Quote: Yuko Blum

Hehe, good luck Amber... it'll be a miracle of your efforts and skills if that pup of yours grows up in one piece

No joke. He doesn't even chase sticks...no interest. But leave him alone with a log in sight and he's gnawing away at it. Tiny pieces, big pieces. Something he likes about the texture or taste.

Anyway, I'll keep an eye out. It's amazing puppies live long enough to reach adulthood.

wow, sounds exactly like my dogs. we have an open fireplace, and when i stack wood up in crates for burning, the dogs think it's their toybox. with verbal corrections i've gotten them to leave it alone, they understand that the wood is mine... but they'll chew it up if they think they can get away with it.

they originally picked up the "habit" because our first winter in indiana, i had a few pieces of logs in the car just in case i needed to drop 'em under the wheel for traction (a trick i used to use stuck in the mud, figure it'd work in snow, never put it in practice). i left the dogs in the car while having one of those grocerystore carside "chats", longer than i should have, and they took it out on the logs. better than the logs than my seats i guess.

for the most part though my dogs leave wood alone, and i don't think they necessarily eat it, as opposed to just chewing it - i find lots of slobbery, gooey wood shavings everywhere. i'd definitely be interested in hearing why we're supposed to do a better job of keeping our dogs away from it

p.s. and no i wouldn't put creosote on logs i was going to burn. best case scenario it all burns and doesn't stick to the chimney, but i wouldn't dare to expect that.

I suppose that wood and sticks are nature's chew toys and what else would wild dogs have to chew when teething? That would explain why the habit is so pervasive.

At least he doesn't eat rocks. Metal and brick, yes. But rocks, no.

The stick eating scares the heck out of me. Lear likes sticks too, since there are none around he would raid a particular bush and break off pieces of the stalk to chew on. I finally got rid of the bush (it was way too damaged) cause keeping him out of it became a part time job when we were outside. Yet he finds small stray sticks even though I can't see them. The other day I was picking up his poo with a grocery store plastic bag and felt something hard and sharp, upon inspection (ewwww) saw it was about 3 inches long, extremely thin, sharp and pointed stick. I honestly don't know how it was passed without harming him.

It's not the first time I've seen a stick in the aftermath, so I figure they do not get digested and that's the scary part.

Rocks, I think he's eaten a couple of small ones but not sure cause when I tell him to drop it, sometimes he spits it out, sometimes he does the swallowing action and I can't find it. So that scares me too cause it's almost impossible to find or see in the poo.

Well, wood is fiber, so I guess in *small* amounts it does the job lettuce does for us.

My dog doesn't seem to want sticks, per se, and the wood my be the ONLY thing my pup chews! Still, I take it away from him, of course. But I'm feeling a lot better about all of this just from the sheer number of people with the same problem, and not too many bad problems with it. Maybe it's like rawhide...okay if the dog eats tiny amounts and chews it well, but not the best chew toy choice.

 Quote: sandy moore

It's not the first time I've seen a stick in the aftermath, so I figure they do not get digested and that's the scary part.

The "aftermath?" Sandy, you crack me up!!

Funny you should post this, my 11 month old does the same thing. Lots of trees and pine cones in the yard so next to impossible to keep them all picked up. He used to just tear them apart, but any more he is eating some of them.

But yesterday was a day out of the he%%, started out with our early morning walk, I always give him a chance to smell around at certain areas of the grass along the road and before I could do anything he grabbed up some glass from a broken bottle. Two hard pops and he finally spit it out, hopefully he didn't swallow any, I really don't know for sure.

Later that same day my husband dropped a smooth round bolt in the kitchen and before he could see where it landed, Buddy pounced on it and managed to swallow it. So far he seems to be okay but the glass really has be worried.

Have not had any luck with the "leave it" or "drop it" commands, sometimes he'll trade for food, but not always. He clamps his mouth shut and no way will he open unless he is wearing a prong with leash attached. I have purchased an e-collor and in the process of conditioning him to wear it, with the hopes that this will help in some of his training steps. Any thought out there, I'm all ears

Amber, love the picture of your pup - so cute

Peggy

 Quote: amber morgan

Well, wood is fiber, so I guess in *small* amounts it does the job lettuce does for us.

My dog doesn't seem to want sticks, per se, and the wood my be the ONLY thing my pup chews! Still, I take it away from him, of course. But I'm feeling a lot better about all of this just from the sheer number of people with the same problem, and not too many bad problems with it. Maybe it's like rawhide...okay if the dog eats tiny amounts and chews it well, but not the best chew toy choice.

 Quote: sandy moore

It's not the first time I've seen a stick in the aftermath, so I figure they do not get digested and that's the scary part.

The "aftermath?" Sandy, you crack me up!!

 Quote: peggybayer

....Have not had any luck with the "leave it" or "drop it" commands, sometimes he'll trade for food, but not always. He clamps his mouth shut and no way will he open unless he is wearing a prong with leash attached. I have purchased an e-collor and in the process of conditioning him to wear it, with the hopes that this will help in some of his training steps. Any thought out there, I'm all ears

Amber, love the picture of your pup - so cute

Peggy

Nuts and bolts, sticks and wood, glass (??? AH), metal, dirt, buildings, and poop. Wish dogs would TRULY understand the words "knock it off already!".

The drop it and leave it commands - my pup and I are still working on both of those. Here's our progress to date (all 4 of the following apply, depending on his mood): I say "drop it", he says either
1) YES MAM!
2) oh, um, well, um, OK
3) NO WAY JAY!!!
4) You want me to drop this, (swallows), thing? Oh, oops (mwahahahaha)

I love pups, they're such a work in process.

 Quote: peggybayer

But yesterday was a day out of the he%%, started out with our early morning walk, I always give him a chance to smell around at certain areas of the grass along the road and before I could do anything he grabbed up some glass from a broken bottle. Two hard pops and he finally spit it out, hopefully he didn't swallow any, I really don't know for sure.

Later that same day my husband dropped a smooth round bolt in the kitchen and before he could see where it landed, Buddy pounced on it and managed to swallow it. So far he seems to be okay but the glass really has be worried.
Peggy

I understand why you're worried about the glass! Have you called the vet?

This is certainly why "drop it" or "leave it" is so important for a dog to do. So far with Carbon, "drop it" means that he'll allow me to take it from him...not that he'll actually drop it. Maybe he'll get the dropping part around 16 weeks!

Peggy, since this is especially important for your dog, may I suggest doing extra training on this and using a REALLY REALLY good treat for the training. Something your dog loves more than life? And until he gets it, I would ONLY use that treat for this command.

Good luck, I hope everything comes out okay. So to speak!

After yesterday, will certainly continue to do more work on him dropping things. Since he really targets anything dropped by accident, that would be a good place to start. I just need to figure out what food he really-really likes.

I didn't call the vet, really didn't think she could do anything right now unless he has shows any signs of problems. In the mean time my husband is retired so he's home with him during the day and can keep a close eye on him. I would think the bolt should pass within a few days, if not it's off to the vet we go.