bison frise and excement - what to do?

Taltos

Hi,

need to get some ideas for my mum.
She has a male frise now just 1yr 2 mts.

And for the first time in all her years with dogs she is at a loss.
The dog is pretty well toilet trained with only the odd accident now at night - which is good but insists on picking up and either eating or playing with his own crap every time.

My mum is quite elderly and so has no hope of catching him or distracting him.
Things she has tried
> grapefruit
> tabasco
> pineapple
> medication from the vets - over the counter - worked for 1 day but now back to old habits.
> going out with him on the lead - he refuses to go.... (I know...)

Any other ideas would be really welcome because at this stage it is really cracking her up.
I should mention here that this is the first dog she has gotten without us there to train him - and to say that he is ruling the roost is an understatement...

paultf

I had a similar problem with one of my dogs. Its a disgusting problem and I still don't know why they do it. I didn't find a solution. I ended up having to supervise her everytime she went to the toliet in the back garden. I take her for a walk twice a day and this means she is pooing at regular times outside the house & not doing it in the back garden.

TBH, at this stage all you might be able to do is damage limitation:-

* start toliet training again - maybe get a crate - at least the dog won't poo over night and eat his own poo

* go outside with him when he needs to go, praise him when he goes and pick the poo up there & then

* regular walks - maybe 1/2 a day - if he poo's outside all the better

alfman

We had a dog that used to eat his own excrement. A vet told us they normally do this when they are suffering badly from boredom.

Taltos

paultf wrote: »

I had a similar problem with one of my dogs. Its a disgusting problem and I still don't know why they do it. I didn't find a solution. I ended up having to supervise her everytime she went to the toliet in the back garden. I take her for a walk twice a day and this means she is pooing at regular times outside the house & not doing it in the back garden.

TBH, at this stage all you might be able to do is damage limitation:-

* start toliet training again - maybe get a crate - at least the dog won't poo over night and eat his own poo

* go outside with him when he needs to go, praise him when he goes and pick the poo up there & then

* regular walks - maybe 1/2 a day - if he poo's outside all the better

Thanks for all this.
Unfortunately my mum is quite elderly and with arthritis does feel the cold - so standing outside in the dark trying to see down the garden is just not cutting it. Once it gets brighter this will be easier - it is just over the last while it has not worked.
The good thing is that he just wets at night - nothing worse - and only occassionally now.

I know that sometimes this can be caused by a dietary imbalance - but it is only his own crap he is interested in playing with..

morganafay

It can be a sign of malnourishment, but I think that is quite rare. There might be other signs if it was, like a loss of weight and energy, and a bad coat.

Is this problem getting better as he gets older or staying the same? Maybe he might grow out of it since he's young?

ghost_ie

You could try adding some courgette to his food. This worked with one of mine

Taltos

At this point will try anything.
Thinking the boredom might be it - looking to be chased - but how many pensioners with arthritis are willing to tear around a garden after a pup.

Oh the images...

Will suggest the courgette to her - though am hoping with the bright evenings now we might see a change.

peasant

I'm not normally a fan of them, but in this case with a mobility impaired owner training discs

might come in handy.

The idea behind them is that when you need to interrupt something the dog is doing that you throw them near (near, not at !!) the dog. The noise that the discs make as they fall will startle the dog and interrupt what it is doing. Then you have its attention again and call it back.

After a few uses a simple "no!" from a distance and a rattling of the discs in your hand should do the trick without having to throw them and hopefully after a while the dog will learn what behaviour it is that is not wanted and stop doing it (or at least heed to a simple no or recall)

If you don't want to spend money, an empty drinks can filled with some gravel does the same trick (but is a bit harder to throw)

morganafay

Bichon's are smart dogs, so maybe something to keep his brain more active would help? Some new toys? You can get ones that you put treats in and it takes them a while to get them out. Or balls with treats in that they have to roll around. Or something that they have to chew that takes ages (a really big raw hide bone maybe or pigs ears).

rafared

I know the frustration this problem causes. I have a Foot Beagle who went through a phase similar to this. We tried the usual stuff you mentioned and none of them worked. He was well walked, played with, plenty of toys, kongs with treats, taken out in the car etc and he still would eat his poop whenever he got the chance.
The problem is 95% solved now thank god and it was a change of his food that did the trick. He was on Royal canin, then Beta, then a cheaper pet shop food and none made any difference. Most of his poops were soft and he went far too often. By luck I tried Eukanuba Lamb and Rice and the whole situation changed. He poops twice a day like clockwork and they are firm and easy to pick up. He also shows no sign of interest in eating them. He gets fed once a day in the morning (only gets 150g of food) and walked about an hour afterwards where he poops almost in the same spot . Then another walk in the early evening and he goes again in a different spot. (both poops scoped and binned) The dog is so much more enjoyable now and everyone is more relaxed with him.
(We have had an issue with him eating stones but thats another story)
So I suppose my advice would be change his food and try to get a routine where he poops on his walks IF thats possiblle. I think if my dog was left to poop in the garden he may go back to his old habits but we are trying to ensure that doesnt happen.
Best of luck.

Hermit07

Here are some ideas to try out

Get a kong dog toy and fill it with nice treats and something sticky so it takes him a while to get them out so he is not bored

Change the dogs food to something that produces very little poo, Burns dog food for example. Then feed the dog first thing in morning so hopefully all poo is done by bedtime, create a new routine

Get a very small crate just big enough for him and his blanket and put him in it at night, he wont be very inclined to crap where he has to sleep

The behaviour is reinforced by your mother chasing him around, it is a great game to him so its best she finds a new game for him to play, try a plastic empty bottle without lid, a tennis ball, small teddy bear, all cheap and no need to buy expensive toys

If you have a back garden, an hour before bedtime shove him out, hail/rain or snow so by the time he gets back indoors all he will want to do is sleep.

If he is not neutred get him done as this may help with his attepts to rule the roost.

Kev M

Exercise cures 99%* of dog problems.

*or thereabouts.

Old people with energetic dogs need to find games where they can have their dogs exercising hard...

All the shiny new toys in the world are worthless... unless you're in the toy manufacturing business.

morganafay

Kev M wrote: »

All the shiny new toys in the world are worthless... unless you're in the toy manufacturing business.

Unless he'll chase a tennis ball!

Taltos

Some of the ideas are fabulous and we have not tried them before.

Will definitely suggest a change in food, have to be wary here as prior to this dog mum has dogs with food allergies (a poodle) so when she finds a food they can eat she does tend to stick to it.

Will also suggest the change in time of the feed.

She has tried the toys - lets just say at this stage you cannot walk around the kitchen without hearing at least one squeaky toy...
The food toys are also in use.

I like that mobility suggestion as well - will definitely work while the weather is good. In terms of the neutering - this was done a few weeks ago - but seems like mum may have waited too long as his personality seems set as does the routines she has him set into.

Unfortunately where she lives there is no dog training, and since dad died mum will just not travel. She has looked into some local lessons - but 600E is a big bill for a pensioner - and her pride just will not allow her to accept a gift of this size from her kids.

So - diet change / burns; distraction games; feeding time change; stopping the chasing...
All brilliant suggestions - will let her know and if this is still open in say 2 wks I will let you know how she gets on.

Cheers
T