new puppy-adopted
 

i have just adopted a hound mix dog. best description - " santas little helper" off the simpsons show. she eats her own pooh(yuck). she was abused in her prior home( if you can call it that), i know this cause she crouches when being scolded for something. we first noticed the pooh-eating incident at the adoption place. she hasn't stopped since. we have had her for 1 month and she is now roughly 17 weeks old. we've bought a muzzle that is made of thin wire ( cage -type or grill-type). she ends up having it mashed all through(yuck)! we've been on top of this from the get-go. eg; muzzle, and following her outside(as inconvenient as it is) and to no avail. first chance she gets(turn our backs) she strikes again................................................ i suspect she was left for long periods of time alone without food in a secluded room or area.....................ANY KIND OF CHEMICAL SPRAY IS NOT AN OPTION, WHAT CAN WE DO?

First of all, get rid of the muzzle!

Secondly, no matter how inconvenient it may be,(training puppies rarely is convenient) you must take your puppy out to potty. Not follow her - TAKE her out on a leash. This is necessary to teach puppies where to go, and you must be right there to praise her when she does.

You can also pick up the poop right away, and start teaching her to "Leave it." There is no quick cure - training and patience will do it.

Do not scold her - she is fearful enough from the sound of it.

Here's a link for you

[URL=http://www.perfectpaws.com/copro.html]Stool eating[/URL]

Second on the muzzle, you shouldn't be using it to train her not to eat her poop! Wrong method, you need another alternative.

This pup is going to need tonnes of POSITIVE reinforcement not negative.

While it is entirely possible that this pup was abused, don't assume this is true.

You need to build this dogs confidence, regardless. A dog training class for the two of you will go a long way in doing this. The two of you will learn to work as a team and the pup will gain confidence! Such a deal.

I don't, however, have any ideas to keep her from eating her own stools besides taking her out on a leash and cleaning up right away.

Oh No!! The muzzle is extremely cruel. She is teething and MUST chew; it relieves pain and helps work the baby teeth out. It's what puppies do. Please please get rid of the muzzle. You have to manage the chewing, it's the only way she'll learn, in the long run. All puppies chew, I'd be very worried about one that didn't.

Likely she hasn't been abused, she's scared of you and for good reason. Puppies should NOT be "scolded" any more than you would scold a 6 month old baby for crying or pooping or whatever babies do. Why scold her? That's abuse for puppies, IMHO. She won't learn anything but to be afraid of you.
:(

It's very common for puppies to eat poop. Don't punish her for it. Go out with her & pick it up immediately if possible. She'll grow out of it on her own.

WTG on the puppy!

Your getting great advise and i really don't have anything to add!!:D

CLARIFICATION
 

first of all- we deeply appreciate all the advice. i've read some things that i believe will really help us out. we will implicate some of these ideas and by the sound of it, will we be successful.....secondly-CLARIFICATION- i didn't mean scolding as in hitting or freaking out on a poor defenseless little puppy(this is how i see the puppy), i mean if she goes to pee in house or bitting our other dog, etc. - what she does when you go to remove her from a potentially wrong doing is that she crouches as if she's going to be hit(this is while i feel she's been hit before). MUZZLE- it is put on because she draws blood on our other dog while playing(very sharp little teeth). it is also put on so we can give them 15 to 20 minutes play time and hoping she would refrain from eating our other dogs pooh.the muzzle is only put on for short periods of time. she has plenty of toys and we play alot. considering the short time we've had her she is learning quickly. we think she is a very happy and more importantly , a content dog. she has really changed as far as comfort level goes. i would appreciate if there is still mixed opinions on how we handle problems so far because i think this is one of the greatest sites ever and we also believe we're in very good company . PROOF- we just look at how we get replys from people who don't know us , but just care about animals. if we had more people like all of you in this world, we think it would be a better place. thanks again!