New puppy eats her poop and has completely destroyed playpen. PLEASE help me! - YorkieTalk.com Forums

Bellas_mama · 07-28-2011, 01:28 AM

Hello everyone. I posted a few weeks ago about the fact that my new puppy poops and pees in her kennel. It is only big enough for her to turn around in, and she poops, pees and lays in it. She sleeps with me at night and doesn't go for 8 hours just fine. I bought an exercise pen for her with the zippered cover and velcro-in waterproof bottom and she has completely destroyed it! She has ripped the bottom velcro pieces to shreds. She pulls it back all the time. She has chewed up the sides. Yes, she has LOTS of toys. Now, she is eating her poop! She goes in her pen and immediately starts eating it. If I leave her in her kennel, she pees, rolls in it, poops and eats it all up. Gross!!

I hate it and feel like giving up. I don't want my house destroyed wtih poop and pee but I feel like she is getting worse instead of getting better. She was born March 14th so she is 4 1/2 months old. If anyone could please advise me on what to do i would greatly appreciate it.

lovemy3babies · 07-28-2011, 10:31 AM

This is just a suggestion, and you may have already tried this, but have you tried one of the metal exercise pens. They run about $50. That way she couldn't chew it up. They come in different sizes, and you could put it in your kitchen so it would be easy to clean up.

I'm not sure how big your exercise pen is now, but if it is a smaller one, maybe a larger exercise pen might help her not to eat her poop because she would have more room.

I have attached a picture of the exercise pen I am talking about. Hope you find a solution to your problem. I know it must be frustrating.

http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/m/mrrI...W2bh-w/140.jpg

megansmomma · 07-28-2011, 10:47 AM

I went back to read your previous posts to try to figure out what is going on with your little girl. Now I have a few questions for you.

1. How long are you keeping her crated during the day ?
2. How old was she went you brought her home?

As for the eating of the poop this is her way of keeping her home clean. There are ways to stop poop eating but I'd like the previous questions answered first

Also, it is much better to go back to your previous posts to update than to start a new one with the same issues. That way people can look over what has already been tried and what you might be missing.

horsnaround · 07-28-2011, 12:03 PM

I think the best way to potty train and not sure if it is even possible for you but if you can take them out often. Like every hour to two. (if you work could you have a friend check on her and let her out more often) Not every hour but every two to three. It takes them awhile to beable to hold it more then that. I have always had good luck with the night holding early. But then during the day they go out often.

With these little ones it is consitency and then they do catch on. I pretty much know the time of day that mine all do there buisness. It comes with time and spending lots of time with them. You will get there don't give up it is very frustrating but so well worth it.

Bellas_mama · 07-29-2011, 02:00 AM

[QUOTE=megansmomma;3614863]I went back to read your previous posts to try to figure out what is going on with your little girl. Now I have a few questions for you.

1. How long are you keeping her crated during the day ?
2. How old was she went you brought her home?

As for the eating of the poop this is her way of keeping her home clean. There are ways to stop poop eating but I'd like the previous questions answered first

[QUOTE]

1. I never put her in her crate anymore cuz all she does is pee and poop in there and eat it right away. She doesn't and hasn't ever held it when she is in her small crate. I put her in the exercise pen which is the biggest one I could find. It is plenty large for a tiny little yorkie.

2. She was 12 weeks old.

megansmomma · 07-29-2011, 01:05 PM

I think you are keeping her in her crate for too long and this is the reason that she is peeing and pooping in her crate. She is very young and is only capable of holding her potty for maybe an hour or a little longer at a time.

Are you working and leaving her in her play yard for a full days work? If so that is the reason that she is using her play yard in this manner. She will never be potty trained this way and will always use her living area.

I like the idea of using an larger area with a pee pad for her to use as a potty area if you need to leave her for extended periods of time. On the same note, you need to have this area available when you are home as well so that she can go back there to potty.

She needs to be contained in some manner no matter what for her own safety. I really am not a fan of the soft sided play yard. When mine were small I used the Xpen that is heavy plastic so there was nothing to be chewed. But I have heard other say their puppy was able to climb the sides. I know there is a taller version of the Xpen too.

It seems that I might be missing something here or assuming you are working while she is in her play yard.

celstu1 · 08-03-2011, 04:54 AM

My boys never ate their poop so I can't help you with that. I did hear something like if you feed her a bit of pineapple that makes her poop not taste good to her. (but verify that first before doing it).
I did and still do use an Xpen (a large enclosure made of hard plastic with no floor/bottom. I used to put pee pads in it and I put them where I determined they mostly went potty on their own. That helped them to start using the pads. Then they were destroying the pads, tearing them to shreds during the day. I started putting down newspaper (not ones with colored ink) in the same spot I put the peepads and that seemed to do the trick. They didn't tear the newspaper up (grosser smell maybe?) and actually went potty on it. Of course, I would recommend putting their pee pad under the newspaper since that is way more absorbent than newspaper.

Do you have a book on Yorkies and training them? I would recommend you pick up a good book on Yorkie ownership. I think that would help you tremendously to understand the breed and give you tips on how to train and what you can expect and should not accept as your puppy gets older. They are only a puppy for a short time and they are sooo cute, that time should be enjoyable for you, not a nightmare. Plus if you don't get bad behavior under control now, she'll carry it into adulthood and it will be much harder to work with her. Yorkies are awesome and so fun and sooo cute, but they need extra attention and lots of training, they are a stubborn breed for sure! GOOD LUCK!

susan lynn · 08-03-2011, 05:01 AM

I would start her in puppy classes this will help her and you. Do you know what type environment she was in when you got her? If she was left in a pen or crate all day she doesn't know anything else but to play in her poop if she has no other choice. My Hobbes is 2 and still eats poop but not his own. I have tried all the methods, I just have to pick it up fast before he sees it. She is still very young. Training takes time, patience and consitency. As celstu1 mentioned there are books, I have Yorkies for Dummies and it helped me a lot because I knew nothing about Yorkies but had dogs all my life. I also took my first one to puppy classes at Petsmart for 10 weeks.

spr377 · 08-03-2011, 05:17 AM

my two shredded everything when they were puppies. I finally started using metal exercise pen, and put it on top of an old shower curtain, so the floor didn't get dirty. I had one area of the pen with a pee pad. this worked the best of all the things I tried. They eventually grew out of the chewing and shredding stage. Hang in there! My babies are now 5 years, and the light of my life! They haven't had to be confined in years, now.....they have the run of the house! I do keep a pee pad in the bathroom, in case they need to go before I can let them out.

ArmaniMan · 08-03-2011, 06:53 AM

My younger one destroyed canvas crates as well, after replacing mine a few times I decided switching to metal was a better and cheaper idea! She still chews carriers sometimes, it is something that I just never could break her of.

As far as going in the crate, you need to get on a schedule where your baby goes out every 30 min. To an hour, so they never have the chance to go in the crate.

lilmama · 08-13-2011, 07:04 PM

My female Fancy is one year old now and she ate her feces and still loves to chew up her toys like mad. My other yorkie does not do either.
I suggest giving her small pieces of banana as i heard it makes them dislike the taste of their feces.
I got Fancy to stop by constantly making sure there was no feces around for her to eat, and telling her bad dog when she did do it.
My hubby washed her mouth out and brushed her teeth after.

I also only give her toys that she cannot chew to pieces now.

nychelse · 08-16-2011, 06:23 PM

Good luck training your baby!

I hope that when I get my pup he can go on he pads.

07-28-2011, 01:28 AM	#1
Bellas_mama YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Dakota City, Iowa USA Posts: 6	New puppy eats her poop and has completely destroyed playpen. PLEASE help me! Hello everyone. I posted a few weeks ago about the fact that my new puppy poops and pees in her kennel. It is only big enough for her to turn around in, and she poops, pees and lays in it. She sleeps with me at night and doesn't go for 8 hours just fine. I bought an exercise pen for her with the zippered cover and velcro-in waterproof bottom and she has completely destroyed it! She has ripped the bottom velcro pieces to shreds. She pulls it back all the time. She has chewed up the sides. Yes, she has LOTS of toys. Now, she is eating her poop! She goes in her pen and immediately starts eating it. If I leave her in her kennel, she pees, rolls in it, poops and eats it all up. Gross!! I hate it and feel like giving up. I don't want my house destroyed wtih poop and pee but I feel like she is getting worse instead of getting better. She was born March 14th so she is 4 1/2 months old. If anyone could please advise me on what to do i would greatly appreciate it.

07-28-2011, 10:31 AM	#2
lovemy3babies YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 799	This is just a suggestion, and you may have already tried this, but have you tried one of the metal exercise pens. They run about $50. That way she couldn't chew it up. They come in different sizes, and you could put it in your kitchen so it would be easy to clean up. I'm not sure how big your exercise pen is now, but if it is a smaller one, maybe a larger exercise pen might help her not to eat her poop because she would have more room. I have attached a picture of the exercise pen I am talking about. Hope you find a solution to your problem. I know it must be frustrating. http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/m/mrrI...W2bh-w/140.jpg __________________ Hi from Oklahoma City from me and the girls: Holly, Lacey & Tinker Belle

07-28-2011, 10:47 AM	#3
megansmomma Donating YT 10K Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: S. W. Suburbs of Chicago, IL Posts: 12,235	I went back to read your previous posts to try to figure out what is going on with your little girl. Now I have a few questions for you. 1. How long are you keeping her crated during the day ? 2. How old was she went you brought her home? As for the eating of the poop this is her way of keeping her home clean. There are ways to stop poop eating but I'd like the previous questions answered first Also, it is much better to go back to your previous posts to update than to start a new one with the same issues. That way people can look over what has already been tried and what you might be missing. __________________ “Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” Mark Twain

07-28-2011, 12:03 PM	#4
horsnaround ♥Trained by my pups♥ Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: with my yorkies Posts: 11,726 Blog Entries: 1	I think the best way to potty train and not sure if it is even possible for you but if you can take them out often. Like every hour to two. (if you work could you have a friend check on her and let her out more often) Not every hour but every two to three. It takes them awhile to beable to hold it more then that. I have always had good luck with the night holding early. But then during the day they go out often. With these little ones it is consitency and then they do catch on. I pretty much know the time of day that mine all do there buisness. It comes with time and spending lots of time with them. You will get there don't give up it is very frustrating but so well worth it. __________________ loving life with my furry friends

07-29-2011, 01:05 PM	#6
megansmomma Donating YT 10K Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: S. W. Suburbs of Chicago, IL Posts: 12,235	I think you are keeping her in her crate for too long and this is the reason that she is peeing and pooping in her crate. She is very young and is only capable of holding her potty for maybe an hour or a little longer at a time. Are you working and leaving her in her play yard for a full days work? If so that is the reason that she is using her play yard in this manner. She will never be potty trained this way and will always use her living area. I like the idea of using an larger area with a pee pad for her to use as a potty area if you need to leave her for extended periods of time. On the same note, you need to have this area available when you are home as well so that she can go back there to potty. She needs to be contained in some manner no matter what for her own safety. I really am not a fan of the soft sided play yard. When mine were small I used the Xpen that is heavy plastic so there was nothing to be chewed. But I have heard other say their puppy was able to climb the sides. I know there is a taller version of the Xpen too. It seems that I might be missing something here or assuming you are working while she is in her play yard. __________________ “Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” Mark Twain

07-29-2011, 02:00 AM	#5
Bellas_mama YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Dakota City, Iowa USA Posts: 6	[QUOTE=megansmomma;3614863]I went back to read your previous posts to try to figure out what is going on with your little girl. Now I have a few questions for you. 1. How long are you keeping her crated during the day ? 2. How old was she went you brought her home? As for the eating of the poop this is her way of keeping her home clean. There are ways to stop poop eating but I'd like the previous questions answered first [QUOTE] 1. I never put her in her crate anymore cuz all she does is pee and poop in there and eat it right away. She doesn't and hasn't ever held it when she is in her small crate. I put her in the exercise pen which is the biggest one I could find. It is plenty large for a tiny little yorkie. 2. She was 12 weeks old.

08-03-2011, 04:54 AM	#7
celstu1 Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 10,534	My boys never ate their poop so I can't help you with that. I did hear something like if you feed her a bit of pineapple that makes her poop not taste good to her. (but verify that first before doing it). I did and still do use an Xpen (a large enclosure made of hard plastic with no floor/bottom. I used to put pee pads in it and I put them where I determined they mostly went potty on their own. That helped them to start using the pads. Then they were destroying the pads, tearing them to shreds during the day. I started putting down newspaper (not ones with colored ink) in the same spot I put the peepads and that seemed to do the trick. They didn't tear the newspaper up (grosser smell maybe?) and actually went potty on it. Of course, I would recommend putting their pee pad under the newspaper since that is way more absorbent than newspaper. Do you have a book on Yorkies and training them? I would recommend you pick up a good book on Yorkie ownership. I think that would help you tremendously to understand the breed and give you tips on how to train and what you can expect and should not accept as your puppy gets older. They are only a puppy for a short time and they are sooo cute, that time should be enjoyable for you, not a nightmare. Plus if you don't get bad behavior under control now, she'll carry it into adulthood and it will be much harder to work with her. Yorkies are awesome and so fun and sooo cute, but they need extra attention and lots of training, they are a stubborn breed for sure! GOOD LUCK! __________________ “Petting, scratching, and cuddling a dog could be as soothing to the mind and heart as deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer.” ― Dean Koontz

08-03-2011, 05:01 AM	#8
susan lynn Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 3,262	I would start her in puppy classes this will help her and you. Do you know what type environment she was in when you got her? If she was left in a pen or crate all day she doesn't know anything else but to play in her poop if she has no other choice. My Hobbes is 2 and still eats poop but not his own. I have tried all the methods, I just have to pick it up fast before he sees it. She is still very young. Training takes time, patience and consitency. As celstu1 mentioned there are books, I have Yorkies for Dummies and it helped me a lot because I knew nothing about Yorkies but had dogs all my life. I also took my first one to puppy classes at Petsmart for 10 weeks. __________________ SUSAN : TESSIE : HOBBES :CALVIN :SASSY There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face! ~ Ben Williams Last edited by susan lynn; 08-03-2011 at 05:03 AM.

08-03-2011, 05:17 AM	#9
spr377 Donating Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Upstate, NY Posts: 2,015	my two shredded everything when they were puppies. I finally started using metal exercise pen, and put it on top of an old shower curtain, so the floor didn't get dirty. I had one area of the pen with a pee pad. this worked the best of all the things I tried. They eventually grew out of the chewing and shredding stage. Hang in there! My babies are now 5 years, and the light of my life! They haven't had to be confined in years, now.....they have the run of the house! I do keep a pee pad in the bathroom, in case they need to go before I can let them out. __________________ Piper Leo Baby Piccolo Last edited by spr377; 08-03-2011 at 05:18 AM.

08-03-2011, 06:53 AM	#10
ArmaniMan I ♥ Armani & Chloe Donating Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 3,895	My younger one destroyed canvas crates as well, after replacing mine a few times I decided switching to metal was a better and cheaper idea! She still chews carriers sometimes, it is something that I just never could break her of. As far as going in the crate, you need to get on a schedule where your baby goes out every 30 min. To an hour, so they never have the chance to go in the crate. __________________ Armani & Chloe

08-13-2011, 07:04 PM	#11
lilmama YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: toronto, canada Posts: 4	My female Fancy is one year old now and she ate her feces and still loves to chew up her toys like mad. My other yorkie does not do either. I suggest giving her small pieces of banana as i heard it makes them dislike the taste of their feces. I got Fancy to stop by constantly making sure there was no feces around for her to eat, and telling her bad dog when she did do it. My hubby washed her mouth out and brushed her teeth after. I also only give her toys that she cannot chew to pieces now.

08-16-2011, 06:23 PM	#12
nychelse YT Addict Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Manhattan, NY Posts: 250	Good luck training your baby! I hope that when I get my pup he can go on he pads.