My 7mth weimaraner bitch has, only today, started rolling in other animal poo! She's did it this morning in what I think might be fox and then this afternoon in horse. On each occasion I've shouted 'dirty' and pulled her away (she's been off the lead in the field), but I'm most bemused by this behaviour. In the past she's always looked most disgusted at any dog poo and yet this seem to be heaven in her mind!

I was wondering whether it could be related to her age and the fact that I'm waiting for her to come into season. Could it be raging hormones?

I'd be extremely grateful for any ideas on the reason of such foul (ha ha!) behaviour as well as effective ways of nipping it in the bud.

Looks like my name, stinkypup, might be appropriate.....

Hi Stinkypup
Sounds like your pup has discovered perfume! Well, my bitches have always thought of fox poo, the freshest the better, as the best possible perfume. Cow pats the next best thing but definitely fox poo is the top of the range.
Don't know if I should tell you this but none of my lot ever grew out of the practice & Tara was still doing it at 12 years.
By the way, tomato ketchup is meant to be quite good at getting rid of the smell!!
Steph

Hi, my Dobe used to roll in fox poo and other various nastys, she once rolled in a dead rotting stinking frog and tried to pick it up and run off with it when we caught her :D I found that washing it with Hibi Scrub, which you can get from a chemist completely got rid of the smell.

Hope this helps

Hi stinkypup (great name)
My 10mth pointer has done the same about five times now ( and god doesnt it stink) his collar goes straight in the washer but fortunately he also loves going in the bath and will jump straight in!!.
My dad is a gamekeeper though and although he agrees it mostly will be fox poo (or where a vixen has given birth) they could also roll in cows pat (my last dog was an expert). They will also sometimes want to eat dog poo as now most dogs are fed a dry food (e.g Eukanuba, Iams,)etc and these are good quality foods so when a dog goes to sniff other dogs faeces,the dog just smells undigested food (or ingredients from that food) and thinks it is leftover food so that is why many dogs have the habit of eating poo (especially puppies) I now have to say to my dog arrgghh! and pull him away or he would go for it!

Hi Stinkypup,
I will not go into the reasons for this behavour as it is of no help to know why. If you can beg borrow or hire a Master Plus remote collar and then take your dog for a walk in areas where your dog will roll. When you see your dog smell the cow pat or what ever and as it starts to bend to go down down say "come" and walk away but if the dog does not come fire the remote and the gas will emit from the collar startling your dog. Give the command again and if again no response fire the remote again and you should get a result and your dog will come to you. Your dog needs to associate the gas apperance with ignoring your command. You should find that the next cow pat your command will suffice and you can return the collar. The gas is harmless but the dog can visulise it by scent and it will appear to be looking at a ghost.

Thanks everyone for your quick and helpful replies!

So far we've had no reappearance of the fabulous behaviour but no doubt it will re-emerge in the near future!

At least I know that i'm not the only with with a stinkypup!! And there was me thinking how lucky we were not to have too many revolting habits....

Kind regards, Stinks

Well ive been up my local country park today with my 7 month EBT and he has caught me out twice (two fast) and ate horse manure. Why does he do this?? and any advice for a slow coach like myself :)

most dogs love horse manure. i just shout *LEAVE* and my pup leaves it - he isn't too bothered.

dogs eat this, and other nasty stuff, for the valuable enzymes and various ingredients they are not getting elsewhere. just make sure you keep your dogs wormed and ignore it unless it gets obsessive - and then you might need to look at his diet.

hth
chloe :)

All canines love poo! The wild dogs (like they have on David Attenborough's programmes) will eat the bowel and stomach contents of their prey before they start on the "meat". It's also one of the reasons they were domesticated in the first place - as well as helping on hunting trips, they would keep the "home area" clean - they are still used for this by some nomadic tribes - the babies don't need nappies, the mother simply calls a dog (sorry to anyone who's just had their meal!)

Horrid though it is to us, to them it's what they do. The best thing is to teach a "leave" command, which is not only used for poo, but for anything the dog shouldn't touch.

But take care - if you make the poo seem important, you run the risk of making it doubly attractive!

Thanks for the answers :)
Matt

I have a 1 year old english bull terrier and he has always rolled in poo. He doesn't roll in other dog poo just foxes or other wild animals. He also tries to eat horses poo but I have managed to teach him not too just by telling him to 'leave it' but he stills tries to every time he comes across any. I just have to keep my eye on him when I am out walking to stop him rolling in poo and run over quickly and make him get up, I do tell him off but he don't listen he just has a big grin on his face but it soon goes when I put him in the bath when we get home!