Ripple has always been a poo eater (mostly other dogs), I'd been working hard on leave it and big rewards when he came away from poo but suddenly it has all got worse. Any time he's let off the lead on a walk he spends the whole time hunting out poo, I can't keep his attention on me and nothing seems to be tempting him away from it. I don't know whether it's got worse because he's had a week with the dog walker while we were away, or whether it's his age, or he's just decided poo is better than any treats. Apart from keeping him permanently on a lead - and even then he sometimes makes a mad dash if spots some - I've just about run out of ideas .
All dogs have their big distractions. With Charlie, it's balls - any type of balls. With Betsy, it's birds and small furry animals, other dogs, people, just about anything really. The thing is, you have to work really, really hard at your dog staying engaged with you. Don't look at him being on lead as a 'bad' thing. Look at it as just limiting his options while you work on engagement. Some days Betsy is on her lead the whole time apart from when I let her off for something specific. A recall, a wait, retrieves, ping pong recall etc. She gets lots of exercise, but what she is not allowed to do at anytime is wander off and entertain herself. I do let her off to 'bumble' in some areas, but she stays within 10m of me which is the limit of my control over her chasing small moving things. Today, I didn't let her off lead for 20 minutes because I couldn't get her attention while she was on lead, so there was no way I was going to get it when she was off lead.
@JulieT lots of things seem to distract Ripple and I manage to deal with these but the obsession with poo eating really gets me down, I can have his attention on the lead and feel I am in control but let him off the lead and he completely switches off from me. Today I threw his ball, he retrieved it, returned it to me and then was gone, nose down, poo hunting, and I couldn't get his attention back again.
I know how you feel, really, I do @SteffiS - but it's not really unique to poo eating (although it might be with Ripple). Some dogs are like this about birds, or rabbits, or other dogs.... Charlie used to be like this with anything. He wouldn't engage with me and as soon as he had a choice between me and the environment, he'd be off - to anything at all. It used to really get me down. He's still like this in some places, but not familiar places anymore. What helped me, and I don't know if it helps you, is watching dogs that are really trained to work. Their attention is on their handler 100%, all the time, no matter what. This made me appreciate the gap between what I had with Charlie, and what an engaged dog looks like. So I set about working towards getting that attention, and I did get it - in some places - even against Charlie's biggest distractions which I never thought possible. I don't have it always, and I remain disappointed about how he does in a Gundog environment surrounded by other dogs retrieving (his biggest passion ever) but I can choose to have him in that environment or not.
I guess because poo eating is such revolting habit to humans it is difficult to see it in the same context as other obsessions, but I can see what you are saying @JulieT . When you say about working towards increasing Charlie's focus on you is this something you have done on your own or through the gundog training? I really want to work on keeping Ripple's attention as I know he can do it, when on lead, albeit in short bursts.
A gundog trainer pointed out that I had no engagement from Charlie - which at the time I thought a bit harsh! - and I saw the difference between Charlie and dogs that had been properly trained to work, and I got a lot of tips via Gundog training. It's not unique to gundog training though, any sport requires that level of engagement when done seriously. I did the training on my own though - that's always the way. Well, as much 'on my own' as is possible on Wimbledon Common! Which was my challenge. My dog was a highly easily distractible dog, and the only place I had to take him was full of distractions! It's about being able to give your start cue 'ready' and your dog stays 100% focussed on you until you say 'finished' (or whatever the cue is, it could be just a situation of work for the dog). You might achieve 10 seconds with a puppy, and build that up to hours and hours for an adult dog. One thing that did help me in particular with Charlie was 'zen' bowls. These are called different things by different trainers. Some people call them 'leave it' bowls. The bowls are full of food and are both a distraction and a reward. You build up the time and the default leave it until you can train with bowls of food out on the food and the dog ignores them. If Ripple views poo as food, then this might be a good technique to try with him.
I don't really like my dog's attention on me at all times, drives me mad! You could teach a 'leave it' cue with a fantastic reward for leaving something, start the training in the house. Also try to find an area where there is hardly any dog poo, surely these days most people pick up, if not, get the dog warden on your side!
I wish this were the case, unfortunately not here - loads of poo everywhere. We've done the leave it cue over and over again but poo trumps all treats . I'm going to try @JulieT 's zen bowl idea, although when I first read it I thought I had to use bowls of poo but I'm sure that's not what she meant (or was it?).
@SteffiS You have my sympathy. Lottie is a dog-poo addict (with a lot of food intolerances, just to add to the stress ). Where I live is considered country, which seems to mean you don't have to pick up poo - it's almost impossible to find poo-free walks. I've worked very hard on 'leave it' and Lottie is much better than she was, although I find it depressing that she still hunts out poo all the time, even if she does just give it a quick lick before giving me her 'I've left it so can I have a treat?' look. I will also try @JulieT's zen bowl idea - I hope you're not meant to fill it with poo , although someone did once suggest that I collect other dogs' poo when out walking and bring it back to my garden for training purposes .
Poppy used to eat poo - her own and other dogs'. I switched her to raw food, and like magic the poo-obsession was gone. It may just have been a coincidence, but on the other hand I wonder whether raw food kept her feeling fuller, or the chewing was more satisfying and fulfilled some sort of craving in her. Of course, I did also train 'leave it', and became very, very good at spotting potential poo spots before her...
Hi all. I haven't posted here yet, but gathered a lot of useful information in the past. So many many thanks! We've got a 5month old black lab called Hasse. She is an absolute sweetheart and lovely character, listens very well, quite calm puppy really. But oh my does she looooove poo. It is driving me crazy! She's had a few weekends in a row of diarrhoea, still trying to figure out where this is coming from, but we're trying to stop here eating poo in the park in case that's what is causing it (and no, even 2meters from the bin, people do not pick up their dog's poo!). Walks with her have become poo-hunts. She will sprint off and quickly scoff it all down, definitely knowing she shouldn't. As hard as we try to keep her focused, she will catch a smell and dash away (and we might just as well not exist until she's had it all). This morning I trusted her off the lead and again 2 incidents of munching - infuriating! We've tried throwing a ball, a long lead, she knows the 'leave it' command but will go back to it or ignore it only when it's poo in the park. I'm also running out of options and find it quite upsetting. Walks have not been fun for several weeks - it's either picking up piles of diarrhoea or running after her getting her off other poo! Any other suggestions are welcome. Maybe I can give the bowl thing a try. Just thought I would share, because I feel down about it and just wanted to show it's happening with others.
I have a human-poo-eating dog! Revolting! Yes, people poo on the mountain trails (close to building sites, or homeless people) and even in our street (we live in a quiet cul de sac - ideal for people looking for a private spot!). Others have suggested a muzzle, so I'm putting it here in case it's an option for you. I've not used it for Snowie as fortunately human poo is not as abundant as dog poo! Thankfully he does not eat any other type of poo. I have found I can manage it of late: if I see him stop and catch a scent I immediately call him and have very tasty treats ready. They must be the best of best treats to work! I then keep him at heel using the treats and only put the treats away when I feel there is sufficient distance between us and the poo. I hope I'm not tempting fate as we've had a very good run these past couple of months.
Muzzle? I have a deer poop eater. I have also considered a muzzle. It doesn't seem like such a bad trade off....? Also had a dog that was a chewer and after a surgery to remove a part of the neighbors toy that they dropped in our yard considered a muzzle to prevent any future incidents. Pros and cons?
I'm actually really curious if a muzzle would even work. A dog can drink and eat through a muzzle, but maybe the physical logistics of picking up poo would indeed be stopped by one. Maybe someone who has tried it can say? As long as you used a basket-style muzzle that is safe for leaving on a dog during play (vs. a cloth muzzle which isn't) and your dog is introduced to it positively and it not bothered by wearing it, I would think the only "con" would be others' perception of your dog, which may not be a con at all to you if you can laugh it off. "No, that's not a muzzle, that's an anti-biowaste-consumption device!"
The trouble with a muzzle and a poo eating dog, is that the muzzle then gets gunged up with poo and YOU have to clean it Is there any treat/food/ball your dog goes crazy for? What you can aim to do, is that the poo is a precursor to the fantastic reward, so she sees poo and comes running straight to you rather than eating it! I feel your pain
Just going to say about the poo and muzzle. My friends dogs eat it through the muzzle the wipe it on passers by anyone will do
All good points. Just picturing.... Lol! My one neighbor is a lovely lady, though not a dog person at all. And she dresses up with full hair and makeup to do yard work. Just imagining a poop muzzle swipe on her. Hee hee!
I do use a muzzle if I know Lottie won't have her listening ears on (i.e. when we're walking with other people and dogs). But I want to train her not to eat poo rather than just prevent her from eating it, so if we're on our own, I try to be vigilant and say 'leave it' when she (inevitably) finds every pile of poo there is to find. This is now working pretty well, although if I relax my guard for just for a few seconds, she usually manages to scoff a bit down .
I discounted a muzzle for all the reasons above - to me a poo covered muzzle would be even worse than just poo eating. I continually work on Ripple's poo eating; 'leave it' is working most of the time when he is on the lead - part of his morning walk is spent actively looking for poo and getting him to leave it. When he is off lead I am having some success, especially when using a 'magic word'. However I find that sometimes he is in that mind set when all he does is hunt for poo. Also (sorry about disgusting detail) piles of loose orangey poo seem to attract him from yards away and that type he just won't leave - goodness knows what food it is. Definitely a continuing battle.
