# Puppy eating sheep poo



## ashelia (Apr 25, 2017)

I live in the countryside surrounded by fields filled with sheep and cows so naturally the small road outside our house often has their poo on it. So every time I take Ruby outside that's all she wants to do; eat sheep poo. I can hardly walk three steps before she stops and starts eating it, not even bits of cheese which she really loves interest her when there's sheep poop around.  As she's only 11 weeks old tomorrow I'm not walking her much but as she gets older I want to be able to take her on walks around here without her stopping every second to eat sheep poo. 

My questions are: is it bad for her to eat it? And is there any way I can gradually stop her from doing it? Or at least get her attention off it? And does anyone else's dog do this?


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## Guest (May 17, 2017)

ashelia said:


> I live in the countryside surrounded by fields filled with sheep and cows so naturally the small road outside our house often has their poo on it. So every time I take Ruby outside that's all she wants to do; eat sheep poo. I can hardly walk three steps before she stops and starts eating it, not even bits of cheese which she really loves interest her when there's sheep poop around.  As she's only 11 weeks old tomorrow I'm not walking her much but as she gets older I want to be able to take her on walks around here without her stopping every second to eat sheep poo.
> 
> My questions are: is it bad for her to eat it? And is there any way I can gradually stop her from doing it? Or at least get her attention off it? And does anyone else's dog do this?


Put her on a leash and don't let her stop and eat sheep poo. Done 
If she's around livestock she should be leashed anyway.

No, not bad for her I wouldn't think, not unless the sheep are being medicated or wormed or something.
Yes, you can stop her from doing it with a good leave it cue. Look up kikopup on youtube and how she teaches leave it. Also domesticated manners has a great video on teaching a really reliable leave it.
Yes my dogs love to start the day with a snack of deer or rabbit turds they find out in the fields.


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## ShibaPup (Mar 22, 2017)

Crap seems like a delicacy for most dogs!! :Vomit

Try not to let her practice the behaviour - you could physically stop her by keeping her on a lead.

Divert her - find something more appealing, encourage her away and reward heavily with food, chews, toys, a game or a fuss or whatever is more rewarding for your dog.

If the sheep have recently been wormed it might be harmful depending on what is used if it is ivermectin; some collies can be sensitive to that and various other drugs if they are affected by MDR-1 - there is a genetic test available to test for it.


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## ashelia (Apr 25, 2017)

ouesi said:


> Put her on a leash and don't let her stop and eat sheep poo. Done
> If she's around livestock she should be leashed anyway.
> 
> No, not bad for her I wouldn't think, not unless the sheep are being medicated or wormed or something.
> ...


She is always leashed outside and I always try and tug her away from it but a lot of the time she'll sit down and refuse to move, she can be pretty stubborn.  I wouldn't let her get near it in the first place but farmers deal with livestock right outside our house so it's pretty hard to avoid it.

Leave it is the first thing I've been teaching her, but I don't think it's reliable yet. I'll give those videos a watch though thank you.


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## jamat (Jun 3, 2015)

Rabbit poo lover is Alfie....we have to ban him to the kitchen when we change the rabbits cage otherwise he's straight into the bin bag .....yucky yuck yuck.....

One good thing is i have trained him to lick my mother in law.....i try to co inside cage changing with her visits.....yes i am a nasty devious b*****d


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## rockdot (Jul 19, 2016)

Basket muzzle?

As already pointed out, if the animals have recently been wormed it can be very dangerous for dogs to ingest their poop. My collie x ate horse poop that made him very, very poorly a few months ago.
Unfortunately some dogs just do find ways to eat things they shouldn't, today both of mine are suffering the effects of eating ivy berries that some local kids have been throwing into our garden.


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## ashelia (Apr 25, 2017)

ShibaPup said:


> Crap seems like a delicacy for most dogs!! :Vomit
> 
> Try not to let her practice the behaviour - you could physically stop her by keeping her on a lead.
> 
> ...


It really does seem to be! Thankfully it's just sheep and cow poop she's interested in and not her own or other dog poo. :Vomit

I keep her on a lead all the time while outside and I do try and steer her away from it but sometimes she's just so adamant on eating it that it's impossible to get her away, I've had to pick her up a few times because otherwise she'd happily sit there all day munching on it.

I'm not sure how to divert her, when there's sheep poo around everything else is boring to her haha but when I do manage to stop her from eating it (it's rare tho) I praise and give a treat. Maybe eventually it'll sink in?

I read about that, that's why I was a little concerned but so far she seems okay but I haven't allowed her to ingest much or I try not to.


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

11 weeks?

Just pick her up and carry her to a more appropriate place until she has a solid leave. Otherwise you'll most likely be inadvertently training her to ignore your first command.

Its not like she needs to do a whole deal of walking at that age.


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## ashelia (Apr 25, 2017)

Nonnie said:


> 11 weeks?
> 
> Just pick her up and carry her to a more appropriate place until she has a solid leave. Otherwise you'll most likely be inadvertently training her to ignore your first command.
> 
> Its not like she needs to do a whole deal of walking at that age.


As I said I'm not walking her much at all but I like to take her to other places to see things rather than just our garden until her vaccinations are done. Carrying her isn't an option anymore, she's over 8kg already and doesn't like being held/picked up long as she starts to wiggle wanting to be put down.

Maybe I'm doing things wrong I don't know, but I was just asking for suggestions on a way to make my particular issue a little easier.


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## ashelia (Apr 25, 2017)

Thank you to those who shared similar experiences and gave helpful suggestions!  I'll give them a go and persevere!

I know I'm not an expert or an experienced dog owner by any means (that's why I joined this forum) but I do want the best for Ruby!


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## bumbarrel (Feb 23, 2017)

You could try 'spiking' a few bits of sheep poo with something like Bitter Apple so she suddenly finds some of it doesn't taste good at all. I have done this to stones to put a dog off picking them up. You would still need to be vigilant though. I once had dog who loved horse poo and even ate some the day before she died (age 12 of a heart attack)!!!!


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

When Kite was a pup, she ate sheep poo. She got a stomach bug (not related as she hadn't been near sheep poo for a while) and had antibiotics and, along with those, I always give dog probiotics. She's not been interested in sheep poo since. Eating the faeces of other animals could be a way of establishing the gut bacteria needed for good digestion and immunity for life. Dogs are generally disgusting creatures but there could be a sound reason behind it; look at what the extra sterile lives humans are urged to lead has done for the rise in allergies. Yes, recently wormed livestock can leave traces that can make a puppy ill so don't let her eat a lot. You'll need a good 'leave' command for other aspects of life so work on that - but don't be too precious about the odd bit of dung.


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