Hi all! Our 12 week old puppy seems to be eating absolutely everything he can put in his mouth. Especially outside. He nibbles on grass, sticks, flowers and all kinds of plants, licks pavement, tries to catch and eat different bugs, digs up and eats roots, moss, soil and rocks. Also loves finding snails and bird poo. When out in the garden, he's not interested in playing or anything else apart from eating stuff off the ground. It gets really stressful with him outside as you have to always watch him and make sure he doesn't eat something poisonous or swallow something sharp. Is this a normal puppy behavior?? I read people talking about their puppies pulling on leads when out walking. Ours takes loads of effort to even leave our driveway, as he's more interested in eating the lawn than walking and exploring. We end up the ones having to pull him away (usually with treats). Does anyone have any advice? Would love to hear your thoughts.
This is very normal behaviour! Puppies are like toddlers, they explore everything with their mouth. In the garden set up a puppy play pen for him, this will then keep him in one area and will allow him to stay out of trouble. At 12 weeks you will need to be on him all of the time, would you leave your baby unattended? This is the same thing. Try a long house line for the garden and when he starts to go towards undesirable things you can stand on it and stop him and distract him with something else. For walking, he is used to the security of the house and garden. If you were the puppies size would you want to venture far from your home comforts? If he sits and is looking around this is him taking the world in and learning. It will take time as it is a big world out there. With Luna we used to try a little run/fast walk as she was focused on us and she wasn't aware of where she was, we did only do this for a couple of meters to 'break out' the comfort zone. I have often had to stand and wait on her as she sits and watches things, when out walking that is their time so let them enjoy it. Sorry it isn't much help, hopefully someone has some more tips for you!
Hello, just as Christina says , let him take it all in! My pup was the same. To be honest it’s not a bad thing , she never pulls on the lead from the house as we’ve always taken it slowly. A walk is her time to explore, there are many threads on here about young pups being hesitant on walks and Pippa assures that pups don’t really need a ‘walk’ at that age. It’s more about exploring and seeing the world. You don’t want her to eat things she shouldn’t though I agree. So you will need to work on leave it with rewards over time, though initially it will be about management . There is a thread in puppies page 2 called puppy eating plants, for a similar discussion and advise from Sarah. Hope that’s helpful for you and your little one.
