New to owning a Sheltie - poop eating problem

[dkspins]

My family and I adopted a 1yr old Sheltie about a month ago. Have been good and trying times both. She gets along great with my 6yr old son and she stays at my side most of the time. We live on a dirt road and do not have a fence yet so we take her out on a leash. She gets sooo distracted from birds to squirrels or cars going by she won't go - any suggestions?

She does have a few accidents in house but overall does not seem to urinate but maybe twice a day and she is obsessed with eating poop. We plan on putting in invisible fence to be able to let her run and play with our son. Would this work with shelties or do we need a chain link fence?

Thanks for any advice.

[Shelby's mom]

I am not an advocate of electric fences and I know you will get a lot of responses regarding the fence. We have a vinyl fence around the back yard.

As for the the poop eating Shelby used to do that too. I would make it a point to clean it up as soon.as she would go. I also added pineapple to her dog food. I read that it makes their poop taste bad. I think that it worked because she no longer eats it. As for rabbit poop I can't stop her from eating it. My vet says not to waste my time trying, so I gave up on that. We just monitor her closely for any GI issues as a result.

Welcome to the boards. You will find lots of good answers to any questions and everyone here is great!

[MAD3448]

I had a poop eater too. She also would roll on anything she found dead and smelly. Whew. I never did correct her rolling but I would clean up the poop just after she went. I don't know about fences. I have never had a Sheltie that did not want to be with me at all times. If I let them out, they would just sit on the yard and stare in the window. I couldn't take it and had to let them in.

[mbfrench]

Well out of 4 here..I still have one that does this. And the only way to help the sitution is continually scoop the poop.

We have tried pills,pineapple,meat tenderizer,and just about everything else under the sun that I found on the internet.
And with no resluts. So we are diligent about scooping. Even though she is blind,her nose...knows right where to go.

[mbfrench]

Originally Posted by dkspins

My family and I adopted a 1yr old Sheltie about a month ago. Have been good and trying times both. She gets along great with my 6yr old son and she stays at my side most of the time. We live on a dirt road and do not have a fence yet so we take her out on a leash. She gets sooo distracted from birds to squirrels or cars going by she won't go - any suggestions?

She does have a few accidents in house but overall does not seem to urinate but maybe twice a day and she is obsessed with eating poop. We plan on putting in invisible fence to be able to let her run and play with our son. Would this work with shelties or do we need a chain link fence?

Thanks for any advice.

Can't answer the question about electric fence,as we have link fencing here. Thank heavens,or I would not even have the 4 I have.

Out of the 4,I can say that the only 2 that would stick by me would be Trapp & Mia. If Brian were around,Mia would definately not even go an inch without him near her. But she is blind & deaf.

[Ann]

You will read on other threads here that most of us don't recommend electric or invisible fences for Shelties. They are a sensitive breed, and if, like many dogs, they run through the fence one time they can't get back in and can develop fear of the yard, or being outside. I would definitey recommend a real fence of some kind. We used farmer's fencing for our dog yard, and it was simple to install ourselves.

I've had a few poop eaters, and I've found the single component for most of them is dietary. I don't know what you're feeding your pup, but even those eating high quality kibble will sometimes do this. I'd add some digestive enzymes to your pup's food and see if that solves the problem. It has worked for me. I like Dr. Goodpet's Digestive Enzymes, which you can get online.
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Goodpet-Dig...zymes+for+dogs

[PatC]

Originally Posted by Ann

I've had a few poop eaters, and I've found the single component for most of them is dietary. I don't know what you're feeding your pup, but even those eating high quality kibble will sometimes do this. I'd add some digestive enzymes to your pup's food and see if that solves the problem. It has worked for me. I like Dr. Goodpet's Digestive Enzymes, which you can get online.
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Goodpet-Dig...zymes+for+dogs

Thanks for the recommendation. I have a poop-eater, and while I clean up the dogs' pen promptly, she is sometimes faster than I am, especially at night, when I just let the dogs out then back in, and can't see in the pen. I notice on the description for the product, and in the reviews, that it has helped dogs put on weight. That's the last thing mine needs--have you noticed any weight issues when using it? I would love to give it a try, but she is already creeping toward the porky end of her weight range. She has no digestive issues at all...just this awful habit.

[Ann]

Originally Posted by PatC

Thanks for the recommendation. I have a poop-eater, and while I clean up the dogs' pen promptly, she is sometimes faster than I am, especially at night, when I just let the dogs out then back in, and can't see in the pen. I notice on the description for the product, and in the reviews, that it has helped dogs put on weight. That's the last thing mine needs--have you noticed any weight issues when using it? I would love to give it a try, but she is already creeping toward the porky end of her weight range. She has no digestive issues at all...just this awful habit.

I haven't noticed any additional weight gain when I feed enzymes. I have a few Shelties who are prone to be porkers too if I let them, and adding digestive enzymes to their diet hasn't ever made it worse. I do find that I have to make sure they get sufficient exercise, even in the winter, to avoid extra weight gain. Never mind that I could use some of that myself too!

[shelldom]

Cali doesn't really eat her own poo, but she goes after the cat's litter box like there's no tomorrow. I wonder if feeding some of these things to the cats would deter Cali from digging for treasure...