Eating Mud!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

We got our wonderful puppy, Vernors (Vern), two weeks ago. He has been
a great addition to our family.  Last week we also fenced in our yard
and thought this would be wonderful for both dogs. Fudge is giddy in
that back yard, but all Vern does is eat mud.  He runs all around
looking for sticks, moss, mud, worms, tree bark, etc. At the tennis
courts or on our walks, if he sees a worm, boom...it is in his mouth.
This is our first boy puppy and he reminds me of a little boy who loves
gross stuff. We never leave them in the yard unsupervised, but it is
very tiring pulling all of this stuff out of his mouth. We have tried
distracting him, but it is not long and he is at it again.  It is also
funny, because Fudge is so ladylike when she eats or drinks, but Vern
has water running all down his face and food going every which way. I
remember Fudge putting some things in her mouth, but nothing like this.
Does anyone have any suggestions to stop him putting everything in his
mouth? Is this just normal behavior and stop when he gets older?
Thanks!! 

[Camilla and Darwin]

All I can say is that whenever Darwin has a chance to chomp down a clump of dirt... he will. He's almost a year old, so I'm going to go ahead and hope along with you that they grow out of it... :-)

[Debbie and Thomas]

Boys will be boys!! I've got one 18 mths old and he digs and eats gross stuff all the time. He ate a worm yesterday off the pool deck...digs and puts rocks in his mouth. He is sooo sweet though...we just can't get mad at him...so we have a dirty doodle who is healthy and happy. Sounds like your inquistive little Vern is just like him and he will be a joy.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I am loving that boy personality. He is just so mellow and sweet, however, I could do without the worm and mud eating :)

[Donna K & Quincy]

Quincy ate everything in the way of dirt, sticks, leaves and grass. Not only did he eat the grass but he ate the whole sod underneath. He seems to have gotten better as he is now 14mos old. He still never misses a chance to chew a stick but he kind of leaves other things alone. Last summer we couldn't leave him in the back yard alone for a second. I haven't let him out alone this spring as there is a lot of clean up that needs to be done and we just had our fence replaced. Hopefully this summer his palate will be a little more discriminating as I love to garden and want to take him out side with me. On the bright side he had given up eating rocks.

[cheryl & oliver]

Well I don't have a solution either, Oliver loves to eat leaves, grass, etc. He also like to eat dish towels, throw pillows, underwear, paper, just about anything he can put in his mouth...He can't have a toy with stuffing, because he opens it up and eats the stuffing, so we no longer have stuffed toys here. We buy unstuffed toys...He has as dog and a wolf that are so called uns tuffed and he loves them. He will eat dirt too, and in his younger days would eat poop..Thank goodness that is over, I am hoping that he will outgrow this in his second year, lol...But he is so sweet, I just go and take what I can out of his mouth when I can, and I know that when we come in from a walk there is bound to be one leaf in that mouth...lool...

[Holly Doodle]

I don't know if I can give you much hope......Holly is almost 11 months and she still loves to eat anything outside she can get her mouth on. It was much worse as a young puppy, and teaching her to "leave it" has helped a lot for our walks. It can be frustrating though because as soon as you turn your back she has something else in her mouth, whether it's a rock or a piece of bark. We are very fortunate that she doesn't do this with things in the house :). Hopefully Vernon outgrows it though, every doodle is different!

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

For now try coating things with "Hot Sauce".... he is young enough to maybe not like the taste. Finds some sticks in your yard and coat them good, then put them on a pile and set him up so he will go there, once he gets the taste, he may not go back to doing it. Keep him on a leash a few times when he is out in the yard and carry a spray bottle with the hot sauce in it, if you see him going to eat grass or dirt give it a quick spray. If that does not work, carry a Soda/Beer can with it half full of little stones or pennies, when he goes to eat something he is not suppose to, shake it close by him so it startles him, as soon as he backs away with either method give him lots of praise and you could carry some training treats. Honey seems to have a few issues with this yet, but she is always walked on a leash so it is easy to correct her.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Guinness would eat everything he found in the yard, but because he has IBS he can't have anything....even a small twig will trigger an attack. So, we actually had to train him that he couldn't pick anything up in his mouth when he's outside. He's always on a leash, and for the first couple of months if he picked up a stick or leaf (basically anything), I made him sit, told him "drop it" and literally pulled it out of his mouth. Getting those jaws open was a trick. After doing this over and over, he eventually just gave up. I'm not sure I could trust him if he was alone outside, but now on the leash he won't go for anything. I think if it wasn't for the IBS, I really wouldn't care. If he ate a worm or chewed a stick, and it didn't make him sick, then I wouldn't have a concern. So, it is possible to train this....but I don't think I'd bother if it was just a puppy being a puppy. I'm thinking worms are a "protein source". LOL

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

That is exactly what my husband said about the worms. Yesterday, I thought I was pulling a twig off of him and it turned out to be a large worm. Gross! The funny thing is if he gets my socks or anything in the house, Fudge comes and tells on him. Yesterday, when he put something in his mouth that he shouldn't and I told him to leave it, he took off running and Fudge tackled him for me. She is my best helper. Today, my husband was calling for him and Fudge kind of pushed him towards my husband as if to say "here he is." Very funny!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

It sounds like we have a bunch of mud eating, stick eating, dirt eating, doodles. Thanks for all the advice and comments.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

A boy thing?
Starlit loves mud, grass, old leaves, and sticks. Her nose is to the ground at all times. She has been sick so not much excites her.... but a good dig would make her so happy. She gets the zoomies looking at the hole she tried to dig a few weeks ago.
I wonder if teething has to do with drooling and messy eating? Spud calmly eats lying down and enjoying his meal. Starlit walks around with cheeks of stored food dropping them all over the house and water dripping off her face.

My one son put everything in his mouth. I was on a first name basis with poison control :( Too bad we can't put a binky in each paw and one in the mouth like I did with my sons to slow down putting things into their mouths.

Outside I do carry cookies or a chew. Things she loves to mouth upon and this does distract her from the bad things most of the time.

Enjoy--it's a puppy thing we people just don't understand :)

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Joanne, How is Starlit doing? Maybe it is the teething, but Fudge was just so lady like with her eating and drinking and this little guy spreads water all over the house. You can follow his water droplets throughout the house. He is a happy guy and loves to cuddle. He just came into our bedroom from going outside with my husband and threw himself on me. When I pick him up, he burrows into my neck and puts his little paws on my shoulders. Nothing like being slime kissed at 9:30 pm at night. Now, he is off to chew the TV guide. I really do enjoy the puppy stage.