Dog rubbing himself in poo

Moznips

hi

i've a 5 month old male cocker spaniel who has recently started to roll around in poo when i take him out to the park for a walk. Has anyone got any suggestions to help me stop this?
I use the command 'leave it' when i want him to leave something and reward him when he does and give the command 'take it' - this works generally but when i'm in the park i have him off the lead (he is very good at coming back to me when i call ) and i can't always get to him in time to get him off the poo. i've tried putting him on the lead immediately after an incident for 5 minutes and tell him 'no' but he's not getting it.
i'm getting stressed - he stinks and he's fed up with having a shower.
he also doesn't roll in every poo he comes across so i was thinking it's the scent on perhaps of a bitch he's keen on.
we're getting him 'done' soon - will this help?

tks

ziggy23

I had a dog who used to this with horse ****:eek: I think there is some sort of scent in it alright. Occasionally he'd tried to eat it:( Yuck. We never had him neutered so am not sure if it would stop it. Sorry I'm not much help:o

kenon

Dogs do this so they smell like other dogs. Like a larger dog. Bitches do it too.

I had to put up with my dog doin' this for a while, washing her basically everytime she got walked. She stopped doing it as she got more comfortable with other dogs.

A good roar at the dog might make him realise that he infact should not be rolling in shìte.

Moznips

tks - i'll keep up with commands and throw in a shout or two and see if that helps.

tks again

dmy1001

Funny.....our female dogs do this all the time......only with other animals poo though not dog poo. i heard somewhere that it was instinctual to mask their scent.
if left alone they will all still do it and really saying "no" or "stop" when i see them seems to be the only answer for me. they seem almost hardwired to do it..........shouting never worked for me either, they just look at me like i am a lunatic;)

lorebringer

Sounds like scenting to me - he likes the smell of the poo and decides to cover himself in it. Sometimes it's an environment thing, or pack smell thing, and other times it's unknown. Apparently, fox poo is something dogs roll themselves in quite a bit. Vets have various opinions of it but at least he's not eating it! :eek:

Weird behaviours can be habit forming so breaking the habit it the best way to go. Getting him neutered will reduce his desire to scent mark and also to reduce his desire to rub scent all over himself, but some obedience training and correction (instantly) might be needed to stop it completely. It needs to be done while he is in the act or about to roll in the poo. A sharp "No" or "leave it" when he is close to it and/or rolling in it and either steer clear of the offending poo or take him away from it swiftly should get the message across.

Good on ya' for getting him neutered!