Hello, a very warm welcome to the forum. Do tell us a little bit about yourself and your dog - there is an introductions section here: http://thelabradorforum.com/forum/information-introductions-forum-help/introductions Here is an article that might help with your problem: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/why-dogs-eat-poop-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/
Hello! Phoebe is 8 months and has this horrible habit too!! We have (and still are) worked very hard at 'leave it' and are beginning to have some success, although it is a very slow process and still very frustrating at times. I have really struggled with this as we have a small child and worry about the health risks. Phoebe now responds to 'leave it' probably 90% of the time - she seems to know we don't want her to eat it as sometimes sniffs it and leaves it before we say it, running over to us for a treat! However whilst this paints her in a very good light, clearly the temptation on occasions is too much and she ignores leave it, or gets to it before we notice. I also have a magic word which I use when all else fails and have an extra special high value treat for this - this was from advice on here and has really worked at times - she will often drop the poo for the magic word. She does though sometimes fail at all of this and eats it!!! I get very disappointed but just try to remember it's still working progress!!!!! This is me being positive!!! In my opinion this is something to try and work on quickly if you can before the habit really sets in as it has for us. Work on a really strong leave it command and try a magic word for emergencies. We are also working hard on off lead walking - keeping close and returning regularly to try to make supervision easier. I have to say at the moment walks are quite stressful and I do often run around like a crazed woman yelling 'leave it' - no idea what the other dog walkers think of me!!!!
After reading this and the article you posted Julie, I had to chime in with this one! Our Maggie was a BIG poo eater! Used to drive us crazy! At the time we moved in where we are now, we were pretty much the only house here. Since then of course more homes, people and dogs arrived. She used to go out to the side yard to do her business and our neighbor never picks up their dogs poo. My husband would periodically, every other day or so go on what he called 'poop patrol' and pick it all up. However, should Maggie come upon the other dog's poo, or her own .... it didn't matter, she'd eat it right up! As a matter of fact at night she might want to go out and when I would go out with her I could see she really didn't have to 'go' she was just on a late night snack hunt for poo! With Maui now, I have her contained in the fenced in back yard and each time she goes I scoop it right up. She also arrived with worms, so as the Vet said, it was important that I do that anyway. I am hoping that Maui won't follow Maggie's practice. For right now she doesn't have the opportunity. But, we go to my son's house one day a week to take care of my grandson. He has 2 dogs, a weimarana and a bassett. He does 'poop patrol' from time to time, but I'm sure there will be times when something will be there .... so we will see what happens. It's a nasty habit for sure, but as the article says, it certainly won't kill them and the Vet never really worried about Maggie. She actually began early when she was a pup and it was her own, if it didn't get picked up right away. I hope something works for you ... and I'm really hoping Maui doesn't start doing this!
