eating things

[Kristen and Bob]

We realize that Rango is a puppy and will get into things, but he has gotten obsessed with chewing rocks.  When he is in the yard, he has also managed to dig up pieces of plastic and glass!  We hate to allow only supervised outside trips, but will probably need to for his safety.  He has had 2 episodes of diarrhea, each lasting about a day, over the past week!  I think it's related to the rocks as nothing else has changed in his diet.  Any having similar issues? Any suggestions?

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I don't want to alarm you but this goes on for a long time.  My doodles are 16 months and 2 yrs old and all they do when they go outside is find something to chew or eat.  Now that fall is here they eat leaves, sticks, acorns, garden bushes, you name it they try to eat it !!!  I supervise 100% of the time because I don't want to be rushing them into surgery---arrrghhhh.  Oh I for got Oliver likes to rip up my sod and eat it then lick the dirt !!!  When they are outside together they pretty much keep each other occupied but if out alone they each have their own think they like to chew on.  I put lots of outside toys in the yard to deter this... sometimes it works sometime not.  Now this is not 100% of the time when they are outside but it seems when they are board they "look" for things to get into.  When I give them a bully stick or fresh butcher bone they concentrate on that.  I still keep a close eye on them anyway but do not stay outside.  Your since your puppy is still young he might grow out of it but my two have not.  Try giving him his fav. toy or something to distract him from the bad stuff - good luck

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Riley used to do this and now at the ripe old age of 7 months seems to have stopped so there is hope!

[Lynn & Casey]

This happened with Casey. It might take awhile because Casey is 1 and 5 months old and we still supervise her.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

Cubbie and Ollie are only out in the yard when we are out there with them.  We have a separate potty area that is fenced off that they can access at any time, but that is it.  Cubbie likes to enjoy a nice salad bar whenever he is outside in the yard...grass...leaves...flowers...any plant life ends up in his mouth and then thrown up on my carpet, so his yard time is VERY limited.  I wish I could tell you that Rango will grow out of this, but so far Cubbie hasn't and he will be three in January. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

I once had a terrier that would eat trees and bushes right down to the ground (slowly but surely) and my ALD Lyric has done this too--she is three and 1/2 now and grew out of that and also out of digging holes in the garden, but her son, who is ten months old, likes to chew on everything he finds out there too. I watch him, but he doesn't get too carried away...yet. I think that some dogs are just more into chewing and you need to find something else for them to do, as others have suggested--but it takes a while--I don't think you can leave them outside without keeping an eye on them periodically until they are 2 or so.And, as Barbara said, that may not be old enough! My third doodle, who is the oldest, never chews on anything--she saves all of her energy for real food--that is all she cares about!

[Jennifer Tramell]

9 month old Charlotte chewed the bark off of 3 young peach trees.  I knew to keep shoes, belts, children's toys, socks, trash, and numerous other tempting objects away from her, but a tree??  A tree???  Seriously?? 

 

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

We have a fencedin yard and all I do is chase Chloe around getting her out of the mulch/rocks weeds/trees etc. She likes to eat pea gravel! I hope she learned her lesson she had to poop it out last time! No unsupervised trips for us and they are almost 4 and 5 years old.

[Amy and Lily]

Lily is 10 months old and getting a little bit better.  There is hope for your doodle too!  lol

[Kathy Sharp]

My 9 month old doodle also likes to chew rocks as did my golden retriever.  I take them away as soon as I see her with them.  Yesterday I neglected to fill her kong toy before leaving for work; the cord was chewed on something (thankfully it was unplugged), sticks, leaves, etc., you name it, she's finding it to chew on. 

[Becka]

Sadie is always grabbing rocks from the yard and running around with them--I usually take a few training treats with me when we go out in the yard, because she's always willing to trade for a little piece of lamb lung (I know that there are people who disagree with the trade method but it works for us, for now). But I would never let her out in the yard unsupervised--too many things for her to get into, including Florida's infamous Bufo toads, which are highly toxic. I also share the yard with my neighbor (his apartment is attached to the house) so I always pick up Sadie's poops immediately so that neither of us ends up stepping in them.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Our Bella finds things to eat that defy the imagination! Just when I think I can let her out for 2-3 min. Unsupervised I will find another piece of something inher mouth. I think she'd tear off pieces of the house if she had enough time to get it. Unsupervised is not an option here. Good luck with the rocks tho, cuz they are everywhere and that took me months of training to stop. But I did get her to learn "Leave it" really well by 4 months. I think she thinks her name is Leaveit!

[Chloe, Finley & Mama Shelley]

Our dogs always chew on the landscape rocks as well..just play with them though..also they LOVE pine cones. They love to chew them up, and I dont know if thats good for them or not, but all 3 of my dogs do it and i havent had any problems with them yet, except they make a mess in the house if they manage to sneak one past me !