# bad habits



## tynersgirl (Feb 22, 2008)

I have had my GSD for 4 months and have had really good luck with her other then these couple bad habits. The first one she has done about a month after we got her. She will pee if anyone comes over or when we get home. I have heard it called submission urination but the bigger she gets the grosser it is. Can I do anything to stop this? The next one just started about 1 month ago. We would go for walks and she would try to pick up poop. I was able to stop her but now she will go out back and eat her own. This is disgusting! Is there anything I can do?


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

The peeing sounds like an excitment problem. Ignore her when you get home and have guests ignore her when they come over. Once you have been in the house for a bit and she has settled down then take her outside. With my one female for a few months we actually had her meet people outside becuase she loves everyone, my social butterfly. This way she didn't feel so restricted in the house and she could tear around with excitment.

Poop eating, let's start with what are you feeding. It is a habit and the best way I have found to break the habit is to make sure they don't have access to poop. That mean you go outside when she goes potty and when she is done, put her inside and pick up the yard.


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## tynersgirl (Feb 22, 2008)

Thanks for the advice When people come over I have started to take her outside because I would rather her do it out there then in here but she still does it when either of us come home. For poop eating, I feed her purina one puppy. I try to pick up her poo a few times a day but it is the one time I am busy she gets it Does this habit go away with time?


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

Sometimes it will, it can be either a learned habit from the dam, cleaning up after the pups or it can be a food related thing or I swear in puppies cases it is just because they are puppies. Sometimes it is the food. Most people feed a good quality adult food even to their puppies.


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## tynersgirl (Feb 22, 2008)

Thank you for your help I guess I need to just stay on top of her and try adult food just in case. I appreciate your advice.


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Wisc.TigerSometimes it will, it can be either a learned habit from the dam, cleaning up after the pups or it can be a food related thing or I swear in puppies cases it is just because they are puppies. Sometimes it is the food. Most people feed a good quality adult food even to their puppies.


When you say it could be a food issue, what do you mean exactly? Is it that the food they're eating is lacking in something and they're trying to compensate for that by "cleaning up the yard"??
I'm curious because Gunner does this too. I go out there right behind them and scoop the yard, so it's not a big problem for me to keep him from doing it. I just don't want to overlook what could be causing it in the first place, if it could be something significant.


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## pinkanml (Sep 3, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: GunnersMom
> When you say it could be a food issue, what do you mean exactly? Is it that the food they're eating is lacking in something and they're trying to compensate for that by "cleaning up the yard"??


Yup! Sometimes if the food is missing something, or if it's not very digestible, they will try to recover it by eating poop. Try a different, high quality brand and see if it stops. It won't change overnight, though. I know a dog that would tear your arm off to get to eat poop. He was a skeleton and always starved, so I told his owners about EPI. They got him to the vet, put him on enzymes, and now he is a lot better about eating poop. Still tries to sneak now and then, but he isn't anything like before. Looks great now, too.


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## StGeorgeK9 (Jan 5, 2008)

As far as the food issue, I have had a couple fosters and my 2nd shepherd do the poop eating thing.......all stopped once I switched to a higher quality food. I do think it can become habit, so, I had to keep the yard clean and keep an eye on them for a couple weeks, but then they were fine.


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## blackbirdzach (Jan 13, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Wisc.TigerThe peeing sounds like an excitment problem. Ignore her when you get home and have guests ignore her when they come over. Once you have been in the house for a bit and she has settled down then take her outside. With my one female for a few months we actually had her meet people outside becuase she loves everyone, my social butterfly. This way she didn't feel so restricted in the house and she could tear around with excitment.
> 
> Poop eating, let's start with what are you feeding. It is a habit and the best way I have found to break the habit is to make sure they don't have access to poop. That mean you go outside when she goes potty and when she is done, put her inside and pick up the yard.


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: pinkanml
> Yup! Sometimes if the food is missing something, or if it's not very digestible, they will try to recover it by eating poop. Try a different, high quality brand and see if it stops. It won't change overnight, though. I know a dog that would tear your arm off to get to eat poop. He was a skeleton and always starved, so I told his owners about EPI. They got him to the vet, put him on enzymes, and now he is a lot better about eating poop. Still tries to sneak now and then, but he isn't anything like before. Looks great now, too.


Okay. I know that "quality food" is one of those hotly-debated subjects and I don't want to poke any hornets nests here, but... (LOL.)
What do you think of Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice? Would you guys consider that a high quality food? I've tried doing my homework where food is concerned and honestly, it's enough to make my head spin! I feel like I'd need to be a nutritionist to make heads or tails of this stuff. 
We've been sticking with the Nutro for a while now because it SEEMS to be decent quality and it's one of the foods he'll eat. We tried Canidae a while back and he turned his nose up at it. Same with Iams.


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## pinkanml (Sep 3, 2007)

It's "decent," but there are other foods out there that are better, and similarly priced. Pinnacle and California Natural are in that price range (as well as Canidae, but you said he didn't like it). If cost isn't an issue, you might want to try Innova, Solid Gold, Fromm, Timberwolf, Orijen, Taste of the Wild, Nature's Variety, Wellness, Canine Caviar.

I *guarantee* he'd like one of the grain-free foods, but those are pretty rich and can take a long period to adjust for some dogs.


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

No, the cost isn't really an issue. If need be, I'm sure I can cut back somewhere else to save a little money if it means being able to give them a better food.
I'll check into some of those brands and see which ones are available around here. I know I've seen the Wellness brand and I'm pretty sure I've seen the Solid Gold and Timberwolf. 
Thanks for the advice!


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