Picking up stones

Hi

My 9.5 week old puppy has developed a habit of picking up stones and I am concerned that he may one day swallow one. Any tips for breaking him of the habit or will he just grow out of it eventually?

Thanks

 

Mine was a demon for this! We developed a strong drop command with treat every time he dropped. He went through a phase of picking things up just so I would say drop and give him a treat! He has completely stopped picking up stones now, think he stopped around 4 months!
Sam and Mole

 

My spaniel grew out of it but while he was getting there I watched him like a hawk!

 

Maisie grew out of it too! Swapping for a treat in the early days worked.

 

yes, sticks, stones, and all things unnatural a puppy will want in its mouth. Expect the urge to digest the undigestible to continue for 2-3 months. Stomach surgery is expensive. Deter, distract, deny and a good strong command is the word "no".

 

Or, alternatively, a even better good strong cue is a positively trained 'leave it' or attention getting noise.

http://totallydogtraining.com/dog-training-using-the-word-no/

 

My boy does the same - so we watch him like a hawk and when he does pick up something we don't want offer him a treat we started with as the stone falls from his mouth (or stick or some gross dead rotting animal ) say "drop" and then give him the treat. We are now moving on to the drop command and waiting for him to drop it before giving the treat.

My OH thinks he will learn to pick up things just to get a treat but until he is a little older and understands the drop command I am happy to carry on with this.

 

Labradors have been bred to pick stuff up, carry it, and give it to a human. The last bit, giving it to a human often needs more encouragement than the picking it up and carrying it (unfortunately).

My dog did just grow out of the picking up every last stick, stone and leaf, as an older dog he quickly found more interesting ways to cause chaos than that.

Giving a treat for 'give' certainly encouraged my dog to pick stuff up and give it to me, but since he was going to pick stuff up anyway it's certainly the best route. You do end up with a dog that picks stuff up but so long as he then hands it over, that's fine (unless, as in my case once, it is a dead rat.....).