how to train the “horse poop” cue
ahhhh the equine bon bon delights that grace peaks island, maine (and other places too, obviously)
and . . .
how to get your dog to stop eating them. scroll down for end result video starring ardesia.
(fyi when horses need to be dewormed, they get enough poison to kill off worms and parasites in a 1000-1500 pound animal, in one dose. so one pile of horse poop can have enough poison in it to kill your dog, or cause serious neurological issues)
so, like, you really don’t want your dog eating it!
-> oh AND broken record statement du jour - yet another reason to keep your dog on a leash! <-
here is how to train the “horse poop” cue
(your dog smells it, and knows it is coming way before you will every see it.)
every time you see horse poop coming up, as you get near, you say “horse poop” and give your dog a treat. depending on the spreadage, you might have to repeat this a few times as you are walking by to keep your dog’s attention on the goodies YOU are offering. high value treats here work best, like cheese or lunch meat. cause just think of what you are competing with!!!
it is important that you prevent your dog for eating it at all during this training period and really don’t whoopsy on this, cause if they are self-rewarding on it and eating it anyway, you will have a much harder time training this quickly. so only give your dog enough leash that they cannot get to it, but can have the choice to get close to the poo or be with you.
once they get the concept you won’t notice the poop, you will notice your dog being very attentive to you, and you look and there is poo, and oh! great! give your dog a treat!
the video is your end result. your dog sees/smells/passes by horse poop and is uninterested. he/she does the “good dog” stroll on by, all proud and gets a reward for it. thus, you don’t even have to cue with saying “horse poop” once trained, your dog is cued by the sight and smell of it to begin the desired behavior.
fyi ardesia, the dog in the video, was a serial horse poo eater, would run to, pounce on, and gobble as much as she could.