Mimolo

Dante and Dylan are very cute.  I love seeing them gain confidence and get adjusted to life with people.  But, they are not without their flaws.  It’s not their fault.  Poop is just part of life.  Let me start with the smaller issue: coprophagia, aka poop eating.  See this cute smile?  Not trying to ruin this great picture, but this is a poopy smile!  From day 1, Dylan has been ingesting his own poop if no one is watching him.  If I see him do that, I make loud noises to startle him so he’ll drop what he’s doing.  If I catch him going towards his own poop, then I distract him with treats.  He has gotten to a point where he comes to me for the treat if he sees me watching him do his business.  I think that’s great progress!  And props to Dylan for always pottying at the right place! 

But, as soon as no one is watching, he’ll eat his poop.  Never anyone else’s poop.  Just his own.  Now, one of the possible reasons for coprophagia is sickness.  A dog may have parasites or some other disease that will cause him to eat his own poop.  I don’t think this is the case because he has been dewormed.  There are many other reasons for coprophagia and you can read more about that at dogpoopdiet.com.  A few friends alerted me to a solution today:  pineapple.  Supposedly, eating pineapple will cause unpleasant tasting poop.  I fed pineapple chunks to Dylan today.  We will see how he does tomorrow.

Now… Dante.  Sweet, social Dante…smart boy who peed on the pee pad the first day he came to my house.  He hasn’t done that in a while!  He’s been peeing on the floor almost every time.  I really don’t understand this because I gave him treats every time he did pee at the right spot.  Even more frustrating is the fact that he poops inside the exercise pen.  I keep them in a 2.5ft x 2.5ft area when I am not watching them.  He has pooped in there 4-5 times already in the past week.  At first I attributed to this behavior to his diarrhea.  I took him to the vet and he was given medication.  His poop sample did not contain any parasites.  That was yesterday.  Today, I let them out to play in my dining room area while I worked at the kitchen table.  For 3 hours, they wrestled, ate, destroyed 3 toys, and just had a party!  Dylan correctly pottied.  Dante peed twice on the floor, which was followed by 20 mins alone in the ex pen.

Around 11:30, I put them back in the ex pen for the night.  Dante didn’t poop yet, but the vet said he may not poop for a day after he started taking his medication.  Besides, I waited for 3 hours after he ate and he didn’t want to poop.  So, I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and went back downstairs to get some water.  As soon as I stepped downstairs, I smelled it.  I was gone for 15 mins and Dante made a big mess in the ex pen again.  Though, I must say his poop is looking a lot better than his soft, mucus-y poop from the past few days.  It was half sold and half soft.  I hope another day of medication will cure him of the diarrhea.  Then, I’ll just have to figure out if that’s the reason he’s pooping in the ex pen or if it’s a real behavior issue I have to correct.  I really want to crate him in a carrier because I really don’t think he’ll poop in such a small area.  But, Dylan is way too attached to him and will cause a big ruckus if I separate them at night.  Yes, I already tried.  So, poop!  The good news?  Well, I must say that their $7 bed is amazing.  The poop just comes right off it with some Nature’s Miracle cleaner and a towel!  My brother snapped a few pictures of the bed with Miko and Milo.  They are just awesome!

I guess I forgot how hard it was to potty train a dog!  Momo arrived at my house half trained to potty on newspaper and it only took a few months for him to learn.  But, it just didn’t seem like I had to clean that much poop before.  I think it’s just the fact that Dante poops in the ex pen that boggles my mind.  He pooped right next to the food bowl a couple of times.  I thought dogs don’t do that!  Hopefully they’ll learn soon!