This guy eats literally anything he can get his hands on. He is particularly fond of rocks. How do these guys survive in the wild??? Any suggestions? Besides him being in his kennel 24/7? I kennel him a lot during the day when I am trying to get stuff done or I will allow him to play in the kitchen as long as I can see him. Still, I feel like he is in his kennel an awful lot. Ideas? Suggestions? Scoldings? lol

this is called pica, and some breeders think it is hereditary. it can also be caused by poor nutrition. what are you feeding?

be careful. i know someone who had a dog with pica and he actually ate a light bulb! keep everything out of reach.

he was switched by the breeder about 1 1/2 weeks ago to k9 raw food chubs, mixed with Royal canin for puppies. I have recently switched him to rbm's, veggies, salmon oil. I also give raw ground turkey/ground beef roast mixed with the vegg/oil. I am hoping to see some improvement in him soon. I think his coat could use some improvement. I examined his poo today and like everyone said, no bone fragments, just large peices of crab grass. It is a nasty weed grass that grows here in Arizona. He loves to pull it out of the ground as it has many extenstions and can go on forever and then proceed to chew and eat it. Little booger is keeping me busy!

Sounds like your dog is a puppy? I've seen a lot of GSD and Dobe (Dobes especially) pups that explore EVERYTHING with their mouths. Mine have always outgrown it eventually, but in the meantime I've used a basket muzzle out the yard when I can't watch them to prevent them from actually ingesting anything. On leash and in the house teach the "leave it" command. The important thing is to keep them from swallowing anything harmful until they get through this stage.

how long does this stage usually last, kristel? Please say two weeks, lol

Do yuo offer him anything else to keep his mouth occupied?
Maybe some raw marrow bones, or anything else a puppy is safe to chew on?

Robin, I hate to tell you this but my 6 month old pup is STILL chewy...he'll eat anything if I let him, including cactus!

I asked about this not too long ago and what has really cut down on the outside chewing, besides scolding him when I catch him in the act, is giving him "outside only" safe chew toys. They never come inside the house. It has been a godsend.

I wish it were two weeks It seems to go on until almost a year old, most of the time. Our stud dog was almost a year and half before he quit completely, although it lessened in intensity as time went by. I like what Angelique said about keeping the pup's mouth occupied; it really helps a lot. If you're using a basket muzzle outside in the yard they get out of the habit of picking everything up, especially if you're discouraging them from picking things up when they're on leash. In the house giving them something GOOD to chew like a rec. bone will help keep the pup out of trouble. Eventually they learn to distiguish what's okay and what isn't, especially when they start their training in earnest and their drive is being put to good use.

 Quote: robbinmann

This guy eats literally anything he can get his hands on. He is particularly fond of rocks. How do these guys survive in the wild??? Any suggestions? Besides him being in his kennel 24/7? I kennel him a lot during the day when I am trying to get stuff done or I will allow him to play in the kitchen as long as I can see him. Still, I feel like he is in his kennel an awful lot. Ideas? Suggestions? Scoldings? lol

Living in Arizona also (Phoenix), I know what you mean about rocks, used everywhere for landscaping, pain in the arse. My backyard is 1/4 rocks, the rest grass. And my puppy used to do the same as yours with rocks, sticks, grass, bird feathers, string, fiberfill. He is a lot more discriminating now as to what he puts in his mouth (6 mos) however he still will pick up the occasional rock or stick. If you have OLEANDER bushes (another AZ favorite), be very careful as they are poisonous to dogs. Picking stuff up is puppy curiosity but then it can eventually turn into an attention getter (rocks and sticks sure got my attention!). I started trading the rocks (or whatever) for a treat, teaching "drop it". Then I started working on "leave it". To teach "leave it", I had a very tasty treat in my hand, would have him on leash, in front of me, then drop a rock or some other thing he liked (toy, whatever) behind me and to the side and block him with my legs when he tried to get it (you'll have to keep moving as he'll try to get past you), saying "leave it". When he stopped going for it I would give him the tasty treat and praise "good, leave it, good!" and pick up the other object.

I found a squeaky toy my pup absolutely loves, a small troll-like toy at Safeway, pet aisle. He was a little guy when he first got it and would drop the toy when it squeaked and go back to it to attack it . As soon as he got used to the squeak sound, he would carry it around squeaking the heck out of it, and I noticed that if I had it and squeaked it, he dropped whatever he had in his mouth and came a-running. So there's another effective tool, if nothing else than to take his mind off whatever he has in his mouth.

Also, try keeping a leash on him at all times, in the house and outside so you can control where he goes, that way he can spend more time with you. You can get a 20 ft cotton line that is great for outside, a 6 ft for inside. He'll need plenty of puppy play type exercise so he doesn't get bored, nothing very rigorous for several months (others on this board have a better idea of when to get more structured exercise with your pup). Idle hands and all that As far as the crate is concerned, try to give him as much time with you as possible, since interaction for puppies is crucial. At the same time, pups his age get tired easily and sleep a lot during the day so allow for that also.

That's some good advice, thanks Sandy I will give it a try. Right now I am trying to calculate the ramifications of how to have a small puppy tethered to me all day long, whilst I complete my chore, without getting into a tangled heap!