CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Behaviour & Training => Topic started by: ollie1 on July 15, 2009, 07:15:30 PM
-
Please can anyone help me I've been thinking for months now that Ollie's mouth smelt and I've been asking people on cockersonline for dental hygiene help only to find out today Ollie's eatting s**t oh yes doggie Pooh ! well i was so upset and disgusted also embarrassed as my builders saw him do it . I could of crawled up my own bum i shouted at him and gave him a light tap on the bum ... but how on earth do i stop this and why would he want to eat it anyway ?
-
Coprophagia as it is called is more prevalent in dogs fed a commercial (ie extruded) complete kibble. Most of these diets have flavour enhancers added to tempt the dog to eat them these enhancers don't not change much when they exit the other "end". I'm afraid the dog is tempted to re-eat because it smells/tastes nice. :shades: so there's no point in tapping his butt to tell him not to it just smells sooooooooooo tempting! :005:
-
Coprophagia (poo eating) is a fairly common dog behaviour even though it is repugnant to us. Smacking him isn't the way to go but you probably know that already! If you catch him in the act or about to do it a firm 'ah ah!' or 'no!' and then distracting him with a tasty treat or toy should do the trick until you can get the poo picked up. How old is Ollie? Some dogs go through a poo eating phase when they're young and then grow out of it but in some hardcore cases it can be a hard habit to break. Is it his own poo he's eating or other dogs'? The easy solution is to make it so that there is no poo for him to eat by picking it up as soon as he does it or as soon as your other dog(s) do it if you have any others. Adding pineapple (tinned is fine) to the dog's food (and/or to the other household dogs' food) can be a deterrent as it's supposed to make the poo taste unappealing to them and I've heard raw grated courgette can do the same job.
-
I really wouldnt worry Jack did this until he was about one. We used to call him poo breath ph34r
It wont harm them so try to see the funny side and not make a big deal out of it ;)
-
Ollie is 14 months old we have another dog a girl 3 years old she has never done this ! I would like to add i have never raised a finger to any of my dogs but i was so disgusted i just didn't know what to do it was just a tap nothing ott . I clean the poo up straight away normally but they were in the garden and i was outside talking to the builders when it happened ! all of our drains have collapsed !!!!! BIG JOB . The problem is if I'm here now i know he does it i can clean it up or stop him but what happens when the care workers who come to look after my grandmother put them both outside he will just do it again wont he >:D and to answer the question it was his poo i think and yes both dogs get fed on dry food
-
I really dont understand why your so worked up about it :huh:
It may be disgusting to you but to him its just leftovers ph34r
They put worse in their mouths
-
The problem is if I'm here now i know he does it i can clean it up or stop him but what happens when the care workers who come to look after my grandmother put them both outside he will just do it again wont he >:D
You can try the pineapple or courgette as suggested. He may well grow out of it as 14 months is still pretty young.
-
I really dont understand why your so worked up about it :huh:
Oooh see now I do...I think that would make me sick...try the pineapple in both your dogs food and see if that stops him doing it if you are not there.
My two have quite a routine when it comes to pooing though so we rarely get caught out with them doing it in the garden as they always do it on there walks ;)
-
I'm disgusted because he licks me and my grandmother on our faces all day long he loves us soooo much and then he sleeps in my bed at night ! no boyfriends here it just makes me sick thats all to think about him eating poo and licking my face straight after !
-
ollie is weird he wont poo until he gets home he would hold it for hours until we get home before he would do it on a walk :huh:
-
Ahhh I see
I dont let any of my dogs lick me, pretty much because as you said I see what goes in their mouths
-
Nelly used to eat her own poo and I found that giving her pineapple stopped her. Unfortunately, Dillon had an allergy to pineapple & it made him sick. Since Nelly stopped eating her own poo because it tasted of pineapple, she then started to eat Dillon's poo because he hadn't had pineapple. The only solution was to be vigilant and always pick it up as soon as one of them had done it.
-
I really dont understand why your so worked up about it :huh:
It may be disgusting to you but to him its just leftovers ph34r
They put worse in their mouths
I agree - I am surprised you have only just realised that he is doing it though. :005: I was shocked when I first found Coco did this - it is disgusting but she thought it was yum :020: Most dogs seem to do it sometimes. Coco has grown out of eating her own but will still snaffle the odd cat poo and horse and rabbit are delicacies as far as she's concerned. ::) :005:
If I caught her doing it I used to say a firm "No" and offer her a tasty treat eg a better quality bit of poo (joke! ph34r ) and eventually she got the idea. ;) It is just one of those revolting things about dogs that no one warns you about and is not mentioned in many of the books ::) You just have to see the funny side of it and be careful when you have a cocker snog. :005: I am not keen on being licked by dogs anyway and knowing what I do about what else Coco licks I don't see that changing :shades: :lol2:
-
Jock used to do it all the time - I didn't bother with pineapple or any other weird and wonderful suggestion - I just picked up as soon as I could after they had been
I think Braan learnt the habit off Jock tho >:D
now as for being disgusted - do you feel the same when he eats sheep / cow / horse / fox / rabbit droppings etc as to them it's all the same weather it's come out of them or another animal
-
Hmmmm I htink all dogs have done this at some pont.....Jessie has just started again at aged 5 nearly 6. This is beacuse she is on steroids/chemo tho and is hungry and as I am a cruel mum and dont pander to her begging she has decided to scoff whatever she finds.....
We clear up straight away but Jessie has worked out it tastes quite nice when warm and fresh so we have to be very very quick.....If she happens to be quicker then we give her a biccie to chew and scowl at her.....then we go back to normal lol
She is a licky licky dog so unfortunately she does lick us.....we stop her if its smelly :lol2: :005:
-
I'm disgusted because he licks me and my grandmother on our faces all day long he loves us soooo much and then he sleeps in my bed at night ! no boyfriends here it just makes me sick thats all to think about him eating poo and licking my face straight after !
I would buy him a toothbrush and doggy toothpaste. ;)
-
My friend stopped her american CS doing it by putting tobasco on it. Rufus doesn't eat dog poo, only cat fox and human(!). Yes it is disgusting what some people do in woods, and makes you feel really sick.
-
The best cure for this is to pick up before they can get to it along with a rock solid leave cue! :D
-
The best cure for this is to pick up before they can get to it along with a rock solid leave cue! :D
True, but Coco used to be turning round and eating it before it hit the ground so I had to be really quick ::) :lol2:
-
If the pineapple doesnt work, you can buy copraphagia tablets which youd have to give to both dogs, which make the poo taste horrid.
Purdey used to do it, but she doesnt now. She has always been on top quality dry foods (AG etc) , so I dont think the quality of the food has anything to do with it. I think she just liked it :005:
-
The best cure for this is to pick up before they can get to it along with a rock solid leave cue! :D
True, but Coco used to be turning round and eating it before it hit the ground so I had to be really quick ::) :lol2:
I can't believe that of the lovely Coco!!! :luv:
-
The best cure for this is to pick up before they can get to it along with a rock solid leave cue! :D
True, but Coco used to be turning round and eating it before it hit the ground so I had to be really quick ::) :lol2:
I can't believe that of the lovely Coco!!! :luv:
Florence says yeah, she ain't no lady neither! :lol2: :005:
-
The best cure for this is to pick up before they can get to it along with a rock solid leave cue! :D
True, but Coco used to be turning round and eating it before it hit the ground so I had to be really quick ::) :lol2:
I can't believe that of the lovely Coco!!! :luv:
Florence says yeah, she ain't no lady neither! :lol2: :005:
Yep, Coco is a dirty little b1tch and proud of it ph34r :lol2:
-
Jock used to do it all the time - I didn't bother with pineapple or any other weird and wonderful suggestion - I just picked up as soon as I could after they had been
I think Braan learnt the habit off Jock tho >:D
now as for being disgusted - do you feel the same when he eats sheep / cow / horse / fox / rabbit droppings etc as to them it's all the same weather it's come out of them or another animal
when he's out on a walk we walk around the block a few times he's not allowed to run free so i know exactly what he's doing and what he's eating this is why i didn't no it was being done
-
Is he never off lead??
-
No only in the garden as he is far to friendly he will do recal when we are on our own but when he see's other dogs he just runs after them and wants to play this has resulted in three attacks off other dogs in our area and also he fell into a deep river and couldn't get out so i had to get the fire and rescue people out he will also run right in front of cars if he see's a dog he has no idea of danger. ollie is only 14 months old my vet said for his safety don't let him off ! we do walk far he gets plenty of excersise just not running around mad all over the place
-
can i also say i do clean up his poo this is why it's taken till today to realise whats going on the problem is i live with my gran as she's disabled i look after her but she has care workers in four times a day they let both dogs outside while they are seeing to my gran this means dogs will do what dogs will do and this must be when ollie is eating the poo i'm at work when this is happening and as you know the carers wont clean up my dog mess for me !!!! so it's ok people saying clean it up how can i if i'm at work and the care workers have put them outside ??? there must be something i can do what are these tablets called or if i feed him 75 grams of dry food how many pineapple chunks would you add to it ?
-
Misha used to do this as a pup, but I haven't seen her do it for ages. Because we were housetraining at the time I used to make sure that I always had some treats and used to try and call her to me straight after she'd had a poo and give her a treat. ie. try and have something a bit more tasty (iyswim) and call him straight to you after his been to the loo. Misha always rushes to me as soon as she's had a poo, its just become habit now. Once I'd got her inside, I'd put a little curry powder on the poo so that if she went back to it she was never tempted to eat it (you do get some funny looks from the neighours ;)). I did try the courgette & pineapple (made her sick), also the tablets (think they're called Deter), never found that they worked. You could also try changing the food that you feed.
-
Maybe he hasnt always done it and its to do with his new food and diet
-
arden grange is given to my (jack russell) as she has gluten allergys . ollie has formula k as he's over weight just wants to eat all the time he even steals my grans meals off her plate ! it's working so i don't want to change it he was 21 kgs three weeks ago and now he's 18.25 kgs i'm so pleased and he's taken to the vets every thursday to talk about whats going on and weigh him the vet is very pleased to
-
arden grange is given to my (jack russell) as she has gluten allergys . ollie has formula k as he's over weight just wants to eat all the time he even steals my grans meals off her plate ! it's working so i don't want to change it he was 21 kgs three weeks ago and now he's 18.25 kgs i'm so pleased and he's taken to the vets every thursday to talk about whats going on and weigh him the vet is very pleased to
Maybe he hasnt always done it and its to do with his new food and diet
Some dogs see food as a resource - I always remember the breeder telling me that when Misha was a pup, she had to remove the boys from the litter as the girls were missing out on the food, so weren't putting on weight as they should. In a way this backed up some things that I'd read where dogs would eat their own poo if they were hungry. It may well be because Ollie is on a diet (which doesn't help you much). Possibly a different diet food might help.
-
As karen said he could be doing it because he hungry :-\
It does sound like hes on quite a strict diet and its not filling him up.
Maybe it would be a good idea to look at putting him onto a normal food and increasing his excersise or feeding several small meals a dayso he feels full for longer :huh:
-
As karen said he could be doing it because he hungry :-\
It does sound like hes on quite a strict diet and its not filling him up.
Maybe it would be a good idea to look at putting him onto a normal food and increasing his excersise or feeding several small meals a dayso he feels full for longer :huh:
that's what I thought when I read this too ;)
I would seriously be doing some recall work with him - I hadn't realised he has no free running, no wonder he's had issues with his weight :-\
-
As karen said he could be doing it because he hungry :-\
It does sound like hes on quite a strict diet and its not filling him up.
Maybe it would be a good idea to look at putting him onto a normal food and increasing his excersise or feeding several small meals a dayso he feels full for longer :huh:
that's what I thought when I read this too ;)
I would seriously be doing some recall work with him - I hadn't realised he has no free running, no wonder he's had issues with his weight :-\
Yep i agree, Ella was 23kg when i got her a year ago and was on a strict diet, i posted many a poop eating post on here :005: ph34r she would eat anything, human , cat etc ph34r , i have managed to stop her with a sharp "no" and then a couple of bits of her kibble, is there anywhere you can take him to let him run off leash, do you know anyone with a dog with good recall who you can walk with, Ella was basically taught better recall by using Bruno my other dog to teach her and kibble of course, as shes so greedy, i know your disgusted by this behaviour but its quite natural to them, ,but they can pick up worms , so i wouldnt let them like your face anyway, a carrot or bit of cucumber is a nice treat occasionally if he is hungry, but not too often
-
Just thought if exercising him is a problem you could try making a couple of home-made agility jumps (start off very low, even on the ground so that he just has to step over them). 10mins morning & evening of running around in the garden going over a few little jumps would help a little towards his weightloss. If he is very food motivated it shouldn't take too long to teach him. After a while start to replace the food reward with throwing a toy. My two look forward to me throwing the tennis ball as much as they do to getting a piece of chicken.
Usually I can predict when either of my two are going to do a poo (very sad I know). Both of mine on average do 3 poos a day - usually 1st thing in the morning/or after breakfast, on our lunchtime walk, and then again usually at teatime/before bedtime. If the poo eating bothers you so much, then perhaps let him into the garden on a long-line to do his toileting, that way you can distract him from going to eat his poo, get him coming back to you, reward with a treat and lots of praise (really make a big deal about it), so that he gets into the habit of coming straight back to you after he has had a poo. (for a long line I find a horse lunge line works best, look up on E-bay, they're about £5)
-
It does sound like the new food might be causing this... :-\ I know you don't want to change his food, and I can understand why as it does seem to be having a great impact on his weight, but I guess this at least explains to you why you haven't noticed before... ;) I'm afraid I don't know how much pineapple would be given (don't think it needs to be much, though)....
I do, however, agree with the others that you need to do some serious recall work with an aim to getting him off lead in the future... try a long line so he can run "free" but you can still get him back to prevent dangerous situations... a dog burns so much more energy pottering/running about on a walk than they ever could on an on-lead walk, and part of the fun of having a dog is seeing him enjoying himself out and about... I'm not suggesting you go out tomorrow and let him off lead, but do some controlled recall work in more distracting situations and build up to the point where he can have an off-lead romp in safe locations... ;)
-
only one big problem we live in a area where the only grass is used by loads of dogs not only that it's an island in between four main roads and a school so very dangerous and i wouldn't be able to get his consentration to start with . I don't know anyone with a dog the does really good recall outside so can't use that option (can i also add Ollie is brill at recall and normally very well behaved as he's been going doggie classes since he was 14 weeks old ) but as soon as he's out on a walk and See's another dog . off he goes into play mode ! he forgets everything he knows and just wants to have a good time .... He also seems to get attacked by other dogs all the time they are friendly at first but after they smell each other the other dog always goes for Ollie (I don't understand why) Ollie is so friendly and just wants to play he never jumps in the dogs faces or anything he just stands by them wagging his tail dogs have pinned him to the floor and put holes into his chest before now and why i just don't know i don't want Ollie to be scared by other dogs or hurt so i now keep him well away
-
Ozzy was p poop eater, specialising in cats dodo :005: the only thing that worked was leaving a lump of cat poop for him to find but giving it a liberal sprinkle of tabasco sauce, after a couple of tabasco tu**s he never touched poop again.
-
only one big problem we live in a area where the only grass is used by loads of dogs not only that it's an island in between four main roads and a school so very dangerous and i wouldn't be able to get his consentration to start with .
I agree that it doesn't sound like an ideal place to let him off at first - can you rent a secure paddock, sand school at a stables or even a tennis court for an hour once or twice a week to give him space to run without having to worry about him getting distracted or hurt ;)
Combine this with use of a long line as a training aid (if you search there are lots of previous posts about how to do this) and eventually, you will have a recall you can rely on - but it won't just happen overnight and it isn't fair to keep him on a lead forever :-\
As for his poo eating - it is perfectly normal behaviour for a dog, and it seems a shame that you are so embarrassed by him :huh: It might be possible to stop him doing it by spiking his food, but better to prevent him doing it by ensuring that he is supervised in the garden; perhaps you can employ a dog walker to take him out rather than rely on your grandmothers carers to let him out?
-
Ben has eaten poo all his life and he is 6 now :o We had tried pineapple etc and every other remedy and really struggled to stop him, he thought each walk was a picnic with his nose down hunting for things to eat.
I have to say though since our visit to Topbarks last Friday we have had a completely poo free week - the first since Ben was a tiny pup :D
We have learnt about keeping his attention, building up a recall and stoping unwanted behaviour/rewarding what we wanted. Ben has been on the long line this week so I could grab him and remove him from any poo eating, but I have not had to do that, he knows we carry good treats now, and as soon as he stops to sniff at something horrible I say no and he comes straight to me for a treat.......and its only been a week!
Get some advice - its worth it, we wish we had done it ages ago. I had resorted to carrying a car full of antiseptic wipes to wipe round his mouth after each walk it had got that bad. This week walking has been a pleasure, no rolling, no eating stuff and he is coming back every time on the long line
Good luck
-
Can i just say it's pointless renting a stable or piece of ground he will do recall when on his own! he will even do it at dog training classes with 40 other dogs in a barn with him . but not when we are out for a walk i just don't understand why ! i have tried long line work as thats what Ollie's trainer said to do but it doesn't work not for Ollie we have tried rewards and even though Ollie likes his food he just ignores it when out ... my trainer said to use tripe they love it he will come back to you ! no he didn't ..... My old dog Cara a German Shepard was run over buy a car because my friend took her out without my say so i was devastated you never want to be phoned and told your dog is on the floor dieing and you get there as soon as you can just in time to see your dog pass away ! I don't give Ollie a chance for this to happen i wont let it happen again ..... Ollie is spoilt we have another dog so he runs around the house and garden all the time we have a huge garden with two koi carp ponds 24 foot wide 25 foot long and 6 foot deep an orchard a rose garden a Japanese garden three patio's and much more he does not just sit around all day ... I don't trust anyone and i wont let anyone take him for a walk because of what happened to Cara my GERMAN SHEPARD . I just don't know what to do someone told me Ollie is a gun dog they can be trained with training collars ! I don't know much about this but i presume its a shock collar ( I would never use this on any of my dogs) The person who was telling me said he trained working cocker's with this method and you only have to use it a few times ! I cringed thinking how much pain the poor dogs must of been in
-
My old girl Millie is 14 and a poo eater, she is very crafty,she will look at it and sniff and look at you as though its ok i don't want it, then when you turn round to get the poo bags there she is enjoying it. YUK. Also Hattie my little one drinks her own wee so i suppose i have a full set.
-
I agree that you don't want to be using training collars... >:(
And just wanted to add that I was sorry to read about your German Shepherd, and can understand why this will make you more reluctant to take any risks with Ollie's recall... and can fully understand why you don't want anyone else to walk him... :-\
It's really annoying when they do everything right in a training situation, but it just doesn't transfer to real life, isn't it! >:D How did long line training not work?? I know Honey is clever enough to know when she is on a long line and acted very differently... I read of someone here who had to gradually cut off a foot of long line every week or so so their dog didn't realise the long line wasn't there anymore.... ;)
No-one here is suggesting Ollie isn't well cared for in any way... but I'm sure you'd get more enjoyment out of him if you could walk him off-lead (safely!)... you really need to find something that is more interesting to him than playing with other dogs... does he like a ball, frisbee etc??
-
I just wanted to say that I lost my dog last year in an accident and I so know where you are coming from. I am still on edge with Molly a lot of the time when we are out our walks and I will never relax after losing Breagha. I can't offer advice just wanted to say I know how you feel :luv: :-*
-
This poo eating problem drives me nuts!! >:(
Both my boys do it. >:( Morgan has always done it and Max started to do it when I had to stop feeding BARF and switched to kibble.
I have tried pineapple, courgette, tablets from the vets, adding chilli powder to it as a booby trap, then a locum vet suggested Cayenne pepper is more effective so tried that too and NONE of them have worked. >:(
As I'm not very mobile I can't get to the poo in time which is my main problem. If I see them about to tuck in I shout "leave" and they do but the problem is when my backs turned. Out on a walk they're not interested in dog poo, just every other sort. Again if I see them they will leave when told. No matter how much I do this they've never completely gone off the idea.
I have a big supply of the tablets from the vets that I've given up on. If anyone wants to give them a go them PM me.
And finally if you think you're embarrassed by this disgusting habit then just read this............................................
For some reason Sapphi's poo is incredibly attractive. Morgan has been known to try and catch it as she is poo'ing. ph34r ph34r ph34r ph34r ph34r :020: :020: :020: :020: >:D >:D >:D >:D (I can't believe I have just admitted to that! ph34r )
-
I'm starting to regret letting Morgan lick my face when I was down with you the other week Sam ph34r ph34r :lol2: :P
-
Can i just say it's pointless renting a stable or piece of ground he will do recall when on his own! he will even do it at dog training classes with 40 other dogs in a barn with him . but not when we are out for a walk i just don't understand why ! i have tried long line work as thats what Ollie's trainer said to do but it doesn't work not for Ollie we have tried rewards and even though Ollie likes his food he just ignores it when out ... my trainer said to use tripe they love it he will come back to you ! no he didn't .....
Apologies, I was not clear - I didn't mean use the paddock for training, exactly the opposite! If you can use some secure space to let him run free without having to worry about him coming back, or recalling him, then he will be better exercised, which will help with his weight, and also help to tire him out which will make training in other situations easier ;)
It took me a year of long-line training to break Molo's habit/desire to run after other dogs; although he would come back sometimes, a genuinely reliable recall was a lot harder to train ;)
-
it sounds like you have a nice big garden for him to run about in so its not too bad, at least you know your not the only one with a poop eating dog, which at least made me feel better at the time :005:, the only thing i can suggest is do what others have said and set up a few bait poops with tabasco on them, a few times of grabbing them might put him off, but their noses are so good i expect he will very quickly catch on,i think trainig collars are a waste of time IMHO . try not to get too worried over him doing it , its not nice, but weve all survived with our poop eating doggies :D ;)
-
My german shepherd dog Anuska used to eat poo and I never got her out of the habit, however she lived to a ripe old age so although disgusting it obviously did her no harm. I used to try and pick it up ASAP but they can be very sneaky!!!
Now I have Bella who likes to paddle in muddy puddles have a wee in it then drink the muddy water - oh so lovely. Never known a dog to do that before.
Its part of dog ownership they do disgusting things that churn our stomachs. :005:
-
Thanks everyone can i say Ollie has had a change of dog food and so has my other dog ... they are now on Harrington's dry food i have put Ollie from 75g morning and 75g evening to now 100g mornings 50g dinner and 100g evening this has made him fuller and he's stopped eatting poo it's been two days now and all is fine my vet has told me if he's still hungry add water to the dry food as it should make him fuller i don't really mind about his weight i will just have to take him out more . Also my uncle i don't really see phoned me the other day and i explained about Ollie's recall he owns racing grayhounds he's told me of a really good place where no one goes with a forrest and lake he goes fishing and told me it's really safe and he never See's anyone so me and the two dogs are going there today it's a 8 mile drive there but I'm sure Ollie will like it .
-
Sounds great!!! :D
Hope he manages to keep off the weight he lost... :D
-
Good for you, hope you have a fab time.