Coprophagia at Sunrise.

Coprophagia at sunrise. Almost sounds romantic doesn't it?

I know poo eating is self rewarding and obviously self generated but it it a tough one to crack! I have a 18 week old puppy and its a hang-up he's always had which the breeder told me he had. He was crated for long periods with the breeder.

Wegot the puppy and he used to be crated and in a play pen with an open crate. Previously he has messed in his crate and his pen and also messed and eaten in his pen.

Lately it seemed to have stopped and he as had the run of the area down-stairs.

He has always woken at about 5ish and when in the pen whimpered constantly which I ignored for half an hour and let him out in the garden and he defected. Occasionally he did defecate and eat.

Now its very quiet. For the last three mornings he has silently urinated and defecated and eaten his own waste. This morning I caught him munching and I calmly let him into the garden and cleared it up.

How can I deal with it now?

My options seem to be...
Crate him overnight. He will whimper and cry and my worst case scenario is that he defecates and makes a mess of himself and the inside of the crate.

Feed him later. I currently give him his last meal at 6pm. He maybe hungry. But by feeding him later am I making it more likely he will want to defecate at 5am or before?

Add a supplement to his diet. Pineapple, spinach? Do you know anything that works? However, it may stop him eating it but will it stop him producing it?

Get up before him. Maybe get up at 4-50am and let him out. But that may create a pattern.

Any ideas anyone. It's tricky!

Thanks.

What time does your pup get put in the crate at night and what is the 'bedtime' ritual? Do you notice when he last had a poo before bedtime?

He is not crated now.

He's pretty chilled all evening (as are we). At between 11pm and 12 I let him out and yes, he defecates in the garden and I praise him.


I then calmly leave him and my other dog and go upstairs to my bed. the dogs are not allowed upstairs (its our sleeping quarters) and we have a stair gate.

He's always woken at first light. Previously when crated or in the bigger pen, he's whined and occasionally defecated and pretty much always urinated.

I'm thinking, can hunger cause this situation?

I would just try and get out of bed before he needs to go and let him out then get back into bed. I think sometimes it can be habbit.
One of my dogs has gone through stages of doing it.
Recently he started it again he is 13 and getting on now not sure why he started doing it but I sarted to get up at 4am and take him out then go back to bed it broke the cycle and he stopped now I get up a 6am.

Well its been a long time since I've had a puppy so not absolutely sure, but I know my adult dogs are more restless early in the morning if they've had their dinner too early - I sometimes get up thinking they want out, only to find them sitting waiting in their places for their breakfast!

The other thing that occurred to me is that whilst it is good practice for him to be chilled in the evening, being quiet all evening and then expected to sleep all night might be a bit much for a young dog?

Perhaps a short evening session of play/training might kill two birds with one stone? If you train with treats, it might stop him being so hungry in the morning and working his brain in the evening might encourage him to sleep longer the next morning? (of course I appreciate that you might not want to get into this kind of routine but its worth considering).

Ben was a poo eater - lovely isnt it
I tried pineapple, if I rem it stopped him eating his poo - but even now he likes the odd munch on someone elses - thankfully his leave it is good

Couple of things
I deff used to give Ben a good play about 10pm before settling down for an hour or two before Bed - so he was nice and tired - and his last meal was after his last walk and he made it tru the night just fine
I wouldnt ignore him crying - he has just learnt he cant call you when he NEEDS out - if they cry I just take them out on the lead, no attention, no playing, then quietly praise when they go to the loo then back to bed
If you are with him and he goes right away praise and reward him - moving him away from the poo so you can clear it up (and dont worry about him seeing you clear it up - thats just a sill dom rule)

How about teaching some leave it training and then build up to a 'leave it' around a nice fresh poo (lovely) A good play a couple of hours before bed and a wee bedtime snack
get up before you think he is gonna need to go (and every night increase the time by 10 min) and if he crys let him out

Personaly I would crate too