I have an 8 month old Westie who is great fun. However, whenever I take him for walks in the woods or open fields nearby, he does have a tendency to roll about in poo. I have been told that it is probably Fox poo. He rolls about in it with his neck.
I have to bath him everytime due to the stink it creates, but I am loathed to bathe him too much because they do suffer skin conditions. I am also loathed to keep him on a lead as this just isn't fair on him. Has anybody got any advice or suffered the same thing?

Many thanks

I used to have a GSD that would always roll in Cow pats.  He would stink something rotten.  I dont know what you can do about it as I never found a way to stop him.  In the end I had to walk him somewhere else.  Good luck with finding a way of stopping him. 

Thanks for the reply..I'll just grin and bear it for now, and hopefully things will get better!

My Dalmatian likes to roll in cow pats - I was told it's because they are a predator trying to take on the smell of the prey to avoid detection during hunting, however, Jasper will also eat cow pats if given half a chance.

My Lab also rolls in anything that smells disgusting! I think a dead fish was the worst, all stuck and mashed in around her neck.
2 baths later and she still hummed. Not found any way of stopping her from doing it, I just keep my eye on her at all times and when she decides to put on some doggy purfume, I distract her with treats or a toy.

Tip tomato juice or a tin of tomatoes over dog prior to shampooing.  It works for skunks! :D

Typical westies I'm afraid the first sign of mess and it is theirs

Jean

Tohme,

Pour RED tomatoes on a WHITE dog?  Wouldn't it go pink and be more likely to roll in fox do do out of sheer embarrassment?  And how do you know it works on skunks?  Where do you learn something like that?? 

A very long time ago I watched a programme about skunks in America and they demonstrated this technique as a sure fire way of removing skunk spray odour from animals.  I have since used it on my dogs when one of them very inconveniently had a mammoth roll in fox scat just before a show and it works a treat. Both of my bitches have been terminal fox poop rollers and I am now used to the honk, I normally wait for it to dry and then brush out :D  All breeds roll, it is not peculiar to Westies.

I don't think you will find that your Westie will go pink :D

Phew!!!  Was concerned there was going to be an outbreak of pink dogs!  Unfortunately, Norman doesn't roll in it - he eats it!!!  Little charmer that he is.  :)

I always keep a bottle of Tesco Value Tomato Ketchup in the grooming parlour for just such an event!!  It works every time even when expensive 'smelly' shampoos fail!

Hi Silverman, I too have a westie - 9 months.  Last weekend I took her to the local pond and she did the same thing but in dog poo as far as I could tell!  Of course she then wanted kisses afterwards - I don't think so!!  It was all smeared through her beard.

I get a bowl of warm soapy water and wash only the affected parts so that we're not constantly bathing her.

Yes, typical Westie behaviour.  All of ours have done this when young - dog pooh, cow pats, sheep droppings, dead fish - the lot.

The best thing is to try and keep a close eye on him when walking and at the first sign of rolling use some firm words to make it clear that this is not on.  They will generally grow out of the habit as they get older.  Just occasionally they will still do it when older, but it should get better.  Don't despair.

Silverman you are not alone :) Both my shih-tzu's do it,but if i am close enough to them i can stop them but if they are 30 feet in front of me i just have to watch and yell at them but does no good as they know i'm too far away to do anything about it :rolleyes: I have also read that they do it to take on the smell of their prey,but i honestly dont know what kind of animal a shih-tzu is going to take down :D
I think it's just a dirty doggy habit and it's one us dog owners just have to put up with,or else have them on a leash the whole time which i wont do as it's cruel to take away their free run time just because we dont agree with something that is perfectly normal to them.
By the way you aint smelt nothing until your dog rolls in a week old fish~shudder~ we walk along the river and there are dead fish everywhere on the bank,people catch them and just leave em' there so i have to be extra alert.

good luck ,your'e gonna need it ;)

christine

Why don't you try and keep him on an extending lead for now, when he tries it tell him " No" he will soon hopefully get the picture.

Pam

hi,

my gsd owen does exactly the same with fox poo we always joked it was like his aftershave eau de fox anyway it wasn't unmtil we had man come round to help us with our problem foxes in the garden that we found out why he does it.

its down to his role within the pack i have two male gsd conner being the pack leader the bossy dominant one and then owen turns out to be the pack messenger when i walk him he always runs off in massive circle shapes whether it be circles of 5m wide or 50m wide, we always thought he was a bit funny in the head but what he is doing is surveyuing the area around the pack and when he rolls in fox mess its so when he comes back to the pack he can tell us what is where and so he also knows.  Anyway this theory works with my boys, but still does not make the car ride home from the park any easier

Suffered the delights of this canine trait for the first time yesterday morning, much to my daughter's disgust! :) I think Sparky knew I was none too pleased - that is the first time he has stood perfectly still to be hosed down!