Puppy ate mouldy food :(

Darlyd

Let Alphy out this morning (our 8 week old pup), he went straight to the bins and picked up some mouldy food, I could not for the life of me get it out of his mouth. (. I picked the rest up and moved the bins on top of the shed.

Rung the vet he said just to keep an eye on him.

Bloody fox's !!!! :mad:

Has this happened to anyone else? Really worried now.

myway_2

I'm shaw he'll be fine:). He might get abit of an upset tummy. Like you vet said just keep an eye on him.

Caroline_a

I'm sure he'll be fine too - just one question - you said you couldnt get it out of his mouth, is that because he'd already eaten it, or because he wouldn't let you? I find it's always a good idea to train dogs to let you take anything (bones included) out of their mouths, as sometimes they may pick up things that you don't want them to have.

jetta_wales

Dogs have a shorter digestive tract than humans so they don't absorb as much bacteria and such from food before it gets to their stomach acid as we humans do.

Don't worry about it the worst that is likely to happen is he throws it back up on your sofa or has a runny poo at some point but probably nothing will happen at all.

Just keep an eye that he's his usual bubbly, trouble causing, puppy self and if so he's fine

Darlyd

thank you I feel more reassured now.

Caroline - HE would not open his mouth, some of it was hanging out I managed to get that, but it broke off from what was in his mouth, He is a little beep sometimes, he was running from me, and I managed to pin him down, having him growling at me, bit my fingers etc, and he swallowed it. . He is only 8 week's no training has started yet, except potty training, He will be trained to open his mouth for us, like our other dogs. BUT Weather he will or not I don't now, he is very Leary, we may need a professional dog trainer as he gets older.

He has bit a chunk out of my husbands nose, both our fingers and hands are full of bite marks and scratches, He even bit my nipple! , BUT saying that, we would not swap him for the world, out of 9 of the pups him and his brother (who my husbands friend has) are the Leary ones. And I think they will need a professional to help with behaviour. I dread the day DH starts taking him to work with him.

Molly can't cope with him, she is not happy with the way he is, hanging off her tail last night, how she never killed him I do not know, he had to go back into the kitchen until DH took Molly to bed, dread it when he is older, hope he calms down, but I think he is going to be one of them naughty dogs.

jetta_wales

If you come at a dog with aggressive body language (think of how your actions will be perceived by the pup who can't understand a word you say) then try to pin him down to grab at his mouth then I'm not at all surprised he was growling and aggressive back. I'd bite you if you tried to do that to me lol.

Better for him to eat some old food than be forced into behaving aggressively. You really need to think long and hard about how you react to all of these situations because every time you show him what he will perceive as anger and aggression, you are teaching him that this is how to react to negative situations.

Caroline_a

Agree with Jetta - also, as he is so small you should be teaching him to let you take things out of his mouth NOW, not leaving it. At this age you can make it a game, offer a treat he opens his mouth for the treat 'good boy' take whatever he has already then he gets the treat.

House training is very important at a young age, I agree, but you should also be encouraging good sociable behaviour. My pup had to sit before he got his dinner. Leaping up and squeaking meant that I held on to it. I used to say 'sit' too, and once his bottom was on the ground (sometimes was only a split second :rotfl:) i used to put it down for him. Now he sits at my feet while I prepare it, and he's only 12 weeks. Similarly lead training can be done around the house/garden. So much easier to make it a game for a puppy than a tug of war with an older dog!

blue_monkey_2

Darly you need to practice every day removing things from his mouth, hold the snout with one hand and then put the other fingers under the jaw and feel for the 'gap' between the teeth. Put your fingers in the gap and the mouth usually opens (hope I am explaining that correctly) it is what a vet would do and you should train your pup to accept this being done to him/her at least 3-4 times a day. I have 2 staffs and they are quite happy to let you do it. It could be one of your kids toys or something valuable he runs off with.

If you run all aggressive and screaming to come back he will think it is a game and will a) not come back and b) do it again and a agin, there is no need to pin him down either, he is just a puppy. Hold his (standing) back end between your legs, lift his chin and put your hand in the mouth as above and get it out. I often give my dogs a chewy stick and will take it back off them mid eating by retrieving it from their mouth - I have done this from an early age. You need to be able to do this if they pick up something dangerous. You also need to practice the 'leave' command should anything happen in the future. It is never too early to start teaching them.

I think all of us have had our pups eat mouldy something or other. Mine bury bones in the garden and dig them up and eat them. They stink but they have been fine. They are not allowed to bring them back in the house though. They would eat far worse things living in the wild and survive (as your foxes have proven!!).

You should never feed an excited dog that is jumping up - what is fun now is not so fun when they are 25kgs! They should be sitting and patient, then you tell them when to eat. Staffys are bad for their jumping up anyway so this is a good habit for them to get into.

Fire_Fox

darlyd wrote: »

thank you I feel more reassured now.

Caroline - HE would not open his mouth, some of it was hanging out I managed to get that, but it broke off from what was in his mouth, He is a little beep sometimes, he was running from me, and I managed to pin him down, having him growling at me, bit my fingers etc, and he swallowed it. . He is only 8 week's no training has started yet, except potty training, He will be trained to open his mouth for us, like our other dogs. BUT Weather he will or not I don't now, he is very Leary, we may need a professional dog trainer as he gets older.

He has bit a chunk out of my husbands nose, both our fingers and hands are full of bite marks and scratches, He even bit my nipple! , BUT saying that, we would not swap him for the world, out of 9 of the pups him and his brother (who my husbands friend has) are the Leary ones. And I think they will need a professional to help with behaviour. I dread the day DH starts taking him to work with him.

Molly can't cope with him, she is not happy with the way he is, hanging off her tail last night, how she never killed him I do not know, he had to go back into the kitchen until DH took Molly to bed, dread it when he is older, hope he calms down, but I think he is going to be one of them naughty dogs.

!!!!!! start training him now, your puppy is not a baby: If he bites a stranger you risk him being PTS! There are plenty of free articles and videos online about animal behaviour, body language and training techniques. Or purchase a few books or watch TV shows such as 'Its me or the dog'. A professional trainer would spend more time training you than training your dog, because you would have to carry on the techniques to train out entrenched unwanted behaviours AND train in desirable behaviours.

blue_monkey_2

Darly, you mention getting a trainer, do this now so he/she can tell you what you should be doing on a daily basis. I had a 'biter' but she does not do it anymore because she would be told off for doing it. It did not happen overnight but you really shoud consider getting someone in now.

There is no such thing as a naughty dog just and an untrained dog and there is a difference. Trained dogs will do as they are told. It is VERY hard work and I find it draining but the work will pay off in the end. You get out what you put in. You also need to make sure he respects Mollys space as she is much older and you have to think how an 90 year old would be with a toddler coming round their house, taking their bed, playing with their ornaments and favourite toys. Our dogs will still not sleep together - they are getting their slowly - but you must crate the puppy at night away from Molly in case she squashes her, or hurts her. Also use the stair gates to give Molly some space from the pup. Put the pup away and make sure you do not forget about her. Think of the pup as a toddler, they will keep going til they drop. You must be in charge of bedtimes and put them away for an hour every few hours so you all get a break and the puppy does not start to depend on you.

Not putting down what you are doing. puppies are fun but we have 2 dogs with a year between them, I wish that we had got a trainer with the first dog, she is stubbon and hates being told what to do - she has no recall and cannot go off the lead. We had a trainer with the puppy and she can and we are very much in charge of her - because we have been strict with her and was not so much with the first dog. I can place a piece of cheese in front of their nose and they will leave it until they are told to eat it. You must be in charge of the dog, not the dog in charge of you and the house. The earlier you train them, the better it will be for all of you.

I have a blue staff pup - she is VERY high energy, very bouncy and thinks everyone loves her. You must get her under control because of the breed she is, it only takes one nip on a childs hand by mistake and they can take her from you and have her PTS. You think she is sute, not everyone else will. My pup at 4 months old ran up to a man up the park and he tried to hit her with his stick.

CFC

What bluemonkey says about training him NOW to open his dear little gob, just to add though as he has baby needle sharp teeth you might want to consider doing it wearing gloves till he has his manners!