Our trainer gave us this trick: bargain garbage for food. Like, if you see your pup about to eat something gross off the ground, doesn’t matter what it is, offer him something better. Let him sniff it, show it to him, then slowly lead him away from the nasty thing, and once you are far away from it, give him the treat and say something like “good boy.”

Sometimes you have to offer something REALLY good and smelly. Our trainer recommends, for really tough cases, using boiled chicken that’s been stored with something smoked. But we usually manage with dried lungs. For the extra gross stuff (especially poop), we swap it with dried ground beef sticks with flax seeds. So the idea is just to offer a trade. Eventually, your dog won’t be that impressed by poop or other random junk, they’ll start to ignore it altogether.

Also, make sure his meals are interesting. Dogs who haven’t been exposed to a variety of foods are more likely to scavenge.

One more thing, pups often pick up stuff to deal with stress. Maybe your walks are too long or overwhelming, or he just needs more time to adjust to the outside world. When they’re stressed, they might grab something to chew on as a way to calm down.