The past 3 days have been heck, Jazz is now eating his poop, he is on the healthy stew, mixed with his kibble, and I add the digestive enzymes that arrived. As of Wednesday as soon as he poops he dives in and eats it. He won't poop while we are outside, so I go in and watch him from the window so I can let him in after he is done, but the problem to that is I than have to run out to stop him from eating it! Does pineapple or pumpkin work for poop eating?
Or will it be better to put the dang remote collar on and correct him when his nose reaches the poop?
He has been eating 3-4cups of food, we have been slow biking 8km every other day and he is currently training to sit on command again, as he has decided this week obeying is above him, he is back to dragging a leash, because when you tell him to sit before going out the door or into the pen etc, he tries to sneak off to avoid doing it. Wearing the leash has really pissed him off, we can see the change in him while it is on, but unfortunately we have no choice, as if we are heading out and call him to come he will refuse to leave his bed and we have to take the leash and lead him out. Can the leash wearing be causing his poop eating? I am at a loss, never dealt with a poop eater before!
(In the winter he had tried to pick it up a few times, but this is the first time he actually ate it!) Thanks in advance!

Good afternoon.

I don't think leash use stimulates eating poop. But what do I know?

What is the optimum weight for the dog? How much does the dog weigh? How often do you feed the dog in a day? Is the poop essentially undigested food?

At the risk of suggesting a way to get the dog's attention that might be offensive, you have thought of training with the use of an electronic collar. It will definitely get the dog's attention, and when accompanied by an emphatic NO it can be an effective behavior modifier. Of course, you need to understand how to use the collar so that it is used for training and not for vengeance.

I feed my mutts no more than 2 and a half cups of food at a sitting, and that portion depends on the size and optimum weight of the dog adjusted for the dog.

The bad news is that dogs eat poop. They will roll in a dead and decaying animal out in the woods. They often have bad table manners. The good news is that you can train the dog. And the best basic command is the emphatic NO.

In short, if you don't want the dog to do something it wants to do, you have to have a cast iron NO. It won't stop a dog from wanting to eat poop but it will stop the dog in its tracks if you even think the dog wants to lunch up.

From what you have written, I think I would have him on a leash a whole bunch, with longer leashes used to increase distance. But in my world, the dog must earn the freedom I bestow. I don't discipline dogs, I try to train them. Dogs personalities come in all kinds of flavors from how can I please you to go jump in the lake. But in any case, you have to have confidence in your command compliance. No free lunch. Lots of praise and boundaries.

If a dog of mine got pissed off for being on a leash, it would never be off it. My rules, my house. I believe in gentle rewarding training but it takes two to tango. There has to be a context to training, and it should include the dog adapting to my rules.

If a dog is in the back yard, and it even looks like it might want to lunch up on a snack, I bellow NO and the dog immediately stops and looks to me. I can then utter a quieter command preceded by a good dog praise.

If all else fails, use a dang remote collar. Accompanied by an emphatic NO.

But in any event, train for an emphatic NO.

Too much time on my hands today.

He is on the low weight side, 72lbs now. I attempted to feed him in the morning and in the evening, but he ignores am feedings, and is finally now eating 80% of his evening meals.

The poop is firm, actually much better poops than he had been having last month, I think due to the meat stew we ordered and the digestive enzymes I added to his daily meal. There is no undigested food, no parasites in the feces at all. (I inspect poop daily lol!)
Nope is a word he knows, he will not poop if you are in view, and the only time he is off leash now is in the pen for potty time only, all day from the moment he is out of his crate at 6am until 11pm he is on a 6ft leash. Anything longer than that he screams when it tangles around his legs.
I have noticed in the pen, that he will ignore commands, I am assuming since the leash is off that is why, I have said no sharply, but in the seconds from butt to ground to mouth, it is already down the hatch. I will attempt to stand there with him on a leash in the pen again, it always results in him trying to lay down, but I will give it another go. The pen is a must, as the grizzy and black bears have come out of their dens, and I am surrounded by bush, much safer in it than out!
He has great table manners, I can eat a steamy steak in front of him while he is on his bed, and he just sleeps, this week he just seems to refuse wearing a leash, and while it is on he lays there licking his lips, ears back, all day. When walking on the leash for exercise the ears continue to stay back, I believe he had too much freedom from us the past few weeks, off leash that he feels he is above wearing one, so now he will wear it like he wears his tail.
I have used a remote collar on a previous dog for eating moss/ grass roots, and it worked wonderfully, and if I do use it, I plan to use it specifically only for the poop eating as a last resort.
That is great advice, we will touch up on the no, with one of us bringing the dog out and the other watching from the open window, so that he can be stopped before he goes for it. So I am assuming pumpkin does not affect the smell/taste of it?

 Quote: Becky Niedbalka

Jazz is now eating his poop...

He won't poop while I am outside...

Will it work to put the remote collar on and correct him just before his nose reaches the poop?

A) This is not a feeding problem, IMHO...

B) Yes, "avoidance stim" from ecollar would work, IMHO...

C) OR, just Watch him like a hawk Inside & Wait till he can Hardly Hold his poop...

D) Then take him out Onlead & March briskly To & Fro in a straight line with 180 degree About-Turns every 6 feet...

E) When he STARTS to DUMP, give a Potty Command like "get busy" and Soon as he Finishes, MARK & TREAT

I don't have poop-eaters, and am NOT a PRO trainer, but I do have a Tight Schedule...

My dogs MUST POOP when & where I need them to do so, and the above WORKS

 Quote: Becky Niedbalka

Does pineapple or pumpkin work for poop eating?
Or will it be better to put the dang remote collar on and correct him when his nose reaches the poop?

Do both(I use pumpkin) and stop giving into your dog's desires.

He can poop while you're there. Might take a few days but he will do it eventually.

I don't use "no" or let the dog think I'm correcting them for poop eating using the ecollar. I want them to think that poop bites.

 Quote: Becky Niedbalka

if we are heading out and call him to come he will refuse to leave his bed and we have to take the leash and lead him out.

I snap a leash on the back or top of the kennel to make it easier to grab the kennel(I'm assuming that's what you mean by bed) and dump dogs that try this tactic with me. Never had to do it more than once. I don't say anything. I just silently dump them out.

When they get into "brat" mode I don't change our routine other than things like putting them on leash. I deal with the brattiness without reacting to it as it comes up and then generally in a week or so we're back to getting along.

His bed is an actual dog bed, and this week he had no chance to not leave it, anytime I leave the room I pick up bthe leash, say come and start walking, he has whining fits but I ignore it.
Thank you guys! Appreciate the help, no more baby steps with him!

I'm not taking issue with anything written. I am just offering another perspective.

If I use an ecollar, it is generally after other tried and true training approaches have not yielded the hoped for results.

From my perspective, any correction, using any training tool, is accompanied by a vocal command. Hand commands are the next tier.

If and when all other approaches have not produced a desired outcome, as when the dog ignores me and lunches on poop for example, and I decide to use the ecollar, I always command NO and then stim.

In my mind, it isn't the poop that is doing the training. I expect my dogs to pay attention to me and to respond in a certain way for any and all commands. If I want a dog to stop doing something and look at me, even at distance, I often command NO, as well as COME, DOWN, SIT, etc.

I don't think I've used a ecollar to stim a dog more than three times. I do put a deactivated ecollar on a dog in followup sessions, and the mere wearing of the ecollar seems enough to help focus the dog.

Then too, I use NO as a universal command for when I wasnt a dog to stop what it is doing or about to do and refocus on me. Whether it be eating poop, running toward the road, going for a squirrel, eyeing a cat, going to another dog's bowl, acting the fool, whatever, the command NO is used to stop the dog and refocus its attention on me. And I absolutely expect compliance.

In a worse case, if a dog sees a child with an ice cream cone and starts for it, I absolutely expect the dog will stop instantly with a NO.

A bellowed HEY often serves the same purpose of getting the dog's attention. I have found that unless the dog is tuned in to me, I might as well be yelling into a rain barrel.

If a dog is on lead, and I tap the lead, I accompany it with a command. And there is ample praise for command compliance and appropriate attitude for noncompliance. I'm not much into corporal punishment because I want the dog to be a willing partner but when all is said and done, I am in charge.

And I don't subscribe to the concept that dogs are mind readers. So, I try to develop a cast iron vocabulary that rewards our partnership, and obviates my disappointment at bad behavior.

But I'm old school in many ways. And I know there are always better ways to work with a dog.

If the dog is responding to a command you have to be around to give the command. If the dog thinks poop bites, or the counter top is electrified, or the trash can bites, etc you don't have to be around. Of course this means that you use the ecollar on much higher than normal levels because you are trying to form an aversion to that object. It's a whole different process from normal training.

After peeking through the window and teaching my girl that poop bites she won't touch it even if I'm not around. Weeks of feeding pumpkin and trying to pick up poop constantly(we have 5 dogs and a doggy door) didn't do a damn thing but 3-4 hard e-collar corrections ended a very nasty habit.

Ok.

I understand both concepts, I am much quicker than my partner when it comes to Jazz, it is with him that he eats the poop, and only with me when I leave him out for his potty. I don't want to have him associate me with the stim, as I can't always be staring at him when he is in the pen, as most of the time I am watching the bush for bears or wolverines.
We have only had him a few months, and he has just started his basic obedience, and he has been doing very well for a dog who has never had any basic training.
He must have had a stimulation from the e-collar in his previous home, as when he has it on in the pen he does his business, and laid down..
He does super well on the leash while outdoors and on the house, and I don't even have to hold it, he stays at my side, and listens to nope when his nose gets too deep in anything, his attitude with it stems in the house. Hopefully he gets used to it!

Thank you all for your advice, we will go through each one if we have to!
Wow Cathy, 5 dogs..you must have a lot of patience!!