Pup eats EVERYTHING..

[Sanna]

So here's another one for you clever people- I searched around the forum but couldn't find much on this so thought I'd start a new thread. My question this time is how concerned should I be that my pup eats anything and everything he can find (apart from poo, thank goodness!)
He's obviously young and exploring the world, in addition to being super mouthy in general; we are working hard on swap and leave it but that's of course gonna take time to be effective. In the meantime, how worried should I be when he gets hold of something inedible and chomps it down?
Plastic wrappers, bits of fabric, empty crisp packets, bits of paper, cigarette packets- you name it, he'll eat it.. I really try very hard to prevent but puppies are QUICK Also he'll eat big chunks of wood of he gets hold of a stick..
Most of this comes out in his poo, it's always firm but he seems to have problems sometimes getting it out.. Or goes several times in a row. Or, if he's eaten something stringy, sometimes it's half out/ half in if you know what I mean And it can be a bit slimey at times (sorry )

You hear so many horror stories of dogs having surgeries because they've eaten something that's got stuck. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it a bit and also realise chicken is much better than tin foil so it's not necessary to pick EVERYTHING up and swallow it, but for now- should I be worried, or are dogs better equipped to handle indigestible stuff than we think?

[Nettle]

One of the many great things about puppies is the way they improve our forward-thinking and reaction time

No, he should not be allowed to eat these things. It's lucky that he has survived so far without giving you a scary experience and a big vet bill, but just as tiny children want to put everything in their mouths and we don't let them - we keep puppy away from such hazards. Remember that if a puppy can, it will, and if it can't, it still might!

At the same time, we give safe and pleasant items to chew, because all puppies have a huge need to chew. Things like deer antler, raw meaty bones (never cooked pet shop bones or rawhide chews) cardboard boxes without staples in, big raw vegetables. Even a pac-man type puppy only has so much chew in it.

They do grow out of it, but not for the first 18 months - 2 years, unless labradors, in which case they never seem to!

[horseluver65]

Is he by any chance a lab? They're notorious for chewing. When mine was a younger puppy she managed to swallow almost an entire leash and to chew the rubber off the bottom of her dishes and swallow it. My vet recommended feeding her 1-2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide when she swallows something to make her throw it back up since it isn't good for foreign objects to be allowed to pass through the digestive system. However if he swallows string or any other questionable object I would call your vet before having him throw it back up as there are some objects that it isn't good to have him throw up. Finally, I would puppy proof his environment better and watch him every second he isn't crated. Also you could teach him the leave it command as well as other basic obedience commands so that you have time to intervene if be does spy a tasty looking object. Puppies are never too young to start learning. I started training mine at 8 weeks and now her obedience is solid wherever we go. The key is just to keep sessions short and fun when they're young.

[Ari_RR]

If for some reason you can't keep all those items hidden... And some folks can't, their feeling is that putting all those things away would somehow decrease the quality of life at home.. So, if you are one of those folks - then compromise! Just keep the mess to one area of the house, kitchen for example, have a rule of "no dogs in the kitchen", put up self-closing barriers around the kitchen to enforce the rule, and this should help you keeping your puppy safe.

Good luck!

[Sanna]

Hey all and thanks, sorry I wasn't clear- not a problem in the house and garden, we've hidden everything he could get to (apart from the walls ). Our house has never been this tidy, who knew all we needed was a puppy haha.. So it's mainly out on walks, people around here seem not to have caught on to the concept of waste baskets and its not so much chewing as EATING- gulp and its gone!

He's not a lab (surprisingly..), he's a rottweiler/ old tyme bulldog cross

I'll get some hydrogen peroxide in case of an emergency- thank you! we are working on leave it every day and he is slowly improving- today on his walk he actually 'left it' twice and got a massive chicken bonus . And above all I will work on developing lightning fast reflexes
Like you say, it is my responsibility that he doesn't get to eat harmful things. He's so damn FAST with small objects tho!
Funnily enough he's not at all interested in the trash can in the house.

[Sanna]

Oh my, I just re-read my initial post and realised it kinda sounds like we let him run riot and eat various stuff constantly, and that he poops out an array of questionable items on a daily basis
I just wanna clarify that's not what I meant at all, they were examples of incidents that have happened but rarely (maybe 4 times in 2 months with the poo) and items that he would really LIKE to eat but I have generally been able to prevent him. I'm so sorry I made us sound completely irresponsible

[JudyN]

Don't worry Sanna, I for one didn't take it like that at all! I often meet people on walks (mainly with labs) who have had to muzzle their dogs because they can't stop them eating everything they find lying around, and I know I'd be in just the same position if Jasper wasn't muzzled, and if he didn't tend to spit out inedibles after a good chew (though a few plastic bags have made their way through his digestive system ).

You can teach a default leave (check out the 'It's Yer Choice' video in the useful threads sticky), though most dogs recognise the difference between something you've planted for training purposes and are ready to stop them getting, and those other ones that they always spot before you.

[ScarletSci]

I just want to add that there is a good chance that puppy might well grow out of that habit to an extent. My Springer/Cocker cross was terrible for grabbing objects like that when out on walks, things like stones! And any litter that was around was like a magnet for him. Luckily we didn't have any scary experiences where he swallowed anything too hazardous (he's fast, but I was more determined!) and he was so drawn to rubbish that the first commands he learned were "drop it" and "leave it"! It took a lot of work, and a lot of looking ahead for potential trouble, but it paid off so well that I'd pretty much forgotten how bad it used to be until I read this post and it reminded me!

It also becomes second nature to scan for items that might tempt them. Jack is great now and doesn't go for inedible objects as much (at least not to swallow them, only to investigate) but will still go for bread that's been left out for birds, or tissues (his favourite!). The three commands that I use regularly and made sure he was rock solid on are "leave it" "drop" and "come". With those three, now that he's older, I rarely have to worry about litter even when he's off lead.

One rider to that, and one I want people to spread the word about and take up as my new personal cause is drink cans. Last week I took Jack to the local park and his ball went missing. He was happily running around, when he suddenly grabbed an empty beer can from the hedge. He was already hyped up and excited and he shredded it in seconds, before I could even get out a command. He dropped it when told, and I picked it up and binned it, but it was in ribbons of very thin, very sharp metal. Luckily, we got away with it, but I was on my knees in the park examining his mouth with my heart in my throat. I feel cold and sick just thinking what that could have done to his gums.

So I'm asking fellow dog walkers to pick up and dispose of any cans that they see! I know that there's loads of rubbish in some places, and we can't pick up all of it, and that most of it is hazardous to a dog... but now when I picture another dog doing what mine did, I can't walk past a tin can that's on the floor.

[Sanna]

Don't worry Sanna, I for one didn't take it like that at all! I often meet people on walks (mainly with labs) who have had to muzzle their dogs because they can't stop them eating everything they find lying around, and I know I'd be in just the same position if Jasper wasn't muzzled, and if he didn't tend to spit out inedibles after a good chew (though a few plastic bags have made their way through his digestive system ).

You can teach a default leave (check out the 'It's Yer Choice' video in the useful threads sticky), though most dogs recognise the difference between something you've planted for training purposes and are ready to stop them getting, and those other ones that they always spot before you.

Yeah we meet dogs like that too, I actually did consider a muzzle but he's so young I really want him to have the time to explore and learn that these things aren't that great anyway, rather than get frustrated that he can't check them out. If it continues to be a huge issue then I'll have to reconsider but for now I just have to be even more vigilant!
Thankfully in the past few days he's actually left a few things that he's already tried before, like empty crisp packets- hopefully he's decided they were no fun so no need to pick them up
We're working hard on leave it, and he seems to think swapping is rather great so that's pretty cool And on the odd occasion that I actually spot something before him it's a great opportunity to practice recall

One of the many great things about puppies is the way they improve our forward-thinking and reaction time

No, he should not be allowed to eat these things. It's lucky that he has survived so far without giving you a scary experience and a big vet bill. Remember that if a puppy can, it will, and if it can't, it still might!

Yes you're right, thanks for getting the point across

I just want to add that there is a good chance that puppy might well grow out of that habit to an extent. My Springer/Cocker cross was terrible for grabbing objects like that when out on walks, things like stones! And any litter that was around was like a magnet for him. Luckily we didn't have any scary experiences where he swallowed anything too hazardous (he's fast, but I was more determined!) and he was so drawn to rubbish that the first commands he learned were "drop it" and "leave it"! It took a lot of work, and a lot of looking ahead for potential trouble, but it paid off so well that I'd pretty much forgotten how bad it used to be until I read this post and it reminded me!

It also becomes second nature to scan for items that might tempt them. Jack is great now and doesn't go for inedible objects as much (at least not to swallow them, only to investigate) but will still go for bread that's been left out for birds, or tissues (his favourite!). The three commands that I use regularly and made sure he was rock solid on are "leave it" "drop" and "come". With those three, now that he's older, I rarely have to worry about litter even when he's off lead.

Thanks, good to know its probably just a phase and yeah beer cans are scary!