A little while back I posted about ddog (one of the poodles currently taking over on mumsnet doghouse) and his appalling penchant for crapsnacks. Since then, I've had a fair measure of success in steering him away from this foul habit, so I thought I'd share what we'd done, in case anyone remembers the original thread, or is having similar difficulties.
Firstly, I convinced ddog that all poos are my personal property - that I was the magnate of muck or princess of poop. I did this by being incredibly swift to pick up his own (I wasn't slack before, but I got faster), sometimes placing a foot between the dog and the poo, to prevent access, and saying, 'Leave it!'
Secondly, on walks I took a supply of high value treats and treated him as soon as I took him off the lead. Someone pointed out that the majority of dog poos are at the start of a walk, so I didn't have to keep this up for the whole walk - just at the start, finish and at any 'walk intersections'. I continued calling him back and treating him every few seconds (useful recall practise for recall too, as it turned out). This meant his focus was on me, not on the crapsnacks, and my focus was on him. If he approached a pile of poo, I gave a stern, 'leave it!' and then said, 'treat!' and rewarded him.
He's a fast learner, so by the second day had learned to anticipate the treats and was much more interested in me, much less interested in the poos. Now I no longer have to reward him as much, as he's less interested in the poo. He's even got to the point where he can sniff it for information, but resist the urge to scarf it down.
Has it cured him completely? No, he still finds the occasional turd too tempting to leave, the dirty minger, and there are some places I no longer walk him, because they are frequented by an excessive number of lazy, turd-leaving dog walkers. However, it has made such a big difference to how I feel about our walks. I'm back to loving them and eagerly anticipating them. The one downside is that Ds likes to inform people that his mum, 'owns all the poo in the village.'
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
Poo-eating poodle - update
GeorgianMumto5 · 27/03/2014 10:01
Snuggle, he's 8 months. It would be funny if I did all of that and, in reality, he'd just outgrown a phase! 
Must be a poodle thing! Nobody ever told me, before I got him, 'They eat poo and yap like mad things, but only at seemingly random events.' All they said was, 'A poodle? I don't like poodles. Oh, you're not going to give it a silly haircut, are you?'to which I thought, 'Yes. Rude and, no, why would I?'
Sadly not limited to poodles, my american bulldog has this revolting habit. Mostly his own, when fresh, only interested in warm or other species poop here. I have tried the pineapple thing, it would appear he likes the foulness as it made no difference, ditto for sprinkling pepper over it..
Being quick to pick up is the only effective way with his disgustingness. If he's off his lead he actually legs it far enough away before he does his business so that he has time to scoff before I can get to him. I'd disown him, but he has enough redeeming traits that almost make up for his turd munching 
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