puppy behavior or a problem

[*Marie*]

I want peoples opinion on this problem, I will give as much info as poss!
I brought Bracken home when he was 9.5 weeks old, he had his first walk when he was 14 weeks to our nearest nature reserve 2 min walk away, on it there is exmoor ponies, sometimes shetland cows  there is a high population of rabbits and lots of foxes too, from the age of 5 months when Bracken started to be more adventurous he started to eat horse poo, not really fussed with that as my late retriever did it, rabbit poo, again not fussed, then he started to eat fox poo, then other dogs runny poo, each time he beat me to it, and no high value reward was ever good enough, each time he ate fox or other dogs poo he has the trots, this has become more and more of a problem he seems to be looking for it to eat now as though he is seeing the reserve as a food source, 2 weeks ago he ate cow sick, then half an hour after we got home he was sick 4 times, vet told me to muzzle him or leash him I chosen leash as he's not a nasty dog and he dosen't mind being on a lead, he'll more and likely use the muzzle as a poo masher anyway!, recently he has tried eating broken up sticks now too! the past week where it's been hot I have not been taking him to this reserve he's been playing in the swimming pool, he has been having solid poos again! This nature reserve he seems to have this problem, any other reserve he does not do what he does, and he's a normal dog! so in the mornings I go to another which is 10 mins further away, then the nearest one on leash! I'm hoping it's because he's a puppy and will grow out of it, or has it become a habit and if so how to overcome it!

[chrisnjulie]

This is called coprophagia (poo eating).

The thing with fox poo is ....they are wild and could carry disease ! But for your ease of mind I would have a word with the vet nurse over the phone , see what advice they give !

If I knew that was going to happen on my walks I just wouldn't go to those places or I would definately have the lead on and if you say he's ok with that then there's no problem !
If he's eating runny dog poo , you dont know whats given that other dog the runs !
You can only break a habit by not visiting that place ! He associates it with a food bar now ! The more he does a behaviour the more habit forming it becomes ......so dont allow him to do it !
Some people think its ok for a dog to eat other animals poo but me personally I dont .....I think of worm infestation , parasites and the rest ! Your dog has been sick from eating poo and vomit .....I just wouldn't give him the chance .
I suppose your vet has given you sound advice ....muzzle or lead !

[*Marie*]

I,ve changed his worming to Advocate the best, recommendation from the vet! I was also thinking giving the reserve a miss hoping he might eventually forget! Thanks for your reply! X

[Jan D]

You could try feeding him 

Seriously though - no advice just hope you find something that works

[chrisnjulie]

I see you use Advocate for fleas ticks and worms , but you still have to worm every three months for tape worm too !

[*Marie*]

I am aware of that, he's just been wormed for that so need to worm again in 2 months! He was origainally on panacur but because of his scavenging I have chosen by the vet for the next best thing!

[cjealing]

Hi, we have a 15month old working cocker called Millie & we had awfull problems with her eating every sort of poo... she also munched on sticks & despite trying to train her not to, she always managed to snaffle some, we ended up at the vets numerous times .. we were advised to try adding pineapple to her diet,(not by the vet but by a dog trainer) as she didn't eat her own poo we couldn't figure how it would work.. but thankfully after a week we noticed a change & after two weeks she hardly bothered with any form of poo at all, we were so relieved we also bought a cannister spray called " pet corrector" it emmits a sound very similar to compressed air & the combination of the two worked well as a deterent.. Millie still enjoys two chunks of pineapple in juice daily ( she's 10.5 kilos) & alls well.. give it a try we no longer use the spray .. & hardly ever chews on sticks now.. she's grown up tremendously since she tured one.. Good luck

[Karma]

Please read the sticky at the top of the behaviour board before even considering any aversive methods such as "pet correctors" as they can cause far more problems than they cure.

http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=47409.0

I agree with the advice your vet gave - muzzle or lead - for now.
But you can also work on a solid "leave it" command, and a good recall, so that you can work towards allowing him off-lead.  But, yes, in the meantime I would avoid that area...

We had issues with Honey when she was younger, scavenging in one particular spot on our walks (where people would leave food (cooked bones, cat food, bread etc) for the foxes) - we started keeping her on-lead at that spot, and reinforcing with lots of treats... then progressed to off lead, but keeping up the lots of treats... then phased out the treats...