Risa, 12 weeks now, hoovers the ground when on a walk with me. He's trying to taste nearly everything. The most annoying are cigarette-ends and chewing-gums (yes, we're a very dirty country). He spits out the uneatable things mostly, but I'm really worried about the gums and what they can do with his stomach. I'm always saying "Leave it", but sometimes I'm just not quick enough. In that case I'm trying to get the awful thing out of his mouth and there the problem comes. He learned that I want to steal the yummy things and now he wants to run away with it. I have him on the leash, so I draw him up, lift him up and try to get into his mouth and get the thing away. Yesterday he made a big thing out of it, growled and sort of barked at me. I think it was sort of fear agression, I was quite rough because of that dangerous thing in his mouth. I didn't back off the situation, I looked straight in his eyes and he stopped immediately.
He hasn't any food or toy agression, I can take his toys or a carrot he's chewing from him and it's OK. I can put finger into his mouth and he just sort of chews it and plays with me. But when there's a chewing-gum in his mouth, he's different.
I have two qestions:
1. How to teach him to drop the yummy thing? I found a game here on the forum, something like treat for dropping a toy to teach him that dropping is fun. Will this do with dropping food, too?
2. Is there any way to teach him that chewing-gums are bad? I was thinking about putting on a "bait" - chewing gum with something abhorrent to him, like pepper or chilli. Will this do?
Thanks guys. This web is a miracle.