Help with training Puppy to not search & eat unwanted things

[Julia D]

I am a proud mother of a 8 week old goldendoodle. We just got her on Friday. We have a large yard and supervise our new puppy. We have lots of feral cats in the neighborhood and until a couple of days ago I had no idea that they were pooping in our yard. Our new doodle is finding & digging up these goodies like crazy. I have to pull it out of her mouth. Any ideas on where to start with stopping this disgusting habit? I haven't had a puppy in 11 years and my old dog has never had any interest in this. I was thinking of filling a empty can with some pennies to try and rattle it as a way of stopping the behavior- I vaguely remember doing something with a can with my beagle pup years back. I am up for suggestions. I can't find the goodies the way she can and it is super gross. Thanks for your help

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Two important commands puppies can/ must learn are: " leave it" and " drop it". Your pup is young, but not too young to start learning now,
As for your backyard, keeping her leashed for now is a good idea. Sooooo many things, harmful to a pup out there!
When she grabs a treasure , any treasure, and there will be loads of them, tell her to " leave it". And pull her away from it. In order to teach her, you must have control over her, re the leash.
Time and patience! ;)

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Congratulations on your new puppy! I would definitely keep her on a leash for now to establish when she's doing the right thing, that way you can reward her as soon as she does her business. ( and keep her from poo)

I'd concentrate on training to pee outside for now. I'm not sure about keeping her from the poo later ;-)

[Sherri Mazursky]

Sounds like you need to do a huge clean up in your back yard before you let you pup back to play. Good luck.

[Deb's Yarrow and Schatzi]

The leash will be your only salvation. I've researched this because I have two cats and a 19 week old bernedoodle.  Actually, my 'first born in the litter' little darling started out (at 8 wks) thinking she needed to clean up her own poo the way her mother did.  I had to stand beside her and be quick as lightening to pick up before she could turn around.  Apparently this is a very common puppy behavior.  She's outgrown that. 

But, Yarrow started finding cat poo, which apparently is like candy to dogs.  Here's what I did initially: With Yarrow on leash, I let her find the treasures as only she could with her superior sense of smell.  Then I'd stand on the leash and, with a gardening tool, dig up the poo and tie it up in a doggie poop bag.  We've only lived here for a few months and I believe some of what she was finding was fossilized. I never knew that cats can bury their business so deep!  I also started going out ahead of Yarrow and searching for fresh telltale mounds of earth. 

We have two cats and three cat boxes which are kept very clean, so there's no reason for our cats to go outside.  Also, we've had a remarkable fence built that should keep cats out.  It's actually a deer-proof fence, but cats would be challenged to get in also.  I have to be vigilant to keep the cats from accessing the dog door which I lock up when the dogs are sleeping.

This neighborhood is moose habitat and dogs also love the moose bon-bons.  I am happy to say that I am having success with teaching Yarrow to LEAVE IT.  Now, she finds the moose droppings (which look like big rabbit turds) and stands over it looking at me and waiting for my "Leave it!  YES! GOOD GIRL!"...  and then she gets real cheddar cheese which she prefers over moose poo.  Yay.  Hopefully something here was helpful to you.

[Julia D]

Thanks everyone I will leave it. The vet calls cat poop "Almond Roca for dogs". LOL. I will try the leash paired with the leave it command. I had no idea there were so many buried treasures back there.