We had a little ‘incident’ at our house this past week.
You know it wasn’t me.
Hubby and I have been going outside with the dogs when they potty to keep a certain someone from cleaning up the yard. The problem is, the harder we work at trying to keep her from it, the sneakier she gets about finding it.
So we all know that Delilah eats poop. Well Hubby took the dogs out (Wednesday I think it was) and when the dogs came back in, Sampson was upset. He ran right up to me and put his paw on me, which means he wants me to pet him. Delilah came running in behind him and sat in front of me.
When Hubby came in he said to Delilah, “You are disgusting, you are a disgusting dog!”
Her quest for the Crap Crack has reached a whole new level of low.
Apparently while Hubby was cleaning up after Sampson, Delilah took off to another area of the yard, did her business and cleaned it up.
Gross, I know. But she’s a dog, she licks her own cooter for crying out loud.
The whole incident got me thinking.
I remembered when we were potty training Sampson we were told never let him see you clean up after him. For the life of me I can’t remember why that was, but it did work.
I thought maybe Delilah is so determined to clean up because she sees us cleaning up. I mean, she sees me cleaning up after them on our walks, and now she sees us cleaning up after them in the yard.
My thought process evolved into this.
Maybe it’s better not to let her see us cleaning up after them in the yard.
Because of this, we’ve taken a different approach when airing the dogs. We follow Delilah very closely and use treats to lure her away when she’s finished. After we bring the dogs inside the house, we go back outside and clean up the mess.
Of course, I have to scoop their poop while on our walks, but I can give her a treat for going and walking away from it. The trouble is that a lot of people in this area don’t clean up after their dogs. And she’s a discerning poop eater. She might pass three piles and gobble up the fourth one, or try and eat every pile she sees. I have no idea what her shit eating criteria is, but I do know she has one.
So I’m learning to be super attentive and keep my eyes sharp, to spot anything that might tempt her. I use the “Leave it” command, and treat her when she leaves it.
When I was working with her to avoid dogs we’d pass on our walks, she got to the point where she sees a dog and looks to me for a treat. I figure if I use the “Leave it” command and treat her when she leaves it, she’ll eventually learn to look to me when she sees a pile of crap.
And as I typed that sentence I’m wondering if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. LOL
OMD and we realise how lucky we are with no such behaviour. Have a marvellous Monday.
Best wishes Molly
Isn’t it amazing how hard we work to accomplish something so ….um….. common-sense-simple. “Leave it” (because it’s crap). …..It should just be common sense. Ugh.
Maybe you should get her a self rewarding treat box? What is that you ask? Get a house cat, a litter box (no clumping litter) and let nature take it’s course. I bet she would keep the box scooped out for you all the time! Win win for both of you! Yuck, Mom says it is a gross idea, but I bet she would love it!
I don’t think you’re a pile of crap. and neither should she.
I used to wonder why Callie and Shadow would occasionally eat their own poop. I knew it wasn’t hunger — I was probably over-feeding them back then — but I was also cleaning up after them while they were still in the yard. SlimDoggy Steve (or was it Kate?) suggested that maybe they thought I was “collecting” it because it was valuable; and if it was valuable, they should “collect” it themselves. The only way they know how. It made sense, so I started waiting till they were back in the house. And it worked. For a while. Until I slacked off on putting them inside, or at least on the porch. Ducky, thankfully, doesn’t eat poop as a rule. I’ve only seen her do it twice — the two times I had to take her to the emergency clinic — not before and not since.
Just be happy your hubby helps you clean up. Mine refuses to — says he would get sick himself if he had to. I wonder what he did when his son needed a diaper change and Alane wasn’t home?!! — I just do it myself so I don’t have to argue with him over it.
I think that’s an excellent strategy Jodi–if she’s learned to look at you when she sees another dog, why couldn’t she learn the same thing when she spies a poop? I will look forward to hearing how that goes and whether you can override this particular behavior!
I love these contests of Jodi trying to outthink Delilah. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Tell Delilah cat poop tastes better
Lily & Edward
Obviously, the D-dog is a clever lass. I think your latest approach might be a good one. She’d no doubt use a bag to clean it up if she had thumbs, right? The only option a dog has is their tongue which is often like another appendage, especially in her case 🙂 Good luck and keep us posted if the new strategy works.
Have you looked into medical reasons as to why she might be eating it?
Ick! Good luck!
From what I’ve read on line – “leave it” seems to be the most effective training method in getting a dog to stop eating poo. It is somewhat amusing to read other people’s accounts of their labs eating poop though. I read of a lab that would actually snatch poop bags from other humans and proceed eat the poop AND the bag. So, I think you can probably count your blessings that Delilah has yet to go that far in her quest for her poop fix.
I’m so thankful I don’t have that problem – Laika’s mouth already gets into enough garbage and gross stuff as it is.. Horse poop on the other hand is like the holy grail; she will not pass up an opportunity to roll in it/gobble it up.
thanks for making me pee my pants again. John is about the only other person besides you that uses the work cooter for the whooha!
Haha good idea. Lucky our dogs don’t eat there own. They prefer bunny poop.
Hahaha. I am not sure if I should feel bad for laughing at this, but I cannot help myself.
This is a nice blog. I mean it. You have so much knowledge about this issue, and so much passion. You also know how to make people rally behind it, obviously from the responses!