puppy eating his poop

Eating their own poop is fairly normal.  I think others have said that you can add pineapple to their food and that will make their poop unappetizing.  Are you taking him outside at all for the bathroom or is he doing everything on the potty pad?  If he is doing it all on the pad, it might just be a case of it is readily available to him and he is not supervised as he would be outside. 
 
My puppy is about the same age as yours.  5am is his "witching hour", as I call it.  No matter what time I put him to bed, he is up around 5am.  Buddy sleeps in a crate in my bedroom.  He wakes me up by crying, I let him out and say "outside", don't turn any lights on, take him out, he does his thing, bring him back in, pick him up, say "bedtime" and put him back into his crate.  I go back to sleep and eventually he does too.  He will sleep another 2 to 3 hours.  This has only happened in the last few weeks. 
 
As for starting to crate, my best advice to let your dog sleep in his crate in your bedroom at night.  Also, he should only have enough space in his crate to turn around and lay down.  If it is too big, he will have room to pee/poop and find another place to lay down.  Dogs will not sleep in the same area they pee/poop in.
 
My 2 cents,
Sue

Sue & Buddy

Bobby is going outside all day.  He is only in the pen at night.  Thanks for the advice on crate training.  I will try it tonight.

ORIGINAL: jeannehenckel

Sue & Buddy

Bobby is going outside all day.  He is only in the pen at night.  Thanks for the advice on crate training.  I will try it tonight.

Good Luck!  I was very lucky and Buddy didn't cry in his crate once I turned the lights off.  Others have advised to put your puppy in a place in the bedroom where he can see you.  You can put his crate on a chair or table if he can't see you from the floor.  If he does cry, you can use a soothing tone and say things, like shh, shh, go to sleep and put your fingers in the through the cage so that he knows you are there.  It might be rough the first couple of nights, but keep with it! 
 
Sue

Thanks, I will try that. Maybe keeping him in the crate will keep him from eating poop.  He is really good about going to the bathroom outside and then coming in.  No accidents in a week.