Help please !

[chrisf]

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Hi again everyone I have a beautiful 3 year old male blue & white large whippet who is disgustingly healthy in every respect who is quite well behaved apart from his nasty habit of eating other dogs crap he knows it is wrong and if I am close to him when he does it he takes it to go, he is a very affectionate and quite well behaved but you can imagine what a turn off this habit is and he cannot understand why he gets shunned after doing it, he is well fed why does he do it how can I stop it ?? we live near marshes which is where he free runs but never far from me unless he is sniffing then selective deafness comes into play any ideas or suggestions welcomed many thanks Chris

 

[gypsysmum2]

Dogs are scavengers and unlike us do not regard poo as "dirty".

I have had some success with dogs that do this by giving them Natural Yoghurt. My theory is that the dog is craving bacteria. This leads them to eat stuff that has bacteria in it. I used to give my Whippet a dessertspoonful every day. You could start off at a higher dose or try something like Actimel. My dogs have all like yoghurt but don't know about Actimel. It may take a while to take effect.

In the meantime you could teach a leave command. Put a treat in one hand and let the dog sniff it. Watch for the dog taking its nose off the hand and immediately reward from the other hand. Don't add any command yet. Each time the dog takes its nose off the hand with the treat in it you reward from the other hand. As soon as the dog understands that taking its nose away from the food it will be rewarded, you can add a cue word like "leave". Practice this all over the house and garden and then put the treat under plant pots etc. Only move on when you are sure the dog will leave the treat on command. Keep it easy as success breeds success. Hopefully you will be able to get your dog to "leave" to poo in order to get a fantastic treat.

Try not to get too agitated. No dog has ever died from eating poo. Just make sure that worming is up to date!

 

[JoanneF]

Sometimes they seem to do it as a form of attention seeking - to a dog, any attention is better than none - even a row! So hard as it is, try not to react. He may well outgrow it too. My dog was a horse poo eater as a pup but doesn't even notice it now.

 

[chrisf]

Thanks for the replies I am going to try the natural yoghurt which the wife will be getting tomorrow with her weekly shop, you would have to see and know this dog to as sure as I am it is not an attention problem but a more outgoing fun loving friendly whippet would be hard to find he has none of the shaking and trembling I have seen in many of the breed and is generally a very happy dog so why eat crap I just hope the deficiency theory is right will keep you informed on progress many thanks Chris

 

[chrisf]

Forgot to add he eats horse crap as well any kind of crap will do especially foxes which he rolls in, not his most endearing quality Chris

 

[Raven oaktree]

I disagree , I'm sorry ...he dosent know its wrong , he only understands from your body language that he is going to be in trouble , not that eating poop is wrong !

 

[chrisf]

Well it is definitely not my cup of tea

 

[JoanneF]

Mr F is the same Chris! I hope the yoghurt works.

 

[werewhippet]

I have been given this tip about stopping dogs eating poo , feed him pineapple every day for about a week , several dog walkers swear this works, mine haven't eaten any poo so haven't tried it myself but the people that have given me this tip have all kinds of sight hounds and do know what they are talking about, I give mine yogurt if their poo is soft or upset tummies. Let us know how you go on.

 

[chrisf]

Surely you do not mean just pineapple because as greedy as he is I am sure it would be to acetic for him any idea on quantity? he has been on the yoghurt over a week now and still doing it definitely not his most endearing quality Chris

 

[werewhippet]

Before you take him out give him a couple of chunks cube size 1 inch x 1 inch, like I said my pups have never eaten poo, so haven't personally tried this but I'm told it works. Good luck with it and let me know how it went.

 

[Biker John]

Now I cant say what worked, but I took on an adult Shih Tzu, he had been fed on a kibble, an expensive one at that. Initially he was poo eating when we were out, I obviously discouraged him. I also changed him over to a BARF diet. Gradually he stopped doing it and he hasn't gone back to the habit. It could just be him being told NO or it could be the diet I have no way of knowing.

 

[theanchorage]

I have a feeling that pineapple is to stop them eating their own poo, this habit does seem to be quite common, would it be safe for him to wear a light weight muzzle to see if you could stop him for a while and he might give it up

 

[chrisf]

Thanks for your replies, it is not when he is on the lead because we stop him sniffing nastiness it is when he is free over the marshes his recall is reasonable but not good enough to keep this disgusting creature from such a special treat (Yuuuck)