Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Pets

Join our community on the Pet forum to discuss anything related to pets.

Original poster

Fecking Dogs Grr <boak> - anyone got any clever ideas to stop scavenging?

50 replies

KingCanuteIAm · 16/05/2009 23:21

My sweet and lovely puppy is doing so well, I am a very proud dog owner, happy, settled and content.

However, I still want to kill the little so and so every time I come back from a walk

So does anyone have any ideas how to stop him picking up and eating dead things? He particularly likes dead birds - there is nothing like turning to see your puppy trotting towards you crunching with wings out of each side of his mouth... He eats the whole thing and will not come anywhere near me until it has all gone. [blurgh] (and all of those other words)

So, what on earth can I do? I don't want to keep him on the lead all the time and it is not actually seeming to do him any harm, he isn't sick and his stool continues as normal, I just don't like it!

OP posts:
FairMidden · 16/05/2009 23:37

You need to teach him to drop stuff on command. Do you use a clicker? If so it is quite easy to teach this command using a ball or toy. This book is a good place to start.

Taking a high-value toy or desirable treats on walks can help, and making sure your recall involves the dog coming right to you so you can tough his collar will avoid the staying-just-out-of-reach trick that's so infuriating!

Olihan · 16/05/2009 23:42

My 9mo lab does this all the time too. Not birds, but this week she's had 2 roadkill bunnies, a squirrel and a live baby bunny .

Her recall is great but as soon as she has something she knows she shouldn't have (ie, minging, dead, putrid animal) she will not come back, not even for extra special treats like sausage or ham.

So no helpful advice but sympathy .

Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 16/05/2009 23:44

He has a great recall, I always take his collar before giving a treat, he just won't recal when he has a dead thing. He knows he will ose his prize.

I take his fav treats with me because I am teaching him an off lead heel so we do a bit on the way there and back but that doesn't cut it, he knows leave and does it with everything else.

It seems that dead things are far more important to him than anything else.

I spent ages trying out treats to find out which were his fave and use a mixture of them so he does not get bored...

Maybe I should take out a chicken leg? Maybe that would be good enough for him?

OP posts:
Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 16/05/2009 23:48

Sorry, thank you for your reply FM. I need a way to make dead things un-important but I can't think how!

Olihan, glad to know it is not just me suffering!

The other thing that worries me is that I do not want to reinforce to him that he can ignore a recall IYSWIM. If he ignores me enough for dead things he will work out that he can do it other times as well.

I wonder if teaching him a distance down might help?? Argh - bloomin creatures, whos idea was this anyway?

OP posts:
GrimmaTheNome · 16/05/2009 23:49

I think I'd use an extending lead till you've done more training. A friend who knows a lot about dogs (he trains sheepdogs) suggested a bit of something unpleasant like mustard straight after dog had ingested something illicit - we never tried it as fortunately ours grew out of his prediliction for sheep poo and will now leave dead birds alone when told to (mostly)

Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 16/05/2009 23:50

See he leaves poo alone as we have already had that conversation

TBH I would rather poo then birds...

OP posts:
FairMidden · 16/05/2009 23:52

Well, you might want to try making liver cakes or something equally revolting. Not my scene but rake through some dog forums and you will find some loon who bakes for their dogs!

I think you need to develop something which is incredibly amazing (frisbee? raggy?) and then act like your dog has just won you the lottery when he drops something. Start with something easy at home like a ball and work your way up to more, er, challenging situations (eg rotten seagulls).

Gross though, I know. At least he's not rolling in it or shitting it all over your carpets!

FairMidden · 16/05/2009 23:53

Sorry, wasn't clear. Encourage one toy to be more special and use that at a reward in conjunction with delicious treats to reward a drop.

Olihan · 16/05/2009 23:57

Oh, horse poo, sheep poo and cow poo are usually her aperitif .

She also had a bit of a thing for DS2's pooey nappies until he potty trained .

I am considering taking a rubber glove with me on walks so I can wrestle the dead thing out of her mouth but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough .

I do think I've made the problem worse by hysterically shrieking 'Drop it, Drop IT, DROP IIIIIIIIT' when she picked up her roadkill that was so old it was unidentifiable and resulted in a £40 trip to the vets for ABs, poo solidifying stuff and rehydration sachets . So I'm watching this closely for tips.

Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 17/05/2009 00:01

Yes, along the lines of the chicken, something close enough to what he wants that it can compete enough to make the command and the treat enough to make him leave it? I may have to try that, I don't cook for them either but I suppose needs must and all that!

He is not really toy based, he will play and we used his squeaker at the begining to teach the recall but he just isn't bothered now, no matter how much fun you try to make it he has a bit of a go then wanders off to something more intresting (usually food). I think it is quite normal for his breed to be more hunt and food based. (he is a GSD BTW)

OP posts:
tattifer · 17/05/2009 00:03

olihan mine too - the ;ab has taight the terrier and now they're both mad eaters of poo and dead rabbits.

Worse in the house - have had to put bathroom bin on the window ledge as lab likes to hunt the er, things you can't flush down the loo when you have a septic tank...

Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 17/05/2009 00:03

I do pull it out, even with bare hands, if I can lay my hands on him. I would rather touch it than have the resulting tummy troubles and vet trips!

I do try not to shout at him and get stressed, as you say, I think it makes it worse as he feels he has to gaurd it from you.

OP posts:
Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 17/05/2009 00:04

Tattifer - eugh

OP posts:
tattifer · 17/05/2009 00:05

lab has taught - sorry

tattifer · 17/05/2009 00:07

Exactly King. The terrier snuck past me upstairs today, went into bedroom and then rushed out in triumph with a tissue she'd found under the bed. Argh! At least she's quicker to drop things than the lab is.

tattifer · 17/05/2009 00:08

If they made labradors with flip top heads it would at least make it easier to get the dead bunnies out of their mouths

Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 17/05/2009 00:10

Roffle at flip top labs

He drops things like tissues as soon as I sya "Hey". He knows he is not allowed to pick things up, he just seems to have decided that, where this stuff is concerned, I can get knotted!

OP posts:
tattifer · 17/05/2009 00:11

Honey the hygiene hound with the flip top head...

Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 17/05/2009 00:22
Grin
OP posts:
tattifer · 17/05/2009 00:23

tampon terrier - or am I going too far?

Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 17/05/2009 00:25

Do you think I could get together some particularly disgusting and stinky treat (like the liver thing) and use it only for recall? Would he get that he has this lovely treat only when I do a recall or would it be too much for him to work out? (my idea is that he would really want to come back for a recall so much as he knows that this is the only time he will get the special tasty treat)

OP posts:
Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 17/05/2009 00:25

tattifer - stop

OP posts:
tattifer · 17/05/2009 00:28

The labs kennel name should be honey bee personal hygiene or something of that ilk. The terrier would have to be kleenex tissue extra absorbant the third

Original poster
KingCanuteIAm · 17/05/2009 00:35

Roffle

No seriously..

OP posts:
tattifer · 17/05/2009 00:41

King, I'll have you know I'm being utterly serious. I shall be at crufts with both of them under those names next year - just you wait.