Thank you, Jo!
Ignoring me? I was thrilled at how promptly you were answering! I really really appreciate all the help I'm getting here.

Thanks, Michael!

 Quote: michael_wise

IMO, no.

I use to go by the logic, "He knows what he's doing. He's either got an upset stomach, or simply likes the grass."

Dogs can't digest the grass. Whether they eat it out of frustration or pleasure, the end result is the same. A large undigestable fibrous mass further irritating their gut.

Then I'm definitely in trouble, because she's a really motivated lawnmower. I have no idea how I can stop her from this grazing when in the yard.

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No. If you plan on using "Out" for something else later, then don't use it.

OK, thanks! That's what I thought.

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Are you going to be doing some kind of "real work" with her?

Yes. We're planning on training her in SchH.

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Do you have the Raising a Working Pup DVD?

Yes, we do. My collection of Ed's DVDs is approaching the size of a bookshelf. The problem is finding the time to re-watch them. I didn't appreciate before how much energy a puppy can suck out of you.

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I do feel comfortable saying to keep a long line on the pup. No need to yank on the leash, or pick the puppy up and shake her. Simply take the long line in your hand and lead her away from the problem for the time being. Watch her, and do your best to keep her out of stuff before she gets into it. If you cannot watch her, put her away in the crate.

That's what we do. She's always on a leash or LB 20-foot line. Every second of her life, unless she's in a crate. It's just very hard to keep her from getting stuff into her mouth in the yard. Where there's grass, sticks, gravel, mulch or pieces of shingles (we recently had our roof done), she'll be gobbling it up. And that's everywhere.

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If you see her heading to do something undesirable, get her attention and try to distract her from it. Don't wait for her to get something in her mouth. Be one step ahead. Beeeee 'da puppy.

Believe me, we're trying. But she's very hard to redirect. It looks like she already has both Drive and Focus built-in.

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You've got a pretty good idea when your dog needs to go to the bathroom. When it is time, put her on leash and walk her straight to the area where you want her to go. Mill around 'til she does her deed, and then praise the ever lovin' $#!t outta' her. "GOOD PEE!!! GOOD POOP!!!". Have a treat or 2 in your pocket for such occasions.

Hopefully the working dog folk will chime in soon if she will have a job in the future, and be a real working dog.

Yep, we do all that. I guess, we should be just a little more patient but firm and not allow her to go where she wants go. Eventually, she'll have to go, even if it's in a spot chosen by us, right?

I also had a very determined eater. It sucks, I know.

My puppy wasn't hard, and I found myself doing a lot of "grabbing puppy and opening his mouth and removing object". A leash helps 1000 percent and I know you are already doing this (if not, it would be impossible).

My guy would get something in his mouth, I would quick-pop the leash (not yank) and use my "mad voice" saying "YUCK" to let him know he was in trouble then I open his mouth and remove the object. (Somewhat surprisingly, he has no issues with me opening his mouth today (he is now 20 months)). Anyway, I then switch to "happy voice" and get his mind off of trying to re-find the object from wherever I tossed it by playing with a toy or giving a small treat. Marker training is a good diversion too.

My pup quickly learned that when I said YUCK he better spit out what was in his mouth or I was going to do it for him.

Jo's suggestions were great - go out with an army of toys and treats for now.

So to summarize: environment management (as best you can), followed by redirection when environment management fails, followed by emergency mouth extraction (haha) when the first two fail, are probably your best ways to go about it.

Thank you, Angela!
It's good to know that it's not unique and that it can be managed.
Did your pup just outgrow this with time, or do you still need to tell him "Yuck" every 2 seconds?

I've been doing the "open her mouth and remove the object" dance already, so I guess I'll just continue doing it, as well as following all other suggestions here. Oh well, nobody said this was going to be easy (at least on the owners).

Sam, congrats on the new puppy! Our GSD pup was obsessed with chewing bark in our yard from the day we brought her home. She eventually tried to make it a game because she knew we didn't want her to chew it and she would grab a piece and run if she wasn't on a leash. The only thing that worked was consistent marker training the "Yuck" command, just like Ed did in his Puppies 8 weeks to 8 months video. It took several weeks to teach, but eventually she got very good at spitting out anything she picked up in her mouth as soon as we said yuck. We also trained a separate command for "Leave it: so she wouldn't even be tempted to grab the leaf/bark/rock in the first place.

She also liked to rip grass out of the yard too. She didn't really eat it, but she loved ripping up certain spots in the yard. We finally realized that there were sprinkler heads that were buried under the grass and she could smell them, so she actually did us some good by revealing a few lost sprinkler heads. :-)

PS - She outgrew the chewing bark habit around 5 months. She still occassionally likes to chew on rocks, but that's gotten less and less now that almost all her baby teeth are gone.

LOL... to this day I can't leave my slippers anywhere on any floor. And most of my socks have mysterious puncture holes in them....

However, he's certainly improved in that he's not constantly eating every darn stick and rock he finds. He also returns the socks and slippers that he "borrows". (He actually caught a bird the other day, that is way more fun than any old rock). Your pup will outgrow this stage as she finds better things to do (like play tug or hunt for bunnies).

One day when my guy was about 7 or 8 months old I noticed when I said YUCK he spit out what he had in his mouth on his own. We had a party, if I would have had a treat on me I would definitely have marked that. So he DID eventually figure it out lol.

Hah, that's definitely music to my ears!

I was just about to post the same thing! Our pup is only 9 weeks old and very hard. I have watched 6 of Ed's videos over & over & over...I am probably more informed then most dog owners (that doesn't say much lol) but obviously a rookie in experience. I have questioned the same thing though...she loves rocks, asphalt, branches...more rocks lol...but she could be popped w/o caring too, she just keeps going back at it. The video does not mention when this correction should start?

In less then a week she is very well trained to go pee in the same spot. She is doing really good when we marker train, but is a PITA on a leash & biting all of us. We will get thru all that, but the yuck/pop was on my mind too.

 Quote: jason welikoklad

She is doing really good when we marker train,

This may hold some promise... how about trying to incorporate the marker training into the "YUCK!!" (I know how frustrating this is - Falcon's nick name was "Hoover" for Hoover vacuum cleaners - he snarfed up EVERYTHING in his reach!)

If the pup understands the marker means a treat = be ready to mark when you get her to spit out or if you grab out something from her mouth - MARK - then reward with a high value treat IMMEDIATELY. If you can show her YUCK means YEAH!!! A piece of LIVER!! (or what ever) it may not take too long to get her through this phase. It DOES pass.. I promise. (But hopefully not in the form of a rock through her intestines... LOL!)

she is doing really good with treats on the walk. Yesterday was a success.