possesive aggression

[blondie]

Hi my 18 month old cocker spaniel charlie is normally very obedient - one thing she has always done which I think is disgusting is eating dog pooh! When I take her out on the park and let her off the lead if she spots some shes off and eating it and she will not leave or come back to me no matter how I try to entice her (with treats) just recently she has started getting aggresive when I approach her to get her away from the stuff. I dont know what to do would really appreciate your help on this.

many Thanks

[KOPcaroline]

Hey blondie,

Does she only do it at the park or at home too?

When you get to the park, could you keep her on lead long enough to walk around and spot potential "snacks", maybe give them a spray with lemon juice or hot sauce, to deter her a bit? Stop at each one, with her on lead, tell her "sit", and reward her for not paying attention to the poo pile near her. If she goes for it, give the lead a tug, say "no", and then tell her to sit.

If you do that a few times at the park it might help her to understand that attention to poo is bad, but ignoring poo is good. And this way, doing it BEFORE you let her off lead, lets you stay in control and not end up chasing her all over the park.

[Rustyh]

I watched an episode of the dog whisperer one time and he said the problem is always with her diet and lacking calcium in her diet. he gave the problem dog bananas and she soon stopped eating the pooh. Maybe giving her bananas on a regular basis would solve the problem.