I know Labradors are greedy by nature (This is our 5th) but our 9 month old puppy constantly acts as if he is starving and will eat ANYTHING! We have already had a costly out of hours trip to the vet when he dug up and ate a gladioli bulb, he forages in the wood, eats twigs and steals anything within reach. He is fed on Royal Canin Labrador Junior, is regularly wormed and is definitely not underweight. We don't want to muzzle him but are genuinely worried that he will come to a sticky end.
He sounds pretty much like an average Labrador puppy. Many of us don't allow our puppies to be t in the garden alone to prevent them eating things, particularly plants and bulbs which can be toxic. The rest of it we teach "Leave" and "Drop/Swap", the first to prevent them picking things up and the second as an alternative when something is in the mouth. Apart from that it's diligence to try and prevent the pick up when out on walks and ensure that all items are removed from within his reach indoors. Apart from that age seems to make a difference and reduces the need for "Leave" and "Drop". All "Leave" and "Drop" are of course rewarded with a treat
Hi there, have you considered swapping to a raw food diet, which might satisfy his craving to chew and would keep him feeling full for longer?
I don't want to go down the raw diet route and will persevere on the 'leave', 'drop' and supervision path and hope he improves1 Mary
@Mary Wren he will improve, just don't expect it to be overnight. Just think of it as a victory every time he does leave something or drops when asked
It will get better it just takes time. Rory likes squeeky things so i got a squeeky ball and only let him have it when we were out. He squeeks it all the time so I know he's not eatting stuff he souldn't cos I can her the squeeks. If the squeeking stops I say "wheres your squeeky" and off he goes squeeking again. Rory had a lot of stomach problems in the first year of his life and was very ill. My vet wanted me to use a muzzle but I was worried about the behavioural aspects of this so I tried his squeeky it worked and now as he's got less interested in eatting anything and everything. I had to supervise him at all times though and he's good at the leave it and swap game. He's mature enough to leave things alone and learnt not everything goes in his mouth. If I had muzzled him I wonder if he would have learned self control as well as he has now. I had to try to give him a chance to learn and develop this but it was a lot of work. It was worth it and my walks with Rory are a lot less squeeky now. I found that replacing his obssesion for one that was safer and easier for me to control and the ween him off was a good way to go with Rory
An old chap we meet muzzles his old Lab because she is a seaweed eater and has been very ill with it. But I have to say, she appears very submissive in her muzzle, it definitely has an effect. If you have to go Down this route do massive amounts of desensitisation with him to help him be comfortable. His safety is important.
