Were having the same issue with Remi (he’s about 3.5 months now). A trip to the backyard (decent size but not acres) is exhausting trying to keep him away from mulch, sticks, rocks, etc. if I’m not telling him to leave it (which isn’t always successful) I’m pulling gravel or rocks from his mouth. We’d like to let him have the run of the yard soon (working on getting the rest of the fence built) or at least a small area on a lead while we’re out doing yard work but he can’t be trusted more than a few feet away. We’re seriaouly considering a muzzle just to use in the yard because we’re at a loss on what else to do to keep him safe and allow him a bit of exercise now that it’s finally nice out.
Yes we are feeling really quite sad and defeated by it. It's EVERYTHING. We can't be next to him constantly- at the very least he won't poo if he has someone next to him and gets distressed! He needs to play fetch and lie and relax etc. But it is every 2 seconds that he has something in his mouth. And telling him to leave it ir tdying to distract him does not always work because he gets increasingly angry at us. Then starts biting at us, growling and takes off with the garfen zoomies. I'm so down about it. We are trying every day to clear more and more safe spaces but the birds and wind bring things into the garden. Our neighbours have a big birch tree with mistletoe in it and the mistletoe berries drop. Which are apparently deadly poisonous for dogs. I'm so sad and stressed, my dog and family can't even go outside into our own garden any more. The vet told us to leave the cherry tree but we are 90% sure we are going to chop it down. That makes me sad too.
Are you sure he’s swallowing it? Puppies are just like babies, only more so - they explore everything with their mouths. So long as they are not swallowing it you don’t need to worry. If you keep stopping them exploring it becomes ‘forbidden fruit’. Teach a good strong ‘drop it’ (this takes time). Don’t take things out of their mouth - this can encourage them to swallow it to ‘keep’ it. Have a very high value treat to hand in case they pick up something dangerous, so that you can swap. But sweep the garden, like you do the house, to be sure all harmful things are out of reach. Use fences if needed. I use a fence so that my pups are only ever in the garden when I can watch them closely.
Holly had a brief period of extreme gardening as a puppy. Everything had to be dug up, eaten or carried around as a trophy. She outgrew most of her habits with a bit of encouragement, though she still like to chew the occasional stick and snatch a mouthful of earth (but only from plant pots). We took her into the garden on a lead and that seemed to help.
The first year we had Sky who is now 11 years old, I came home from work and DH greeted me with the news that Sky had dug up a lot of plants. Well, I went in the garden and burst into tears - the garden was a mess and she had dug holes in the lawn too. She is my first dog so I just assumed it was her fault. However, now having gone through the crazy puppy months last year, I know it’s cos he let her out and probably forgot about her (he works from home). This time round with Red the puppy, I am with her the whole time she's in the garden. Last year, she had everything in her mouth and I found it very stressful - to be honest, I was happier when the weather wasn’t good and we had to stay in - which is terrible really. The reason I’m saying all this is because puppies do need supervising and it’s tough but it does get easier. This year, she is a lot more curious but not putting stuff in her mouth (although I am fairly vigilant), so it’s more relaxed. I expect each year to get easier because eventually with Sky we could spend many happy hours in the garden and now she just loves to lie on the grass when it’s warm.
Our neighbours have a huge (30 foot) and beautiful cherry tree near our fence and I’ve never done anything about clearing up leaves or even fruit. O f course you want your puppy to be safe but I do think perhaps they mouth / chew things but don’t necessarily swallow everything. If you really can’t relax outside, why not make or buy a small pen for your puppy. After all by this time next year he’ll have grown out of it, so it’s only temporary.
So just a note for others who were going through the same or similar problems.... We started a few days ago with hiding food (kibble) around the garden. Randomly in the grass, around the edges, on stones, beside large rocks, in around the furniture, and so on. I'd say about 20 pieces? He goes outside now, and spends all of his time sniffing around for food Not bothered a pile of soil, a plant, a cherry stem or the cedar hedge ever since I don't put them out there for every time he goes out, but I do try to hide a handful every day. When he has found them all, he still spends another 15 minutes sniffing around for more. Has not bothered to get into trouble at all. It is harder now to engage him to play outside (he has never been one for fetch, prefers tug), but he is very happily occupied and not getting into trouble or stressing us out. Which is important for me, to keep the garden stress free!
Bingo! Thanks for sharing this, I know a lot of puppy owners come on and ask about their puppy picking all sorts up. I'm sure this will be very helpful.
Will try this myself!. Our 10 week old has eaten a a few bits of small gravel (10mm), is it something I should be worried about or will it pass straight through?.
I wondered that as well. Our 9 week old keeps eating the odd piece of pea gravel from a strip next to our patio. We've tried spraying it with a 2/3 and 1/3 mix of cider vinegar and white vinegar. So far she dislikes the smell.
Honey's 12 weeks now and she's not nearly as bad with the gravel, she picks a few leaves up and still eats grass occasionally but it hasn't done her any harm. She's moved onto shoes and gardening gloves plus eating the rug we put down for her in the living room now!.
What a brilliant idea, I am so going to try it. Max is now 3½ months old. He loves chewing most things he comes across outside. He has dug up a few plants and found a sea shell that he absolutely loved chewing on. I took it away as I am worried about his teeth. Problem is I'm not always sure what is ok to chew and what not. He killed a baby tortoise which upset me so much and I could see that he just did not understand although I really tried to make him see how sad I was. We live on a large property and the tortoises are wild so I don't really know how many there are. We have up to now removed 7 and Max found another one yesterday, but luckily we could intervene. There is a heap of chicken manure which he loves scratching and sniffing but I haven't noticed him eating any of it. He does, however, eat the cat's poo and I think he ate what must be frog poo. He likes chewing on hard things like little stones, the cement floor and the walls - could it be that he is lacking something? I always stop him but think if I did not, he would chomp holes into the walls. His poor teeth!! PS: Max has many toys.
Our 3 month old chews big stones/ rocks etc. I think they are teething at this age?. We give her her rope toy/ chew toy bones etc when we catch her with a stone etc.. Hard work through you need eyes like a hawk!.
