Think I need to muzzle my dog :(

[HangingOver]

My beautiful rescue is a poo eater. Not animal poo, human poo.

We live in a seaside down that doubles in size over the summer, and until I got my poo eating hound I had absolutely no idea what an epidemic of public shitting we have.

Earlier the week he was in the vets all day with THC exposure from a poo he found near the beach. Today he was sniffing in a hedge in the fields where we walk, and pulled out a turd covered in wet wipes. He was on a lead both times.

It happened once last summer too (again, with wet wipes and that involved a lengthy vet stay and lots of scans in case of a blockage).

"Leave" doesn't seem to work in these scenarios. Once he gets a tiny whiff of it he's like a ninja.

He even once found one at the dog walk we hire.

I'm watching him like a hawk now because he's burping.

I'm at my wits end with this. He needs loads of exercise but I'm so scared of him getting ill and hate coming back from walks with shit on my hands where I've tried to get it out his mouth. The only thing I can think to do is muzzle train him (which he will absolutely hate).

Does anyone have experience with this? Can all dogs be muzzle trained?

Pic of the poo eater in question for tax

Humans are pooing outside on the ground?! Just…. Why? Lucky enough to have only come across one instance of this in my one year of dog ownership. Mine did go through a phase of eating dog poo on walks when he was younger but fortunately he grew out of it after a couple of months. Still don’t know what possessed him to do it or what made him stop!
He will still try and nibble cow pats when he gets chance though 🙄

In my area it's 'wild' campers and vanners. Not to mention the lovely ones who do have chemical toilets but empty them in streams / lochs.

@VanGoSunflowers Round here people have campfires in the woods and leave behind leftover food, empty beer cans and 💩.

I had a dog who ate everything, socks, plastic forks, rubber boots, etc. and would pick up horrendous things on walks, like chicken bones etc. He wasn't a shit eater but when I raised the idea of a muzzle to the vet he was dead against it. He said it absolutely would signal to other dog owners, parents etc that you had an aggressive dog and the our dog would grow out of it. He did. It took until he was about 2.5 yrs old but he absolutely stopped eating weird things. After that he only stole food that was reachable, chicken, beef, cake etc

We have the exact same problem. My
dog now wears a muzzle. He still gets to socialise as he’s clearly a chill friendly dog and I explain to other owners. He took to the muzzle quickly.