Hi there, I am new to this site and there may already be a post about this issue but I thought I'd introduce myself at the same time. I rescued a 5 month old puppy. I have him coming up to 5 weeks. He is such a good boy. Listens to me at home and will do anything for treats. I quickly let him off the lead when going to the beach and he loves playing with dogs. However, in the last couple of weeks all he seems to be interested in, is searching for anything to eat including poop. I'm trying to distract him by the magic word 'magic' which works and then he goes straight back to it. Now I feel I can't let him off the lead so I can keep an eye on him. anyone have any sites or tips to change this behaviour somewhat. He's coming gun dog training with me in the new year. Maybe that might help. I'd love to go jogging with him as well but he's too young. Help!
Is he teething at all? He seems about the right age for it. When Rigby (our Pointer) started teething he would constantly forage for anything he could get his mouth on, including: rocks, sidewalk chalk, poo, paper, rotten food, gum on the sidewalk, you name it! Other than that, the poop eating is unfortunately a BIG struggle with a lot of labs (from what I hear) including my 2-year-old boy, Teller. He used to be a lot worse about it but he will still go 'poo-searching' every once in awhile. The only thing you can really do is teach them a reliable, 'Leave it!' or the equivalent when you want them to not eat something. The other thing is that it could be dietary-related. Dogs (and humans too) will seek out strange things to eat when they are deficient in whatever nutrient. What are you feeding him? If it's a good food appropriate for a high-energy, large-breed puppy and he doesn't show any other signs of ill health, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If he isn't teething and the problem gets worse, it might be worth ringing your vet. Also, I will mention that Teller still puts almost anything in his mouth and tries to eat it. It's pretty much an hourly occurrence, my having to dig something out of his mouth. I know for a fact that he gets enough food and I feed him kibble that is 32:18 protein to crude fat; he has a solid, 'Leave it!' but he will try and sneakily grab something when your back is turned or when he thinks he can get away with it. He is especially partial to wrappers and tissues. So, again, it's a pretty normal behavior lol.
Hey Teller's mum. Thank you for your elaborate reply. Louie's such a good boy. it's hard to believe someone gave him up. According to the vet all of his teeth our out. He now gets up when I do. listens to the commands of sit stay, leave it and wait. He'll grab my socks and shoes or anything else for that matter but will drop it when I tell him to. I never shout at him. and then, we go outside and yay. It's party time. I have reduced his food from 3x125 to 3x100 a day. And swithed over to James wellbeloved (not sure I can mention this here, but I just did!) haha Perhaps I'm not feeding him enough. I do wonder how they train guide puppies x
Hello, and welcome. What you are describing is a scenario that I think a lot of people struggling with. You may have trained a recall, or you may have a magic word that will work, but your dog doesn't stay with you. If you use a recall (or an emergency recall) over and over to call your dog away from good things all that will happen is that you bust your recall - eventually it will just stop working. You have to have your dog stay engaged with you so he doesn't leave to go searching for poop. This isn't unusual, if you don't give a young dog something to do, they will find something to do and it's usually not something that you approve of them doing. So think about how you can get your dog to stay interested in you when off lead, games you can play with him, training you can do etc. instead of him playing with other dogs and exploring the environment which is just teaching him that his entertainment comes from things that are away from you, and not from you.
Hey Julie T, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. So I started to keep him on the lead and whenever he goes anywhere near poop, I tell him to leave it and as a reward give him a biscuit. I've been finding it hard to look for ideas to keep him engaged. Not very interested in balls and only dips his paws in the water so far. I have thought him to sit and stay whilst I walk away, making bigger distances each time and he comes to me when I call him, which is great. Louie will be 7 months tomo. Not quite mastered the poop eating issue but perhaps if I'm persistent with the rewards for not touching he will stop it. But then again, he might be clever enough to keep looking for it in order to get a reward lol. The other thing I was thinking was getting a muzzle, but that won't really teach him though. Might re-post this to see if anyone else has other ideas. Also what else can I do to engage him whilst on walks? I live right by the beach.
Hi @Anya - have a look at this thread: http://thelabradorforum.com/threads/more-training-walks-with-the-long-line.17364/
Hi Anya, I play lots of games when out with my girl. I hide behind trees and get her to find me. I run away from her changing directions several times until she 'catches' me. I hide balls/dummies then send her to find them. Might be worth trying some of these to keep him interested in you?
Hey Naya, that sounds great. I'm on the beach daily but in summer we're banned from there. I'll take him to the woods. But new surroundings will mean nose exploring first. I'll give it a go though. I'm also a dog walker so he gets to play with other dogs and even then he gets distracted and follows his nose
