We have a standard poodle named Lucy. She is nearly 7 months old and such a joy! She is such a smart dog :) We have been so happy with her - not only is she a loving, happy dog, she has done really well with all her aspects of training, including picking up bell training in just one day. The two issues that we have really been struggling with are separation anxiety and pica. We feel like we are making good progress with the separation anxiety, but the pica thing is going terrible.
Lucy will eat ANYTHING outside. Her poop, deer poop, rabbit poop, sticks, leaves, a piece of dirt, a rock, a wrapper, literally anything. We have had her tested for diseases that can cause pica, and she has a clean bill of health. She doesn't do this in the house AT ALL. She will occasionally pick up a wrapper off the floor if she finds one, but she doesn't even eat it - and drops it immediately when asked. She steals things that belong to me like a slipper or something, but again, doesn't eat it - just lays on it and once I see she has it, she gives it back when I ask (this is something of a game for her - take something of mom's and then I have to ask for it back).
It is SO frustrating to take her outside. We potty her on the leash about 95% of the time and it is miserable every time. We have to be hyper-vigilant about watching her. She loves to sniff around, which is totally understandable, but she sniffs around and before you know it, she is chewing on a rock or small stick. On the rare occasion, we have to use the tie out for potty and we have to stand right at the door watching with shoes ready to run outside and pull whatever out of her mouth. We actually visually sweep our yard several times a day for poop, sticks, anything she might eat just to reduce the amount of redirection we have to provide during outside time. We have tried treats to redirect/reward for NOT eating something outside - no dice. We have also tried muzzling (sadly) before going out side. That was a disaster. Walks are nearly out of the question because between watching where we are walking and having to watch what she might be eating, and the risk of what we might not see before she gets to it (like cigarette butts a piece of broken glass or something else really dangerous). We do try to get a mile walk in once a day to wear off some energy, but we are terrified that she will eat something she shouldn't.
We live really rural so taking her to a "behavior specialist" or trainer of some kind is out of the question. She is pad trained in the house in addition to outside potty, but she is a bigger dog who needs and benefits from outside time. We do send her to doggie daycare once or twice a week to get the extra exercise and get socialization time, but with summer coming we want her to be able to be out in the yard to play (we are having an invisible fence installed this spring just so she can be outside).
Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks!
Dang, that's a tough one! So sorry for you. I would talk to a local trainer if it were me. I might also as a last resort get a muzzle to put on her when she goes out. I don't like them, but it would make her stop eating everything.
A standard poodle is a very high maintenance dog that requires a LOT of attention and training, it's like having a part time job to have a dog like this.
With your very full stressful and hectic life I can't imagine why you took this breed on, but you did, so now you need to call the breeder, get some advice and come up with a plan. Good luck.
The BEST command I ever taught my dog was "leave it". If something drops on the floor, like a pill, that I don't want him to have I say a firm "leave it" until I find what I dropped, then praise him for his good behavior. If on a walk he spots some garbage I give the command and he ignores it and moves on. This also works for walking past dogs he may want to play with.
We learned to teach this with treats. Put him in a sit/stay and slowly toss a treat on the ground and a firm "leave it". If he even starts to get up use a sharp "ah ah!" Then say your release word. Mine is "ok!" Then he may go get the treat and give immediate praise. While he is in the sit/stay and "leaving it" and hopefully making eye contact with you, give him a calm "good boy" so he knows he is doing what you want. Eventually you should be able to throw a bunch of treats at his paws and he will leave them alone until you give him the ok.
I would use the following together:
Make sure he is getting enough food. Big dogs grow a ton in the first year and need lots of food. My vet gave me the amounts every couple of months according to my dogs weight at the time. It was a LOT more than the bag said and my dog is and always has been at a perfect weight.
Distract when he is outside. He is just a "kid". When outside toss a ball for him so he focuses on that rather than yard stuff. It will give him good exercise and help his waste move through his system faster. If poodles are prone to bloat you will have to wait to exercise him for a couple hours after he eats.
On walks, use a gentle leader. It goes on his snout but is not a muzzle. You will have a LOT more control in keeping his head off the ground. He will hate it at first but use lots of praise and treats when it is on.
Lastly, maybe he will outgrow it. My dog ate yard stuff, not rocks and garbage but seeds,etc his first spring and between vigilance and leave it, he outgrew this habit.
He may never outgrow the poop thing. It smells SO yummy!!
Well, she is a dog! Dog's love to eat deer poop, rabbit poop, etc. I would not worry about that. It's natural. I teach my dogs the command "leave it!" and if I see my dog wolfing down some poop I yell that to them. Your dog is really young. I bet she doesn't have pica...she is just super energetic and really wants to chew on things. That would be my guess. Honestly, I would take her for a RUN or BIKE ride every day...off leash if possible...give her boot camp and make her burn some of that energy! I would also give her something serious she is allowed to chew each day...some kind of rawhide or bone that is safe for dogs. When my dogs were that young we would run them 5 or so miles every day. Sometimes twice a day. On weekends we would hike, run or mountain bike with them sometimes much larger distances. They could not get enough! My guess is your dog has a ton of extra energy to burn each day, loves to chew (she's a puppy!), and is just being a natural dog. Distract her. Really exercise her. Give her things she is allowed to chew. Exercise her some more. Work on the command Leave It! (PS - dogs love to roll in or eat poo and stinky things they find. In Alaska our dogs would get into rotted salmon or other dead animal waaay too often. Yuck. It's disgusting but it's nothing to worry about it. To them it's wonderful!)
Ugh! I feel your pain. Never had a poop-eater until we took in my husband's childhood dog. At age 8, she had been left outside unattended for hours at a time during most of her life - and so she self-stimulated by eating poo. She then promptly taught the rest of my household all about it!
Puppies are like little kids - they pick things up to check them out. Except puppies use their mouth instead of their hand. My 5 year old pup still must grab sticks to run around with, & then stops & chews them into mulch. My other two aren't as mouthy.
The key to this behavior is a 2-step process: #1. Prevention. It sounds like you've been diligent on this, and in your yard you shouldn't have too much that you need to worry about, just pick up the poo regularly & keep people from littering in your yard. (FYI - there are some theories that you should not pick up the poo in front of your pooch, it will make them feel like they need to eat it before you can get to it, so for what it's worth, go out separately to clean up if necessary).
#2. Redirect. At 7 months of age, you have a coming teenager on your hands, and she needs more stimulation. What toys does she have in the house to play with? Are they high-motivation, or just "blah" toys? In the yard, or on walks, are you doing games with her? Light obedience work (sit, wait, heel, recalls, fetch, bring it) can keep her attention directed at you, & not what is on the ground that might be more interesting. Same thing in the house - keep things picked up, use a crate when necessary, & make sure the toys are interesting & stimulating.
Plan about 30 minutes of training work for her each day. Make it fun, but focus on obedience - the games will keep her engaged, & mental stimulation can be just as tiring as a romp in the park. Poodles are the smartest dogs in the world (I grew up with 2 standards, if it werent for the grooming, I'd have stayed with the breed!!), and it sounds like she wants to be an honors student. Find what flips her switch, & go with it. The attention, stimulation & energy expenditure should also help with some of the separation anxiety.
Best of luck! T. :)
Sometimes they do this when they are bored, other times because they are difficient in vitamin, other times it's a learned behavior. My German Shepherd when he was a puppy would what we call " scavenge " for food. We initially had a huge problem on our hands as he would eat everything he scavenged. I had a list going at one point : snakeskin, oil paint, mulch, tree bark, socks, rubber bands, etc.. he needed abdominal surgery at 6 months for swallowing my sons tube sock. After this, we trained him to " leave it" and " drop it". We also engaged him in play to look for things. We also made him run daily to get the excess energy out.
It may be a breed thing, but I find most hyper active, intense dogs have this kind of need or desire . You have to engage him in a job so to speak. That and train him to drop things he finds. With enough consistency and discipline it will work. The younger they are - the better. But you have to follow through every time. it does pay off and is necessary for them. You do not want this behavior to continue. It gets expensive!
Have you had her tested for brain lesions? Is her pancreas working properly? Did they test her pancreas?
My does, a pit bull, loves to eat poop outside too. We do our best to keep it all cleaned up. He does chew on rocks, but does NOT eat them.
However, I have to say part of his pica problem was solved last year when he ate a sewing kit - needles, safety pins, thread, et al and was in the hospital for 24 hours and vomiting blood. Luckily enough? He didn't need surgery - however - he didn't like the after affects of the "food"...so he's been good about that. We were VERY lucky that the thread covered the needles and never harmed the stomach or intestines.
Instead of a walk - try a run with her - can you ride a bike while she runs? That will keep her nose off the ground.
Another thing - and I don't like it - but this will keep stuff out of her mouth - a muzzle. IF all else fails - a muzzle is the way to go.
Good luck!
Good responses already, and I wanted to add, too, that she may eventually just outgrow it. When our GSD was young (less than 2 years) she wasn't terrible about stealing things (socks of my son, and it became a game), was never really (and still is not) food motivated, and was not really a chewer. She never destroyed things in my house. No furniture, rugs, carpets, doors, baseboards, clothes, etc ever were damaged due to her. She did put teeth marks in a foam flip flop once. And would shred tissues or paper towels if left within her reach instead of thrown away properly (kids!). But as great as she was, she would pick up rocks.
When we left her at the kennel when we traveled, we had to leave them with warnings about walking her (lots of gravel in the back play area around landscaping), because she would sneak a rock if you weren't watching her like a hawk.
Eventually, she quit. Don't know why. Probably just maturity. Or as someone else mentioned, maybe physical maturity--she stopped the over-time speed of puppyhood growth and reached full mature size.
She turns 13 next week, and I can't remember the last time she tried to sneak a rock. I'm sure there's hope for your fur friend, too. And I second the gentle leader halter. We used one on our gal and it worked like a charm. Lots of stares from people who mistook it for a muzzle (it is not a muzzle), but worked really well.
Did Dr Google tell you this is pica? I mean what you are describing is a poodle. I had golden retrievers when my kids were growing up but because of her husband's allergies my daughter got a goldendoodle. She needs a good chew, it is the nature of the animal. About the only toys we can give her are deer antlers and marrow bones. Everything else is destroyed in seconds.
As far as I know all dogs eat some poop. Even my goldens came with the warning keep them away from the litter box, cat poop is irresistible to most dogs. One of them would eat it given the chance, the other left it alone.
You really need to reach out to other standard poodle owners. Maybe finding out your dog is just bored and needs a good chew will help you realize this is probably not medical but just the breed. I mean most of us just let our dogs out and don't really monitor what they eat out back. They are dogs after all.
i own a poop eater.. her favorites are bunny droppings and turdsickles ( frozen poops) read somewhere online that if its their own poop then its motherly insticnt to clean the baby droppings outta the den and natural to eat it to get rid of it. i also read that giving a piece of pineapple (fresh) will make it unapealing to eat the dung. eating other animal poo is natural though and while gross to us its common for a dog to consume that stuff i however do not have explanation for why shes wanting to eat wrappers and cugarette butts. thast a new one for me... sticks are natural for them to chew too, and rokcks not totally normal but i have heard of it before. you stated shes only 7 months old too, sh theres possibility she will grow out of it.
whats her diet like? a growing pup needs nutritional food thats designed for them, standard poodles are a large breed dog and should be fed accordingly, she could be trying to eat things outside becasue shes hungry
Yikes. Because you need one more thing to do....
Have you considered walking with a spray bottle set on a hard squirt vs. an easy spray? It's labor-intensive because you have to squirt with every single thing they pick up, but it can't be much worse than what you are doing now. The command our neighbors' trainer gave their dog was "Leave it!" because it's different than a standard "NO!" There's nothing inherently wrong with picking things up (vs., say, jumping on people or chasing cars, which are always a "no") but "Leave it" covers things a dog is naturally curious about.
I think the dog might need to be seriously trained to heel vs. being able to mosey around sniffing all the time. Total consistency, 100%.
But I think the dog needs to be evaluated by the vet.
I know that the idea of paying for serious training doesn't fit with your financial pressures as listed in prior posts.
I have a 12# Toy Poodle and 50# lab/Sharpei and I don't have that issue.
I am answering because when rescued my lab 4/16, I trained her myself and when I need her to STOP or to get her attention I have a clapper. That is the best way I know to explain it. It is the clapping hands that make noise that we got at an NBA game. It works like a charm. Every time I catch her doing something she is not supposed to do, I just make 1 clap and she is instantly at attention. I hope I never break my clapper.... if so, I am sure I can find something similar at Oriental Trading.
She and my toy poodle are best friends. My poodle is in surgery today and I am worried sick but I know he will be ok. Just a good teeth cleaning and a couple growth removals.
Updated
I have a 12# Toy Poodle and 50# lab/Sharpei and I don't have that issue.
I am answering because when rescued my lab 4/16, I trained her myself and when I need her to STOP or to get her attention I have a clapper. That is the best way I know to explain it. It is the clapping hands that make noise that we got at an NBA game. It works like a charm. Every time I catch her doing something she is not supposed to do, I just make 1 clap and she is instantly at attention. I hope I never break my clapper.... if so, I am sure I can find something similar at Oriental Trading.
She and my toy poodle are best friends. My poodle is in surgery today and I am worried sick but I know he will be ok. Just a good teeth cleaning and a couple growth removals.
I like taking our 8 month old pup on walks with our gentle leader head halter. It keeps his head elevated and teaches him to heal without sniffing everything. Our pup sort of did the same thing with rocks and sticks, well I guess he still does, but it's not that stressful for me. I just ask him to drop it and offer a treat. If yours isn't interested in a treat, maybe try a ball or other toy to get her to drop the item? Or better treats? Cheese works especially well for us for moments we need to kick it up a notch. I also don't really worry about him chewing on the item unless it's small enough to choke on (which sounds like the issue here for you). I will say that I learned my lesson to not let him chew on sticks when he got a piece stuck on the roof of his mouth between his teeth. Ouch! I also have taught him the "leave it" command, so he won't go near things I need him to avoid. I think ours is outgrowing the stage where he is picking up random things to chew on, at least a little bit anyway. We have a dog run area for him and it is filled with small gravel and then a layer of rubber mulch. He used to grab a couple of pieces of that each time he went outside. He's doing that less and less, so maybe there is hope for all of us. :)
Make it more of a game to do the right thing than chasing her around to get the items out of her mouth. Maybe she's getting attention from that and wants to keep at it. They are so smart!
Mine doesn't have an interest in poop, but I would really work on the leave it command for that. If it continues, a quick spray of a water bottle can help. Another good command that might help you is "stay" or "wait". I have had to use it to get my pup to stop and stay while I'm opening the oven for example. It might work to help you gain control and either remove the item or put a leash on the puppy before they get to the thing you don't want them to have. There are a ton of you tube videos that cover training, and might help too.
