Helllllp - puppy eating EVERYTHING !!

[Newbie10]

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Hi lovely dog people,

Can anyone give me any advice on how to stop a 5 month old puppy eating everything in sight when he is outside ?
He is great indoors, he doesn't chew anything other than his toys and is very good at following basic commands.

However when he has the run of the garden he runs straight for the edges of the garden that are covered in woodchip, grabs a mouthful and runs into the bushes so can't be reached. He will come when called as he gets a treat for coming, but then runs straight off again for more woodchip and back in the bushes.

As a result I have been taking him out on a lead for his wees but this is getting very tedious.

Also at the park if there is any rubbish on the grass he will go straight to it and start eating it.

A few weeks ago we awoke to a kitchen covered (10 piles) of blood filled diarrhea, presumably from something he ate as the vet couldn't find anything else wrong.

I just want to be able to let him run round the garden without eating everything !

I could remove all the woodchip but that would take hours and hours and to be honest I think he would just find something else to eat in its place

If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful

Thank you for reading

Xx

 

[Newbie10]

Oh I forgot to mention that he has just started to lose his first teeth ..... do I just need to bide my time until his new teeth are all in ? Should it then improve ?

Xx

 

[Mad Murphy]

Welcome to the world of puppies. Pups are like toddlers and they experience everything by putting it in their mouths.

Its going to be a pain but until he learns not to pick up everything you will have to make sure he stays safe, just as you would keep tabs on what a small child could get hold of.

There is no magic fix and most grow out of it. The only other thing you can do is to start muzzel training now.

 

[JudyN]

Do you know if he actually eats the woodchip? It's possible he's discovered that it's a wonderful, fun game and is doing it mainly for that reason. In that case, you might be better off just ignoring him (unless he's playing in an appropriate way). If you even go back inside the house the moment he starts on the woodchip he might come to realise that it's just not fun any more.

As for outside the house... Can you recall him every time, or does he know 'leave'? Try to make 'leave' a positive command - I find it very difficult to say it without sounding annoyed, and if this is the case for you it could be worth training a new word, and always rewarding really heavily - you want whatever he gets to be even better than the horibble stinky thing he's just discovered. As in the garden, you want to make sure that he's not doing it just to gain attention.

If those strategies don't work I'd definitely consider a muzzle, which you would hopefully only need until he's grown out of the habit. You need a safe, 'basket' type where the dog can open his mouth wide to pant - never one that holds the mouth shut. If you want to go down that line, we can give advice on muzzle training, so he accepts it and will wear it happily. (BTW, it's not foolproof when it comes to eating things like poo... think of a potato masher...

 

[Mad Murphy]

@JudyN Im sorry but I have to giggle every time you say potato masher, it brings such vivid pictures to mind...

 

[Newbie10]

Uurrgggh potato masher ... !!
I can't get the image out of my head now !!

Thank you for your advice. I was fully expecting the toddler type actions, I have 2 kids, the youngest is 3 and still likes to put things in his mouth (now, it seems, the dog toys are easy pickings for him too )
I just wasn't expecting the dog eating everything in sight !

He does come on command when I have treats, and it's generally easy to get him to drop/leave when substituting with a treat. I will try the coming indoors trick and see if that works instead, as I don't want to keep treating him for doing it

But if all else fails I will try the muzzle as it's hard to spot everything when he is off lead at the park etc

Thank you

 

[merlina]

Oh it's a spaniel! These are what are known as SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES...I've had four, each of them a dustbin on legs. I think there might be a thread on here 'what's the worst thing your dog eats?' which you might want to look back at. I'm there represented by rabbit-ear eater and probably worse. Current boy is two now and just getting to the stage of 'No-no-o-o!!' actually working. Unless it's rabbit. Old rabbit. And yes we do have the inevitable tummy upset. They do grow out of it and though I understand people muzzling them I think it may delay the learning process.

 

[Newbie10]

Oh it's a spaniel! These are what are known as SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES...I've had four, each of them a dustbin on legs. I think there might be a thread on here 'what's the worst thing your dog eats?' which you might want to look back at. I'm there represented by rabbit-ear eater and probably worse. Current boy is two now and just getting to the stage of 'No-no-o-o!!' actually working. Unless it's rabbit. Old rabbit. And yes we do have the inevitable tummy upset. They do grow out of it and though I understand people muzzling them I think it may delay the learning process.

Oh my goodness !!! I'll look forward to that then - eek ! Lol xx

 

[poptart]

I found the chewing improved when someone at the vet's mentioned a deer antler. They are really great for safe chewing, but it won't stop the problem entirely. My sixteen month old still nicks bits of bark chipping just out of sheer devilment. Spaniels are naturally inquisitive and will eat anything. One of my previous dogs used to eat any debris she found on the beach where we walked, including long dead crabs and rotting seaweed. And don't worry too much about tummy upsets, they're par for the course with puppies.