Hello! Our 8 week old puppy has discovered the gravel paths around the house and has been trying to eat them. Unfortunately some are small and look just like his food. His toilet training has been going brilliantly but his area is near to the gravel. I'm terrified he might swallow some. Should I buy a muzzle or maybe set a pen up around his toilet area? Any suggestions gratefully received.
Hello there ,welcome to the Forum. I have dog that that loved to hunt for stones when he was a youngster...I'm more than sure he would have been in heaven if we'd had gravel paths ... With your pup being so young I would hesitate for a muzzle For this situation and would go the way of your other suggestion....securing his toilet area and then also keeping him under supervision when he is outside...you can distract him to a certain extent with toys,games and food whilst he is out exploring.My dog is 3 now and I still don't let him outside without supervision. You can use his love of the gravel to start building your 'leave it' cue with him.If he he shows interest and you can successfully distract him,praise him to the highest and reward him with something he really enjoys...I learned consistency and a food treat about my person paid off in the end x
I doubt if he swallows it. The gravel will soon lose its appeal, try not to react or he will start thinking it has value! All three of mine used to pick it up at first. Don't even think about a muzzle - pups need to explore with their mouths. We have a pen round the toilet area, but this needs training and it's hard work (well worth it imo, it saves the grass!) When the pup has weed/pood her reward is to explore the garden. We have a watering can with a weak solution of Simple Solution for swilling wees - or it would get very smelly! This is our spending pen - .
Oh puppies are a worry aren't they? Our pup loves to carry things in her mouth, and bring them inside, leaves, twigs, branches....stones etc..I am forever sweeping up after the madam! When outside pottering..(we have a lot of gravel btw..) I keep one of her favourite tuggies, as well as a bit of cheese in my pocket ready to swap with anything unsavoury she may have picked up
It is a worry when young pups pick up everything, my dog was a real horror for it as a pup. They do grow out of it though, and I think it's just one of those things that you have to do your best with. Try to distract them, and gently discourage, and most pups seem to stop it without swallowing anything that will harm them.
It's a phase but a difficult one. You do not want your pup to eat gravel, or mulch, or sticks, or poop, or toy products that are undigestible. Mine was an active foreign object forager and after a stern warning from my vet about the havoc stones can cause, and the fact his insurance hadn't kicked in yet, I took action --of the kind most here would probably frown upon but when I learned how much stomach surgery would cost me . . . he stopped eating stones.
I know exactly how you feel. Over the years my labs have eaten a succession of scary stuff - 1st prize still held by George who ate a whole dishcloth and when he (mercifully) puked it back up looked like a big bile stained sausage and took me by surprise on the kitchen floor. Current pup, Henry, is eating a hole at the moment, which by definition seems impossible - but he was eating the front door stop so it had to be removed, and he is enlarging the hole it left behind. I didn't notice for a while as he seemed to be dealing with the plaster rather like the chap in the Shawshank Redemption and getting rid of the brick dust a bit at a time, in Henry's case I found it under the font door mat.
19 week old Jessie was a horror for this. We demolished a large garage in our garden a few years back and some of the flower beds are full of rubble and small stones still, much to her delight! Turn your back for a minute and and she would be excavating some extra tasty bits of brick! 10 weeks on this has calmed down considerably! I think supervise for now, teach 'drop it' with a treats and I am sure it will get better soon.
Hi there, We had exactly the same problem. We finished renovating our garden the day before the puppy came home and we were so proud of our pea shingle edging. Tatti took an immediate liking to it and no matter what we did, she always managed to eat a couple of stones every time we went outside. At first I tried to count them in and out (not fun) but I hd to make sure none were getting stuck. We trained drop and give but just couldn't get it to work with tiny stones. If I offered chicken as a trade she would swallow what she had to make room in her mouth for the chicken so we resorted to taking it out of her mouth with our hands. After a few weeks of this we decided the pea shingle had to go so we dug it all up and replaced it with large pebbles (nothing that would fit in her mouth). I don't think it looks as good but at least she's not collecting a gut full of stones. Could that be an option? Good luck and I hope you are enjoying your lovely pup
For all of you who say your pup eventually grew out of this behavior, please tell me at what age. Birdie has been an absolute horror with this issue since day one. She knows "leave it" and "drop it" and will do so on cue if I have a treat to swap, but I can never ever take my eye off her for a single second. She finds every little thing often before I can even finish the phrase "leave it". Birdie just turned one year old and showing no signs of growing out of it. My vet said there is no physical issue and her diet is excellent. It's all in that stubborn little head of hers. (Or I should rather say mouth!) So please, what age should Whiskeypup and I expect to see our dogs grow out of this? I know this will most likely vary, but anything for reference is appreciated.
So I have been up since half four again as Henry is continuing his hole in the hall wall escape tunnel, my poor next door neighbour must think I've got mutant rats. George was at the foot of the stairs with his 'house rules being broken' face on. It's my own fault for not putting something in front of the hole last night. Chew stopping products I have found to be of limited assistance so physical barrier is the way forward I feel. I must now stop waiting for 'future Lynne' to fix it and let 'today Lynne' take polyfilla related action. Anyway just needed to share this as I know it will stop - Harry ( black lab 1990-2002 ) ate a a small chunk of the skirting board as a pup and although I was crabby about it at the time now when I look at it I just remember how much I loved him and what a fabulous dog he was. Just going to make my 5th cup of tea ...........
@CatThief it's possible that your trained cue to drop or leave it isn't trained if Birdie will only do it for a treat. It sounds as if in her furry brain she thinks she is being rewarded for picking up items. That's the problem with furry brains - they haven't necessarily learnt what we think we have trained @AlphaDog the problem with using aversive or punishing methods to train a dog is that you don't always solve the 'problem'. Dogs learn on a good or bad things happen when they do something so if they associate you with the something bad happening they can just learn not to do that behaviour when you're around.
@MaccieD Yes you have an excellent point about that. I have indeed faded the treats so she never knows when she'll get one or not get one. She will obey either way, and I do praise her verbally when she does. I'm still hoping all of you can tell me when your pups grew out of this. I realize the age would vary by individual, but I am still eager to know.
Mine never ate gravel, probably because there was no gravel to eat (!) but Willow used to eat the plants in the garden when she was a puppy. They died off over the winter and by the time they grew again last summer, she wasn't interested anymore. She preferred to dig in the pots, instead. Maybe this summer, she'll have grown out of that, too!!
