Why does Bogart eat dirt, twigs, bugs, pebbles and everything in between?

He is almost 11 months old and it seems to be getting worse instead of better. And he threw up a handful of "souvenirs" today, not much liquid, just stuff. Should I start walking him with a muzzle on so he can't lick the sidewalk all the time? Or, could it be a sign of some psychological problem? He was not well, not the same energy as usual, Sunday night, and I took his temp (100.7). Monday morning I had the vet take a look at him but he said he seemed OK, perhaps just had a cold (yes, a lot of reverse sneezing too, recently). Yesterday and today, temp at 99.5. Anyway, I'm going for a second opinion tomorrow, just to be safe. He is just not himself... :-( Doesn't even want to play.

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on February 6, 2013 at 12:29am

The temperature of 100.7 is pretty much normal for a dog, not a cause to worry.

Why does he eat everything? As the old joke goes: "Because he can!". I teach my dogs from the start to walk with their heads up ( I will actually say "heads up" ) by keeping the leash short and the collar high on the neck until they learn to walk without sniffing the ground. Once in awhile I'll stop, let out the leash and let them sniff around, pii, whatever, but never let them take anything in their mouth. If they do, I am quick as lightning to fish it out of their mouth! It does not take long for them to learn how to walk properly..... It's another matter when they are not on leash as you have no way to enforce the rules. If my dog was eating everything in sight he would not be off leash. Habits that are well established are hard to break, but consistency will pay off eventually. He just needs to be retrained and the new rules enforced.