Revolting dog .. what to do?

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CazD

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Help! My terrier will pick up and eat absolutely anything she can find. She's always snuffling through leaves on walks and then picks up stuff and swallows it quickly as she knows I'm going to stop her. She's also eating other dogs doings - how on earth can I stop her. She's quite a licky dog anyway and although the kids know not to let her lick them, its not always easy!
 
Teach her 'leave it', and also try distracting her on walks with a ball, a muzzle may also be needed as Cremedemonthe suggests.:)
 
You could teach leave it - before your dog picks up something disgusting and drop it - when your dog has already picked something disgusting up before you get the chance to say leave it.
 
My pup was a proper stinker and the first few weeks I had him, he was into everything, shovelling up sheep poo and all sorts. Apart from anything, it is dangerous to the dog if it eats something, for example, baited or poisoned, so it is something that needs to be cracked.

I kept my dog on a long line and every time I saw him heading towards the poo, I said NO and recalled him and offered him a high-value treat for my pockets (making sure he was unfed/hungry) it got to the stage where he would see the poo, then bypass it and come straight to me for the treat :p
I can recall him off most things now with no line.
Yes it is a bit boring and time consuming but it will address the issue.

Also check her diet to see she isn't missing something and make sure she is kept busy/occupied as random excessive snaffling can sometimes indicate boredom/obsession. Or she might just be a stinker :p
 
CaveCanem said:
Also check her diet to see she isn't missing something and make sure she is kept busy/occupied as random excessive snaffling can sometimes indicate boredom/obsession. Or she might just be a stinker :p
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I have a feeling she's just a stinker LOL. Trying to teach her "drop it or "leave it" seems to have made things worse as now she just swallows things down whole the minute she sees me look at her or step towards her when she's snuffling through something horrid. She walks constantly with her nose to the ground like a sniffer dog - so that I have to drag her along on walks sometimes as she is always walking along behind me. She's rarely allowed off lead as she has poor recall and just gets carried away by her nose and ignores me calling or rattling the treat tin. Mostly she is walked off road on a long line or on a short leadrope if we are near roads. She is a rescue so I dont have much background info on her. She's fed JWB with a small amount of cooked, minced beef to hide the taste of her joint supplements and is wormed every 3 months.
 
If you're using a long line, you need to concentrate and be looking ahead of her to see what is about and reel her in BEFORE she is on top of something and trying to eat it - trust me it isn't easy spotting sheep poo on a grey gravel path at 7am but it can be done :) she is getting in there and snaffling it before you get to her because your timing is out and she knows she can get it eaten more quickly than you can correct her.
Don't step towards her and go to grab her or admonish her, of course that will make her sneaky and defensive, step back and pull her away from the stinky stuff.

You could try hand-feeding her for a while to teach her that all food comes from your pocket, and she will be more receptive to what you have to offer, rather than what is on the ground.
 
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