Every time we go outside foreplay or potty she finds rabbit poop and eats it. Drives me nutts. Anytime I try to get close to show her no she runs. I tell her no she doesn't listen, leave it doesn't listen. She WILL listen to no and leave it while inside... So I'm guessing I need to work on commands outside? What's so different whith outside? The yard is small. I'm ready to pull my hair out from her just eating poop and running away

Tony, there are far more distractions(noise, smells, people, animals, etc.) outside than there are inside. Yes you need to work harder for outside commands vs inside. Start with drop it, then leave it, remove poop, or direct her somewhere else in a play fashion so you are more interesting to her than the poop is.

Btw, that is probably why she keeps getting sick. Try removing the poop before she sees it. She will grow out of it, it is just a phase. Miya would eat deer poop, eeeeewwww, but at about 8-12 months old, it wasn't new and fun anymore.

Tony, obedience is a constant balancing act on a scale.

On the one side is the dog's desire, and on the other, your desire.

The reason she doesn't listen outside is because she is not convinced that your needs outweigh her needs. That takes lots and lots of time and lots and lots of patience.

Link has always had a thing for squirrels--they just made him snap and tune me out completely. Well, I upped my calming training and Place command at home and threshold work and most importantly my Release command for any things for him that are interesting or fun or made him impulsive. Also, I insisted on heeling while walking. Now he walks great, tuned in and focused and calm, even around squirrels.

Well, just this morning, we encountered a squirrel carrying a bag of crackers---no lie, no exaggeration. It caught me off guard so I couldn't correct Link prior to fully alert and targeted, and then I lost him. He zoned out and it was like our prong collar wasn't there at all. So what I did was keep walking and the split second his body language relaxed and he dismissed the squirrel with the bag of crackers I had him jump up at me and let him mouth my arm, which then relieved his built up, unfulfilled prey drive and then he resumed heeling like a champ.

The point is, it happens. You can't get frustrated. You just have to accept it as part of having a prey driven dog and learn to stay calm yourself and move on. I can't relate to having a poo eater on my hands, but it's the same thing.

If you want, you can stage some training like anything else. Get some rabbit poo in a bag and Bandit on leash. Put the poo in the yard and then train her to stay focused on you. Play the boundary game. Play the Impulse=Bad / You=Good game. This will be best if you have a way to properly correct her, but even if you don't you can still teach her to ignore the rabbit poo. It is possible. It takes lots of work and time, but it is possible.

Hang in there, you've made good progress with Bandit so far.

Get a long line of rope and leave it attached to her collar so that when you are outside you can correct her via the rope no matter how she tries to avoid you.

I can try to remove it but it's literally everywhere. It's not like fecal poop it's that undigested grass/hay. Hmmm maybe I'll carry treats on me and get her attention off it that way. I still feel like she'll go right back to get it when she is done with me. She'll literally be running and sniffing looking for it. She really wants to eat it. Not like if She finds it she'll eat it. She searches for it every time we are outside and it's literally everywhere.

I'll try to isolate some and sit with her like I did with hand feeding. Focus on me gets rewards. I'll see how that goes tomorrow since I'll be off all day

Training this stuff with treats won't work. The value of a treat is a split second and once she cashes in on the treat, then it's fair game to move on to whatever it is she wants.

That would be a form of redirection training that won't work because there's no associated consequence/unpleasantness for wanting the rabbit poo.

If a dog wants A and B....but really wants A more than B.....and you redirect from A with B, the dog will cash in on B and then resume after A. Offering B does nothing whatsoever for the dog wanting A.

The method Jenn described above is what you want. There has to be a correction for wanting the rabbit poo (A).

You want her focus on you and become her reward, not cashing in on a treat (B).

Okay that makes sense. So maybe throwing a ball or stick. She thouroghly enjoys chasing and running around with it.

Yes, exactly.

Teach her that when she's stimulated and drivey that she can turn to you and be fulfilled.

Ball, tug, chase, wrestling, whatever. So long as you're interactions are allowing her to feel fulfillment , then you win. She's essentially "hunting" rabbit poo, that's why she's targeting and hyper alert and deaf to your demands or needs. You want her, essentially, "hunting" you.

This is exactly how I trained Link to stop "hunting" milk bones at our local beer store.

I understand! God I swear she was the defective puppy of the litter. She was pushed on me and I took her. I got a deal on her... Lol barginbin puppy lololol I'll keep the updates coming tomorrow on progress. Thanks everyone

<< teasing >> no, Tony, you're only half way there - you still have half your wits left!!!!