The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Friends..these days romeo has started turning out weird on few things...
1. He eats his own poop... he had done this twice...n am really worried abt what to be done now....
2.whenever we take romeo off leash out for a walk...he runs badly towards the road...that scares me a lot... N even on a leash he tries to pull me towards the direction he would want to go to...
3.whenever we take him out we are followed by a lot of stray dogs n romeo gets scared n tries to hide himself behind us..or would try hard to just run from there...



Any idea what could be done...plz share!!
Thanks in advance...

Hi!
Unfortuntaly, eating poop is fairly common.. I would get it picked up as soon as he goes, and supervise him while he goes to stop him from having his treat.

I would keep him on a leash at all times when out of your home/yard unless at a completely fenced in dog park.

If you can enroll him in puppy classes, do so! They are excellent for both him and you.

For your own peace of mind, perhaps a vet check up is in order.

The major problem is strays attack us... Bcoz of which
M not able to take romeo out for a walk... What to do?

You can try adding pineapple (crushed or chunks - just a healthy teaspoonful) to Romeo's food as a deterrant to him eating his own feces. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. There is also a product you can purchase called Forbid that you sprinkle on his food. We are in the process of trying it, so I don't know if it works or not but can keep you informed. At any rate, if you try either of these remedies, you will have to let Romeo "sample" the new offending treat and restrict water for a little while.

If there is no place where you can walk Romeo without strays attacking you (a park, a friend's yard, or a training facility), you're going to have to be creative on how to exercise and socialize him. Please do not let him off leash near a road. He's just a puppy and doesn't have good sense yet, nor does he probably have good recall. Find a good puppy class and get him enrolled in it. That way he can meet other dogs and perhaps you can set up some play dates at a secure location with those dogs that you know are obedience trained and nicer dogs.

I suspect none of the strays are spayed or neutered. Is Romeo? If not, you may want to consider having him neutered as it may help. You do not want to find yourself having to fend off strays on every walk you take - dog fights are not an easy thing to handle.

If at all possible, can you walk somewhere where you both will be safe?

I would not walk him off leash at all since there are other dogs around. You need to train him not to pull. You can google and find ways or take him somewhere for training.

I have a poop eater........drives me crazy too. He started out eating his brother's poo.....fresh from the butt, warm poo. Then he graduated to eating both his brother's and his own fresh poo. Now, he will make a buffet out of the back yard if I don't get it picked up.

I tried putting something in his food once, but the product tasted so bad that he would not eat. It smelled awful too. I haven't tried the pineapple yet.....heard about it, but haven't tried it. Regardless of what you put in the food, I have been told that once you think you have the problem solved and quit putting it in the food, they start back up.

I keep my yard picked up. I have a trash can in the back yard just for that. To be honest, even though it seems to be a nuisance at times, I do like a clean back yard.....no worry about it getting tracked in. AND, it is a race and who can get the poo up first.....me or Eli.

I quit walking my boys around the neighborhood because I can't rely on the neighbors keeping their dogs penned up. Sadly, the boys need more exercise than just the back yard. They are chunky monkeys.

The leash pulling is something that you can correct with training.....shouldn't take long.

Romeo is an adolescent and testing his limits with you by running away from you and not coming when called. IMO, "COME" is the most important command you can teach a dog. I find this article helpful to understand-The 7 Stages of Puppy Development-like babies and children, puppies go thru their own learning stages. At around 7 months, give or take, cocker puppies go thru what forum members describe as "the stupid stage" when they forget all they are taught! Keep working on the come command on a long lead, and don't let him off it until you are 100% sure it will work 100% of the time, which will not be until he is an adult.

Glad you are having alot of fun with your handsome boy! How is mil doing with him?

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