how to stop my dog eating things while out walking

[tensimon]

Hi,

first time here, having some problems while out walking Pepper, my 5-year old (very) mixed breed female dog of around 6kg. I like to let her off the lead when we go to the park or walk down by the river, she loves it and runs around sniffing things like crazy, but is pretty good at coming when i call her (i always give her a treat when she comes).

However she does eat stuff a lot - fallen crisps and stuff, or food scraps people have thrown in holes for composting on the allotments (not good composting technique, but there we go), or cat crap (which she licks), and the other day she had clearly found something dead (possibly a fish) because when she came when called she had it all over her muzzle, and had rolled in it too, and smelled like death (straight home and into the bath without passing go).

I try to shout at her to stop (I have a pretty sharp "OI!" which works for most stuff) but oftentimes although she knows i am getting cross she starts gobbling harder. Eventually she comes but nothing seems to stop her eating stuff.

I should mention that she was a stray when i adopted her, she was pretty thin and pathetic looking (and diseased) so she had clearly lived for some time on what she could find. She is (or was - we've had her for three years now) pretty used to eating what she found. Is there anything we can do to curtail this habit? It turns otherwise-enjoyable walks into a source of stress at times, me shouting and her looking apologetic but only after she's finished eating whatever it was.

this is the only real problem we have with her, other than that she is very obedient, quiet (although she does bark at guests, but we can live with that as its a bit of a burglar deterant), and very good with children.

does anyone have any suggestions?

thanks

tensimon

[mac.]

you need to re train her not eat things if she was a stray then she will have the habit of doing this, make sure is fed nutritional food so she doesn't feel she needs to find something else while out, try to feed her just before you go out on a walk as well.
hth.

[Princess]

Instead of shouting, try distracting her away from the food, maybe throwing a ball, or running away from her (always works with tash). And as mac says, just keep up with the training, maybe try to get a specific saying for when food is involved, instead of the oi she recognises for everything else.
x

[tensimon]

thanks for the advice

Pepper's not really interested in balls in the park so it's hard to distract her, she'll play fetch in the house but not outside, there's too many other smells to distract her. I'm not sure she'd notice me running away for the same reason.

I'm wondering if i should maybe try giving her treats when she comes instead of eating whatever she's found, that and a tickle to let her know she's done something good. by that i mean calling her to me when she finds something, and rewarding her. we'll probably get thru a lot of treats that way, but 'oi' really isnt working very well, try carrot instead of stick i guess.

thanks again for the replies, I'll post to let you know how its going.

tensimon

[Princess]

Also wanted to say, is your dog a lab? As i've got a male black lab who was rescued (came to us nothing but skin and bones) and he does the same. We have to give a really stern look and say 'come here' usually stops him.
x

[tensimon]

no, it's difficult to describe what kind of dog pepper is. she looks like a small version of an english sheepdog (black and white pattern, tho shorter hair) but much smaller (6.5kg) and with proportionally a long body and short legs, but she also has black spots in the white on her lower legs and torso which looks a lot like there is a bit of dalmation in there too (despite the short legs!). suffice to say she is of interesting geneology and mixed parentage.

(i'd post a photo but this forum doesnt support that, and i dont have one online to link to)

the habit of eating stuff is clearly quite ingrained, i am wondering if i should try a special treat (sausage or something) to distract her from whatever she has found.

thanks

tensimon

[molossergirl]

Id recommend some distraction techniques, with a higher reward source than poo! lol some garlic sausage or cheese. What your aiming to achieve is her opting for the higher reward and leaving the poo alone. Trying to get her to stop doing it by just running up to her or shouting oi will make her scarf it quicker as she knows you want to take it from her, being a dog she will want to protect her resources. I have a pepper too hes an aussie cattle dog. After constant repitition many times to this behaviour she should start to improve. Another thing you can do for more control is have her on a lead and try to look for as many smelly tasty things as possible. Eg plant crisps and things on the pavement and walk her past them, when she puts her head down give her a correction on the lead with a quick tug, when she looks at you or comes away or leaves it offer her the reward. After a while sit with the offending article in reach but give her the option to take the sausage/cheese and praise hugely. a command you can use is 'leave' i think commands are more for the owner in these situations so your not blurting out random words to her, ''pepper'', ''no'' , ''stop it'' ''give over'' etc keeps it constant and she will assosciate it with what you want her to do.

Also make sure her diet is complete, not a supermarket pet food :-)

[tensimon]

thanks for the hints, I'll figure out a really good treat.

one further problem is that this goes on when she is off the lead running around (that's how she finds the stuff in the first place). obviously she's a bit far away and i am reliant on her coming back to me for the treat. I'm reluctant to keep her on the lead tho, coz she runs around so much that it's great exercise for her (when it's wet she just gets walked on the roads on the lead and its not nearly so much fun).

should i keep her on the lead for a while to practice not eating stuff?

thanks

[mac.]

A little advice, don't give to many treats as this could fill her up and the dog may not then eat main meal, which wouldn't give the dog the nutritions it needs, i would advice no more than 3 a day depending on the treat it is also the size of the dog.

[molossergirl]

Hi

Id start her off on the lead then work with her close by, which will also improve her recall. Small natural titbits should be fine and if you dont feed your dog before exercising (as you should never do anyway because of bloat) she will be hungry and willing to work for treats. Missing a meal is not a great deal and its far better than her eating bits from the floor. But yes start with the lead then gradually have her off it when there is a base of understanding on her behalf and you have the command and timing perfect. What do you feed her? As she may be searching for something missing in her diet, thats why alot of dogs eat horse poop.

Ps my dogs get quite afew treats on thier walkies to practice re-call, and walking to heel etc and they never refuse a meal.