Dog won't stop eating things on the ground

Terrylw1

Hi all,

I was wondering if any of you have any tips we can try for this.

From an early age my mum's Shih-tzu would pick things up e.g. stones, bricks, soil. The vet just said its common and he should grow out of it.

He's a year old now. He's never been much trouble and has responded well to any training. However, he won't stop doing this and naturally he has the odd sick day because of it.

There is nothing he can eat that is poisonous, we blocked everything off so he plays in the yard and can't get to the garden as it's higher up.

Any ideas what you can try to encourage him otherwise? It's not like he does it everytime but some days it's worse and we would like to stop him making himself sick this way.

Thanks in advance

beachbeth

A year is still very young for a dog and he is still likely to grow out of this. My Pug would eat stones out of my garden and we had to fence the stoney bit off because she actually swallowed them and then sicked them all up. I was worried she would end up needing an operation.

However, she is now 2 and doesn't seem bothered about eating them any more.

I think until your dog matures and, hopefully, grows out of this I would encourage him to chew more interesting things. Chews from petshops that he can chew and will take him ages to get through are a good idea (though they need to be supervised in case they get any stuck in the throat). Kong toys are good because you can fill or stuff them with food items that he can spend ages trying to get them out. These are much more tasty for him than bits and pieces out of the garden!

Terrylw1

Thanks for that.

We do give him plenty of things he can chew and he's got toys which he loves playing with.

I didn't know that about the kong toys. That sounds good to me for another reason - he loves ripping the stuffing out of the toys if he can. The kong toys would be better for him if they can be stuffed with things.

We've got most things fenced off but it's the loose bricks. He does the same as your dog. Sometimes he passes them but it's a bit worrying incase he eats something he can't get out again.

Thanks again.

yummymsmummy

One thing to try if this doesn't improve is to give him a spray in the face/on the neck with one of those plant waterer things (you know, the water spray bottles!) as you see him doing it. He probably won't like it - but it should act as a good deterent. Another idea is to fill an empty bottle/tin with dried peas etc, and give it a good sharp short shake. Both of these things will distract him, and he'll eventually get the idea