How to stop my dog's impulse to ingest non-food items?

I have an 5 yr old rescue with the impulse to ingest inappropriate things he finds - like bark mulch chips, etc. He has puked up sticks the size of my thumb and I am worried he will cause himself a lethal internal injury.

I have tried the standard "leave it" and now he just swallows faster. How can I get him to understand that this is undesirable/unacceptable behavior? He is muzzle trained so that I can permit him some off-leash time but other folks treat him like he is Hannibal Lecter. Other than his 'dietary' indiscretions, he is a wonderfully obedient boy. I walk him on a head halter so that I can, if necessary, prevent him ingesting harmful stuff. The vet has determined he has no nutritional deficiencies.

He is NOT my first rodeo. I've been a volunteer walker/trainer at the local shelter for 12 years. How can I train him out of this behavior?

Cindy's Answer

Honestly, since this is a health hazard for him I'd use the muzzle. You need to not worry about what other people think and do what's best for the dog. I really don't take other people's opinions to heart when I know I am doing the best thing for my dogs.

You can certainly work on redirecting him away from items to something of higher value during training sessions and set it up for more real world scenarios by planting things in the environment and working on it that way but with a 5 year old dog with a compulsion to ingest non-food items I would use the muzzle. In my experience a muzzle trained dog can have more freedom with less "hovering" from you and you can both enjoy his off leash time more.

I teach puppies that when I say YUCK that means I'm going to present them with a piece of steak or something they really want. I do this from the beginning and I try to do it before they actually get the item in their mouth. With good timing you'll end up with a dog that will leave what's in front of them to come to you for a snack. The problem with an adult that has a history of doing this is that they've got repetitions of being successful so I would be reluctant to let that dog off leash without a muzzle to test it.

I owned a dog that was like this from puppyhood about 25 years ago and it was incredibly stressful and expensive (emergency surgery) if he would ingest something. I had a pristine outdoor run that I swept and kept free of any sticks,acorns,leaves, etc because he would eat anything. I think that this can have a genetic component to it as well as an imbalance in the temperament of the dog. Not necessarily a nutritional thing but a compulsion to eat and swallow anything that I've seen run in families of dogs. A friend had a dog that swallowed eyeglasses, socks, sticks, wallets, coins, batteries!, paper, towels, etc.. She bred that dog and a number of the puppies grew up to do the same thing. Not a scientific study but food for thought.