How to stop a dog from picking up food and other nasty things on the street

Dogs often grab garbage in their mouths and try to eat the scraps they find. They can significantly harm the dog's health. Therefore, pet owners are trying to figure out how to stop their dog from picking up food on the street. The problem is significantly complicated in cities, where sanitary services and local enthusiasts are involved in controlling the number of stray animals. There may be poisoned and toxic pieces of food on the street, and in this case the urgent question is how to wean a dog from picking up everything on the street.

Causes of bad habit

In addition to their innate instinct to search for food, dogs have curiosity. In order to wean your dog from picking up food on the street, you need to understand the motivation for this behavior.

Do you scold your dog for picking up everything?

Yes

96.7%

3.3%

Reasons that force a pet to pick up food from the ground:

Hunger. An animal that does not get enough calories from its diet will look for additional food while walking. An unbalanced diet makes the dog feel hungry and sniff everything in search of food. An adult animal or a puppy that does not have enough food will pick up scraps and bones on the street, regardless of their freshness and appearance. They are not deterred by bad smells, dirt or mold.
Avitaminosis. Regardless of the amount of food, a dog may seek additional nutrition outside when it is lacking any vitamin or mineral. Animals are not able to determine what the body lacks, and they pick up all sorts of rubbish in the hope of satisfying this need. The lack of nutrients is expressed in eating sand, stones, wood, and plants. Pets often eat fresh grass to naturally cleanse their intestines. It is better to satisfy your pet's need for coarse fibers by adding them to the diet. This will avoid having to eat dirty plants outside. Vitamin deficiency can also occur during pregnancy in bitches.
Coprophagia. Eating decomposed food and feces, including your own, may be caused by a mental disorder. It does not occur too often, but it also cannot be excluded. When diagnosing such a disorder, you need to carefully monitor the animal’s behavior, and in especially severe cases, walk the dog in a muzzle. If coprophagia is associated with anxiety or stress, then the symptoms can be eliminated using medications.
Teething. Teething puppies may pick up hard objects to stimulate teething.
Parasites. Malnutrition is also caused by helminthic infestation in the intestines.

It is quite natural for animals to explore their surroundings through their sense of taste. The danger is that the dog can get poisoned or damage the intestines.

Don't be cruel

You should not intimidate a dog, much less hit it. Such actions of yours will only scare away the animal, which will lead to many problems. In some cases, pets refuse to listen to their owners and do exactly what they are forbidden to do. Remember that the animal does not understand why you are punishing it, so any aggression towards it will not bring any effect.

The key to success in dog training is systematicity. Follow the tips regularly every time you walk with your animal. Remember that you should not immediately quit what you started and pay maximum attention to your dog at such moments. Often such training takes a minimum of four weeks, and in some cases the process of training an animal can take up to three months. Be patient and start training immediately, then you can help your animal.

Re-education methods

There are not many basic methods that help stop a dog from picking up food from the ground. The most effective of them:

Use simple ban commands. Every attempt to eat something from the floor or pick up an object must be accompanied by the words “ugh” or “impossible.” The main condition is well-practised execution of commands.
Application of punishments. It is possible to wean a dog from unhealthy eating behavior using this method only after 3 months of age. In this case, punishment for eating food from the floor should be accompanied by prohibition commands. It is acceptable to use palm slaps on the croup or throwing a ball. The puppy should feel discomfort and dissatisfaction from the owner rather than physical pain when trying to eat everything on the street.
Correcting the behavior of an animal at home. When performing this skill, an important condition is the absence of concessions. Even if the dog is given food by hand, if it accidentally falls on the floor, it is prohibited to pick it up. You need to throw away the piece or exchange it for a new one.
Limiting the dog's movements with a leash. Restraining an omnivorous pet walking around in its gear will prevent it from eating garbage.
Eating on command. A young puppy must be taught this skill from childhood. To do this, the baby is prohibited from approaching the bowl for a few seconds and is allowed to eat after the words “eat” or “maybe.” By gradually making the training more difficult, it is not difficult to get the dog into the habit of eating only after the owner’s permission.

It is not enough to simply take away food found on the street; you need to completely re-educate your pet.

It is worth taking your dog out for a walk only on a leash in order to be able to limit its actions. A halter is also effective, as it allows you to control the movements of the dog’s head.

Aids

Auxiliary equipment includes the ammunition already mentioned above. At first, the use of a leash and muzzle is a must, especially within the city. If your pet likes to pull and you are afraid of injuring it, replace the leash with a halti or halter.

Another useful tool is a dog whistle. It helps in forming the desired reaction without uttering an order. In this case, the animal reacts to a stimulus (whistle) and subsequent coercion (pulling the leash when executing the command “Near”).

Practicing the commands “fu”, “no”

Teaching general commands will greatly help in correcting dog behavior. The simplest of them, which will wean your pet from picking up leftovers, are “ugh” or “no”. You should start training your puppy from a very early age, so that later he does not pick up carrion, bones and garbage on the street.

For classes you will need a handful of the animal’s usual treats and the same amount of cookies. The command is tested using the following technology:

Cookies that are unusual for the pet are thrown on the ground.
When the dog reaches for the confectionery product, they press it with their foot and give the command “fu” or “no”.
If the puppy looks up, he is given his favorite treat.
Repeat the exercise every time you go outside, changing the place and time.

When walking on a leash, if the dog reaches for food, it must be pulled back, and the garbage must be kicked or crushed, accompanying these movements with the command “no”.

This simple exercise, if performed regularly, will help quickly wean your dog from picking up all sorts of nasty things on the street. In addition, the puppy will learn obedience, which will prepare him for further training.

Correct punishment

Do not forget that only an adult dog or a puppy older than 3 months is punished. A child under this age cannot correlate the measures taken against him with the offense. He simply will not understand why he is being punished. This method only works on adult dogs if action is taken immediately after the offense.

Suitable punishment for a puppy over 3 months and an adult animal:

expression of obvious dissatisfaction;
detached style of behavior;
lack of affection;
ignoring.

To wean your dog from picking up all sorts of nasty things on the street, it is better to use a combined punishment:

If an animal sniffs something diligently and tries to take it into its mouth, it must be sharply commanded “fu” or “no.”
If there is a weak reaction or its absence, you need to strictly pull the leash.
Approach the dog and silently remove the piece from its mouth.
If the dog resists or has already eaten garbage, you need to scold the animal.
After bad behavior, play or walking should stop. The dog should be taken home and all its attempts to attract attention should be ignored.

If the method of punishment is chosen to correct behavior, it is important not to allow connivance. It is possible to wean your pet from picking up food on the street only when each attempt is followed by educational measures.

What is the danger of the habit of picking up food on the street?

A person is not always able to control what a pet takes into his mouth or eats on the street, and this can cause serious illness or death. At certain periods, dogs develop a perverted taste when they can eat or put into their mouth rotten food, poison, harmful chemicals, cigarette butts, chewing gum and other garbage. This can be fraught with poisoning, infection with worms, parasites and various diseases.

Causes of perverted taste:

pregnancy;
lack of useful minerals and trace elements in the body;
teething in puppies;
worms;
bad upbringing or habit.

Behavior correction at home

When an adult animal has the habit of eating everything, it will be difficult to wean it. However, with due diligence and a careful approach, it is quite possible to rehabilitate a pet.

It is easier to correct an animal’s behavior within the home. You need to distract your pet from the object on the floor with your voice, trying to concentrate his attention on you. It is not enough to simply give a treat in return for the found garbage, as this will provoke the prankster to look for scraps for reward.

To stop your dog from picking up trash and leftover food from the floor, you need to do proper training at home.

First lesson

To begin the exercise, the animal must be hungry. First, they show him his favorite treat. When the dog begins to fawn and beg for food, you need to wait until it calms down and sits down. Then the pet can be rewarded. This exercise is carried out until the dog itself begins to sit down at the sight of food.

Lesson two

For the second exercise, you need two types of food - human food and the animal’s favorite treat. First, regular food is placed in front of the dog, and when it approaches, the forbidden food is covered with the palm of the hand and the strict command “fu” is given. Wait until the pet calms down and sits down. After this, you can give him a treat. The exercise is done until the animal stops reacting to thrown food.

Lesson three

This exercise is similar to the second. The only difference is that the dog is kept on a leash and when he tries to grab the thrown food, he is pulled back and given the command “fu”. The correct response is always accompanied by encouragement.

Lesson four

The last exercise at home is also done on a leash. Pieces of food are laid out around the house and the animal is led past. When reacting to food, the dog is punished by pulling the leash and saying the command “fu”. If the animal is distracted from the food and returns, it is given a treat. When the pet calmly passes by the food, the exercise is continued without a leash.

Entertain your dog during walks

Do not allow the animal to be alone. It is in such cases, in order to entertain itself, that the dog may look for food and eat it. Use various games, run with your pet, walk it in places where there are many other dogs. This way, your animal will be constantly engrossed in something and will not have time to search for discarded food items.

General recommendations

It doesn’t matter which method the owner chooses when weaning an adult dog or puppy from picking up everything on the street. It is important to follow the general principles of raising the correct behavior of an animal:

Train your puppy to refuse found treats from an early age. To do this, you can force someone to throw something out of his mouth with the command “fu”.
Practice basic commands with your pet. During the walk, he must explore the world at the command “walk.” And if his attention is attracted by some object on the ground, call him with the words “come to me.”
If you want to praise your dog for following a command, you don’t need to throw the treat on the ground. “Yummy” can only be given from your hands.
Monitor the dog’s health, regularly carry out vaccinations and anthelmintic prophylaxis.
Feed your pet a balanced diet high in protein, vitamins and minerals. If the animal is well-fed, it is much easier to wean it from collecting garbage.

It will be useful to take the advice of an experienced dog handler to help correct behavior.

Why is picking dangerous?

The main danger is poisoning and subsequent death. On the street, a pet can suffer not only from spoiled food, but also from poison baits left by dog hunters. Some products are simply sniffed, so spitting them out on command is not enough. Ideally, the dog should immediately avoid questionable objects.

In case of mild intoxication, a selected piece of food may lead to vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. The first 2 symptoms are fraught with dehydration, and the second - intestinal obstruction.

Another possible danger is injury to the stomach or intestines. It is caused by sharp objects such as bones. If they enter the gastrointestinal tract, their edges can pierce vital organs.

A high probability of infection by parasites, viruses and bacteria cannot be ruled out. This problem is typical for pets that pick up feces and soil.

Prohibited and ineffective methods

Some dog owners use inappropriate methods to stop their dogs from picking up objects and scraps from the ground. Among them:

Treats with an unpleasant taste. The bait is supplied with an unpleasant taste filler so that the dog experiences negative sensations from food not from the bowl. The danger lies in the filling, which can cause an allergic reaction in the animal.
Repellers. When experiencing stress and fear, a dog may completely refuse food, especially food that is used as bait. And instead of correcting behavior, the pet will become wary and timid.
Electroshock collar. The most severe punishment, which can harm the pet and cause uncontrollable aggression, but will not get rid of the habit of picking up leftovers on the street.

All these methods will only lead to the dog eating all sorts of rubbish in secret. She will experience constant stress, be afraid of her owner and not understand the reasons for the punishment.

Correcting a pet's eating habits is possible at any age. Having put in enough effort and started training your dog, there is a chance that you will wean it from picking up anything. Constant exercise and training will help correct the dog’s behavior in the right direction.

When to contact a dog trainer

The help of a dog handler is necessary when all of the above recommendations do not work. It is also worth using if you want to get quick results.

After the meeting, the dog handler will definitely tell you how to wean your dog from eating from the ground and demonstrate basic exercises. Classes are available individual and group. For frequently distracted puppies, it is better to choose the first option.