It's probably his favorite pastime. I'm pretty sure that the first thing he does as soon as he's let outside is goes on a search.
Now, obviously an easy fix is keeping the yard clean. We have to make sure to do a sweep before we let him out. It doesn't matter if I am standing right beside him. He still goes for it.
We also need to work on our "leave it." He's doing really well with leaving food, toys, even other dogs. But poop? Not a chance.
Apparently it's quite the delicacy.
Does anyone have any tips for eliminating this nasty habit?
My dogs have many a bad habit...but thankfully, poop eating is NOT one of them :) I am way too lazy to have to do daily yard pick-ups
ReplyDeleteUgh, it's a struggle to make sure I always get out there...but we are getting better!
Deletethey actually have a pill you can give your dog if it is his own poop or you can give it to whom evers' poop he is eating but if its just all poop, i not sure
ReplyDeleteI remember someone talking about the pill when I had Tess in obedience class, but I didn't think much of it until we got Ed. I might have to look back into this.
DeleteOur last dog was a litter box rooter but not a yard poop eater, so I don't know. I heard though it might be some nutrient they think they're missing. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteWe feed Ed hight quality food, so he shouldn't be missing any nutrients -- but maybe his body in inefficient in making one?
DeleteSadie has this habit. She taught Hurley. They both eat Maggie's poop. And this is the grossest part: as soon as she poops. I guess freshies are the best?
ReplyDeleteWith Sadie, it's definitely a behavior thing, not nutritional. She and Hurley only eat Maggie's poop. And cat poop if they're lucky enough to find it on our walks. We've tried pineapple and other poop eating deterrents but nothing has worked for us. If I catch Sadie in the act, she will stop when I tell her to leave it. Hurley just continues on his way, completely ignoring me until I get right next to him. The best solution we've found is a) keeping the yard clean (which we suck at sometimes) and b) using a breath freshening water additive so at least we don't have to smell the poop eaters' breath.
Ed agrees - the fresher the better. I am in agreement with you - I think that it's a behavioral thing on our end, too. We really need to work harder on our leave its! Ugh, unfortunately the best fix is keeping the yard clean. We find it really hard when it's rained for several days straight and no one wants to go out. So when it finally stops raining we have days of soggy poop! And yes, their teeth get brushed (mostly for this reason, but we'll take the plaque-fighting side affects!).
DeleteBoomer and Dottie have both picked up this habit somehow and more often than not they will find something in the yard we've missed. Every time I catch them I use the leave it command and they don't listen and I'm of course gagging.
ReplyDeleteYes -- they are so much better at finding it than we are! Sometimes, I just follow Ed around and he leads me right to it!
DeleteNorman ate his poop when he was a puppy. As per advice from the internet, I sprinkled meat tenderizer on his food. It made his poop taste gross to him so he stopped eating it! I've also heard pineapple works. If he eats Tess's poop also, you'll have to add it to her meals too. It worked for Norman and I no longer have to add it to his food. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHmm...I might have to look into this. I think he'll go after whatever is available, but likes Tess's better. Tess sometimes is picky with stuff like that so I wonder if she'd eat her food with the tenderizer, but I think she might like pineapple! Probably worth a shot!
DeleteI believe they also sell specific products at the pet store for it, but I never got that far.
DeleteMiss M has this problem with goose poo and it's so hard on some of our walks where I need to keep her attention on me the entire time (she takes it literally so she will walk backwards just so she can watch me) but if she remembers there is poo...she will lunge. I've heard cat poo is considered a delicacy.
ReplyDeleteYikes! The geese have just moved back into the area, so I guess we'll see what Ed thinks about goose poo!
DeleteI heard that they do it when: a) they lack attention or b) don't have enough of a nutrient.
ReplyDeleteI dog sit for a dog who does this! It grosses me out! I see puppies do it all the time. Thankfully my pups don't have this habit-- but wait... they WILL eat cat poop on a walk!! We have stray cats in the neighborhood and just yesterday morning Braylon pounced on a fresh gooey pile of cat poop. EWWWWW!
ReplyDeleteSadly I have no tips. :/
Oh, AND we have a telephone line that crosses our yard and everyone seems to enjoy bird shit. That makes me nervous because I worry they could easily get sick from that. Yuckyuckyuck
ReplyDeleteEw, thank goodness we don't have this problem!!
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