Shitzu -

[Angeleyes3323]

Sadie has pretty short hair....we take her to the groomers everymonth and a half to two months and have her get the "puppy cut" so her hair is cut pretty short. I use "Hartz Living - Groomers Best Puppy Shampoo" on her when I bathe her. On a side note, as I mentioned before Sadie is almost a year old (April 4th) and she is still not yet house trained. I have been dog sitting for my mom while they are in Florida for the week (they are coming back tomorrow THANK GOD!) I put her out at the VERY LEAST once an hour and she will not go out off the porch unless you go out with her and she still won't go and do her business (only like 5% of the time will she go ouside) then its like she waits until she comes in to find a some place on the carpet to go. Then to top it off she eats her own feces. My mom has tried using "forbid" which I guess are tasteless pills that you put in dogs food that makes them not want to eat their poop. Yeah well that didn't work. She has also tried a few other methods along those lines but nothing worked. It is just getting ridiculous at this point. I seriously don't know how my mom has put up with it for so long. It just really gross and getting really old....any suggestions?????

Oh and yes I do have a picture of her....



This was taken this past Saturday...

So if ANYONE has any advice.... help either post it here or you can email me directly at [email addressed removed by Dax for member's protection](as I check that email more than I do this forum.) Thanks in advance for any help!

Michelle

[Dax]

I have separated this to it's own thread as you are dealing with multiple questions. My sister also has a Shitzu cross and this is what I have observed. It is not the fault of the dog but of the owners. Consistency is the key.

The key to house training is using a crate, not allowing the dog out of your sight to make mistakes. If my 100+lb dogs mess in the house, they would not be kept for very long. Check out the about using bells to signal, a puppy potty pen, etc. I doubt this is anything you can fix in a day or two. It is a process of training which will take up to months. You need to start right from the scratch and do not move to the next step until you have consistent results.

As for poop eating - my sister's dog does the same thing. Lucky for us it's only her own poop. The behavior I noticed is that she quickly tries to eat before I can get to it like she's afraid I'm stealing it. I would use Cayenne pepper to spice up the offerings. Instead of making a mad dash to get the dog before she can eat it keep walking past the issue calling the dog and praising her/his coming to you. Then cuddle in your arm a little while while you secretly sprinkle the pepper on the poop. Then walk back toward the poop and let them explore to their hearts content. If they try to eat it - the pepper should prove to be an interesting development.

[Angeleyes3323]

I TOTALLY agproblem with the agree with you that it is a problem with the owner and not the dog. My mom babys her too much and her excuse is "well its too cold outside for her" and that once the snow is gone and they can put up the inviible fence for her it will be easier. It may be true that it will be easier but it is by all means not impossible. She started out using a crate that we had from our preious dog but Sadie would wine and bark constantly while in it and no one would get any sleep at night. They tried locking her in a room at night and when she would be alone but the same thing would happen (wining and barking) and she scratched up the door pretty bad from constantly scratching at it to get out. I told mom she needs to just bite the bullet and deal with the wining for a week and that sh will be used to the crate idea and stop wining so much, but she refuses to do it. All I can say is I'm glad I don't live here as I'm with you if I had a dog that messed in the house like this it would not last very long in my house hold.

[GretaJack]

Sounds like Sadie has your mom trained very well. Frustrating, isn't it? Not much that you can do to change things if your mom doesn't keep up with it.

My only other thought with fecal eating is that her diet might need to be changed. Occassionally, stool eating is brought on by a lack of something in their diet. What kind of food is she being fed? Has her food ever been changed?

But then again, a lot of time stool eating is the result of boredom, and sometimes is just a plain and simple disgusting trait.

[eXile]

I must say your mother must have alot of patience to put up with that for a year. But what im also suprised about is that she didnt seek proffessional help. I highly suggest you tell your mother to call in a professional trainer for proper direction and get this thing under control. Living with a dog that still isnt house-broken at a year is not something people are too pround of. Sorry.