Eddy eats everything! I'm so over this!
Eddy has always been on-and-off with eating stuff off the ground. As a puppy, he was relentless, but then began to obey our strict "NO"''s. Of course, a week later or something, he would go back. Off and on, etc etc. Now he's 8 months, and...
We just can't break him of this!
We feed him 3X a day, and sometimes I cook him up some rice and veggies, or an egg, or mix in some canned dog food, or add some fish oil, share a banana with him, in other words, we spice it up and he gets a wide variety.
He also never attempts to eat poo, which would be a sign of lack of minerals and vitamins. He will attempt to eat other dog's puke, but that's always a rare freak occurence anyways, and chances are other dogs are lappin' it up, too (GROSS!).
At the park or out on walks, he is ravenously searching for twigs, nuts, fallen fruits/berries, big leaves, any random thing to gobble down. Like we are starving him. I don't know what to do!!! He knows "Drop it" for regular things, frisbees, big sticks, the like, and he obeys "Leave it" when, for example, someone drops their gloves on the ground and he is tempted to steal them. But when he starts mowing down on some weird thing, he runs away with it, trying to keep it away from me and other dogs, and will swallow it ASAP, and not listen to anyone.
My problem with this is isn't that he gets sick or tries to eat trash or plastic, he only eats organic things, but his obsession with it is crazy. He would rather hunt for little things to eat than play with other dogs at the park; he is constantly wanting to stop me on walks to try to eat something as well.
How do I motivate him? I carry treats in my pocket, he is very obedient in every other aspect. How do I discipline him when he bolts away and eats it in 3 seconds?
We just can't break him of this!
We feed him 3X a day, and sometimes I cook him up some rice and veggies, or an egg, or mix in some canned dog food, or add some fish oil, share a banana with him, in other words, we spice it up and he gets a wide variety.
He also never attempts to eat poo, which would be a sign of lack of minerals and vitamins. He will attempt to eat other dog's puke, but that's always a rare freak occurence anyways, and chances are other dogs are lappin' it up, too (GROSS!).
At the park or out on walks, he is ravenously searching for twigs, nuts, fallen fruits/berries, big leaves, any random thing to gobble down. Like we are starving him. I don't know what to do!!! He knows "Drop it" for regular things, frisbees, big sticks, the like, and he obeys "Leave it" when, for example, someone drops their gloves on the ground and he is tempted to steal them. But when he starts mowing down on some weird thing, he runs away with it, trying to keep it away from me and other dogs, and will swallow it ASAP, and not listen to anyone.
My problem with this is isn't that he gets sick or tries to eat trash or plastic, he only eats organic things, but his obsession with it is crazy. He would rather hunt for little things to eat than play with other dogs at the park; he is constantly wanting to stop me on walks to try to eat something as well.
How do I motivate him? I carry treats in my pocket, he is very obedient in every other aspect. How do I discipline him when he bolts away and eats it in 3 seconds?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Welcome to my world!
Jack is terrible for this and if you find an answer, please let me know. If he's on "heel" he's usually ok unless he spies something huge, like a dropped bread roll, but if he's wandering around he is literally sniffing the ground for a tidbit.
Remember, dogs are actually most likely descended from scavengers, NOT hunters, so this behavior is completely normal.
I do disagree that eating poop is a sign of deficiency. I have never known a dog that doesn't relish the chance to eat rabbit poop or cat poop or horse poop; generally they find at least one tasty. If they are eating other dog's poop that could be a problem, as it's only normal behavior for puppies and whelping females.
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Permalink Reply by Nicole, Stanley and STELLA! on
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Yeah, I've had the same problem with Stella. She acts like she's starving even after I give her a big dinner. And I supplement her dog food like you do. When I take her on walks on the trail, she actually scoops up some of the trail gravel while walking (yep, the gravel), and swallows it. She's really bad with dead things-as can be expected. She had a dead baby bird once and I thought I was going to have to call the fire department to pry her jaw open!! My friend and I *together* eventually pried it out before she swallowed. As for how I've been working with her---I do carry treats, but it's still hit or miss (and without them mostly miss). She's 6 1/2 months old now, so I'm still doing a lot of treat training--and she's only gone through puppy kindergarten and will start intermediate classes in November. I really honestly would be surprised if, even after training, she left EVERYTHING. She also does the "I'm leaving it" fake-out with me, especially in the back yard. I'll tell her NO or LEAVE IT, she will "wander" for a minute or two and make a beeline right back to it! My best suggestion, and what I'm actually doing, is to have treats at least for a good trade-off when you catch him in the act. Without, it seems impossible. I think it's one of those things that's going to be a long-term struggle with Stella. Like Eddy, she's very obedient in other respects and seems advanced for her age (she stays on command and stays still even when I walk away), but with the "hoovering" for random things on the ground, it's like she was never taught anything (or FED anything, ha ha). Good luck, and if I have a breakthrough myself, I'll share!
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Permalink Reply by Ashley Kelty on
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Hope someone gives a good answer, I'd love to find out how to stop this problem. Miso has generally gotten better, but every once in a while she'll grab something and swallow it down before I get the chance to do a finger sweep of the mouth. She is free fed during the day, but when we get outside, she always wants to eat something she finds on the ground. She's 7 months old now!
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I did want to add how I manage this, though Jack will always be a hoover dog and I'm resigned to it.
If we are walking and he's having an especially difficult day, I put him on heel. If he keeps looking up at me or walking nice I'll tell him "good boy!" periodically and occasionally pop a treat in his mouth. I resorted to getting him a slip lead because he's soooo stubborn and with a regular collar he'll plant his feet and brace against it; he can't brace so easily against the slip.
If the dogs are off-lead to play and he's not playing but just looking for bits of things to eat, then I put him on the lead. If he gets re-interested in the ball or frisbee or whatever, he gets let loose again. If not, he stays on lead.
What drives me crazy is Jack is my higher energy dog who will pester me to play all night inside, but when I try to run it off outside half the time he'd rather browse. Other than cat poop, though, he generally only eats found bits of real food, not rocks or grass or anything.
My problem is compounded by the fact that in the summer, the park we walk in is busy with people eating and therefore dropping crumbs. The behavior is self-rewarding (he's finding his own treats) and therefore very hard to change.
And yes, they do learn to swallow quickly so you won't steal their "prize". If it's something big and chewy I can get it away in time, otherwise no luck. The last close call was almost an entire chocolate chip cookie, but he didn't swallow any of that one, thankfully.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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I think you are describing most corgis! I wish I had my camera with me the day Sparty as a puppy grabbed a dead,dried up frog off the road. I grabbed him immediately and could not pry his mouth open. There has a fully intact frog paw sticking out! Apparently after they are dead a while they no longer taste bad. Yuch! When we travel in resort areas it just is not fun to walk them on sidewalks because people drop popcorn and ice cream. All the corgis want to do is find stuff! Izzy can usually be intimidated into dropping something but Sparty just clamps down.
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Not the answer you were hoping for, huh? LOL I know it's SO frustrating. I have one that's not that bad (Maddie) but Jack sometimes I just want to throttle him, because once he gets in the zone it's all he wants to do. *sigh* I try to not let it bother me, but if he's been driving me crazy to play and then I take him out and all he wants to do is munch, it's very trying.
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