Weve taken Cleo out for a few walks across the moor this week (making use of this rare summer sun!)

She is really good at coming when called and doesnt stray far from us so we allow her the freedom of being off the lead. She hasn't yet been tempted to play with the sheep, and seems scared of the horses so gives them a wide birth (Good Puppy!)

However, she hoovers up horse poo and eats it like a child with an endless supply of sweets. The only way we are able to stop her, is to put her back on the lead and physically pull her away when she goes near it.

Is horse poo dangerous to puppys, and how do we train her to "leave". Will also need to use this training to stop her pinching my socks from the laundry basket and tissues from the bin!

Thanks,
David & Cleo

Good Luck with that.

I doesn't do them any harm, but obviously you don't want to encourage it. (but I'm sure you don't go round saying Ohh, Cleo eat that horse poo )

Wurly LOVES horse poo, the only way to stop her is to run to were she is & pull her away, it doesn't work all the time, sometimes she'll go back for the odd nibble or lick.
& Good luck with the socks, Wurly takes them out of the washing machine, dirty & clean, plus she's fond of pants too.

EEWWW !! Nasty isn,t it ? Horse poo and Dartmoor blackberries ( sheep poo ) are a Doodle treat round here. as well as clods of moor !! Doesn,t seem to bother them, but perhaps check with your vet incase Cleo has any underlying probs.
We tend to keep a close eye on our two and as we see them heading towards something smelly which has it`s own
fly colony, shout " LEAVE IT " , call them to us and give them something more tasty to eat, usualy a little steamed pigs liver. Not sure which is more smelly really

It clearly must be a doodle thing we have the same problem with both Alfitil and Tilly,but horse poo is a second best for mine their favourite is duck poo which makes water play by the river a bit challenging. As for tissues try full toilet rolls its got to be the lab part of them that causes that ( andrex dog ), Alfie's favourite toy for outside is at the moment is a bra, albeit a old one he decided that he was going to retrieve it from a bag of clothes meant for charity, I don't think I will be letting him bring that "toy" to doodlefest, a bit embarrassing!
Best wishes to you all
Jackie
X

If at all possible the first time Barney encounters something interesting to him, that we want him to have zero interest in, erm, say I manage to drop a cup or something. As he goes to investigate I try and make a horrible distraction sound/shout. If you time it just right, the dog should think the noise is coming from the object, not you and he's disinclined to go near it again. It's too early if she's not near it and it's too late if she's already sniffed/licked it etc.

To teach the "leave it" command - we use a method of 2 treats and our hands. Have one hand holding a treat (never give him this treat during this training session). In your other hand have a treat concealed. Hold out your hand with the "bad" treat, open it up with the treat and say very sternly "leave it!!". At first she'll be desperate to eat it, she might jump and sniff etc as she gets close to the treat close your hand around it. Every now and then repeat the command. As soon as she turns her head, or looks away from the treat - quickly jam the good treat into her mouth with lots of praise!

Eventually they should learn that backing away/ignoring the treat gets them a lot of love and yummy treats. If she's really struggling I'd make the good treat much nicer than the bad one.

Barney really stepped up how powerful the command was when I was out on a walk and could use the lead to reinforce he shouldn't go near it. If he ignored it didn't strain to get it then he got a treat.

We are finding this command is still a work in progress because nowadays what we want him to leave isn't a plain old biscuit - it's a deliciously enticing sweet wrapper, or snot rag or dead bird. To keep shouting "leave it" when they've got it is just going to dilute the training. Instead I had a word for "naughty!" so I wouldn't waste "leave it" until I'd really ingrained it for walkies!!

When our GSP was on her last lap I'm sure it was only horse poo that kept her going, that was all she would eat.

I really dont think it does them any harm - Luna thinks it is a delicacy too
i have got to a point now that i can tell Luna to 'leave it' and she will (after a really quick nibble )

Mine all love fresh horse poo - it's OK unless the horse has just been wormed, and of course you never know that

Lara also is a poo connoisseur

Loves the stuff!! Usually a firm "Leave it" will eventually work.

Sandy is a relatively well behaved doodle, but I still have to drag her away from horse poo! And all our bins downstairs now have lids on because she has a real tissue fetish. She is not allowed upstairs without us so socks aren't a huge problem. She will watch me like a hawk when putting the washing in the machine though, just in case I drop something she can steal!

Oh Dear, Our Gracie was the same when my daughter had horses. she used to follow behind my daughter's horse on a hack out and eat the fresh warm poo as it dropped out the horses bum.... UMM YUMMMMY..
Daise xxx

I suppose that's one way of solving the age old argument "why do dog owners have to pick up dog poop, but horses can poo anywhere!

My two labradoodles ate horse poo constantly when they were little. Apparently it is to them how we feel about chocolate!! The smell and 'taste' is addictive!! Just bring smoe extra tasty treats and when you see dog poo give it to them!! They will soon learn ,or just run on ahead so they chase you and they should ignore it. It did not do mine any harm but it is like sweet heaven to them!!! God knows why!!

my collie, airedale and labbie all do it as well. I have 3 horses and its one of their favs!!! They dont take a blind bit of notice of me when i call them away they just carry on totally ignoring me. If i go over to them and take them away all they do is go back!!

my lot have done it for years and never had an issue with it. As long as the horses wormed against the lot (tape, heart lung and then common worms) then your OK. Be a bit more careful if its a donkey as they commonly have lung worm, people quite often dont realise they need a specific wormer for it and dont do it and dogs can get it like any other worm. Traetable though if you worm against it

susi