. Many owners report that their dog eventually grows out of it. While not exactly treatment, it is possible that the dog will stop being coprophagic as it ages.
Positive Reinforcement: This is the process of reinforcing another behavior instead of the coprophagia. When the dog is about to begin eating feces, the owner can use any variety of commands. "Leave it", "come", "sit", etc. can all be used. The idea here is to distract the dog long enough to allow the owner to pick the feces up and make the dog forget about the coprophagia behavior.
Combination: It is almost impossible to recommend a single best treatment for coprophagia for all dogs. Because the mechanism and reasons why dogs engage in this behavior are unknown, it is not known which behavior modification therapies will be most effective. It is the opinion of this author that a combination of reinforcing desired behaviors and picking up feces is the best combination for treatment of coprophagia.
Health Implications
Most of the time, coprophagia is merely a habit which is disgusting to owners but causes no real problems for the dog who is eating it. There are some important exceptions to this, however. The most critical is the possibility of ingesting internal parasites. Usually this will happen if your dog eats the feces of unfamiliar, infested dogs or the feces of wild life (such as deer). If you keep your animals properly dewormed, the dog eating the feces of these animals is usually not at risk for internal parasites. However, the possibility of picking up a parasite from a strange animal (especially wild life) is very real, and the dog should be prevented from eating such feces as much as possible.
In addition to internal parasites, organisms such as Toxoplasma gondii is transmitted in some cat feces. This can cause a dog a variety of problems, including CNS and muscle damage. Try to keep the dog away from cat feces as much as possible because of this.
It's also possible that the feces, if left to sit too long, can become infested with fly larvae, foreign bacteria, fungus, etc. It is best to make sure your dog avoids these sources of disease as much as possible. Be sure to keep your dog away from strange feces when on a walk and clean up any old feces in your yard as soon as possible.
Some important canine viral diseases can also be transmitted by the fecal-oral route and infection could result from coprophagia of infected dogs' feces. Hepatitis and canine parvovirus are two important diseases which can be transmitted in this manner. Fortunately, vaccinated dogs are at little risk.