STOP EATING THOSE BERRIES
ugh. There are these berries that fall off the palm trees. Arrow is OBSESSED. We are long past the concern if they are poisonous, it's been weeks of obsession and they just pass right through. Lots of them. But the obsession over eating them isn't lightening at all. It doesn't matter if I feed him before we walk or after. He knows drop it and leave it and will listen to me with just about everything except for leaves and THESE BERRIES. Sometimes if I go for a walk without a stinky treat to keep his focus he will drag eating every single berry. I have tried rewarding him for leaving it and dropping it I have tried rewarding him for watching me. I have tried being a range of stern and mad when he eats berries, saying no, growling at him, leash pop, poking him to stop, I even grabbed his scruff once and yelled no. Gasping as if he has done something horrible each time he sniffs a berry worked the other day but not today. Nothing seems to work, When he wants to eat them he will. He will turn it into a game when I try taking it out of his mouth. I have tried completely ignoring the behavior. I really feel like I have tried it all. Any help? I have found walks that have less palm trees and berries but the whole lawn area in mine and the surrounding buildings are full of them so potty time doubles as snack time for him. I can take him to the garage/driveway to pee where there are less berries and distractions but I am training him away from that so he will go on the public grass on walks. He ignores other kinds of berries, cigarette butts, and a multitude of things on the LA streets but not the berries from the trees. Any advice on breaking the obsession with these particular berries would be great, outgrowing it doesn't seem to be happening either.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jen Giammona on
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What if you get a bunch of berries and bring them home and practice with him at home? Start out with getting him to ignore one in the house, then up the quantity. Then try it in the yard and then see if it generalizes to a walk? I know his techniques are questionable, but I'm thinking of an episode of Dog Whisperer where the dog was obsessed with eating paper/tissues. They worked on doing games in the yard and also desensitizing the dog to the paper. Might be worth a shot.
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Permalink Reply by Caitlin Randolph on
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I am mostly Ceasar fan myself and think that is a great idea!!! I am going to try that tomorrow.
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Permalink Reply by Sirius_Blaidd_Cardis on
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We have the same exact issue with wood chips (and anything else he can get his mouth on sometimes)! The only thing we've found so far that even remotely works is using a head halter because then we can actually control how easily his head gets to the ground. Seems to do the trick, even though he hates wearing it.
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Permalink Reply by Terry S. on
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Gosh do you live in Florida? My walks with CharliMae go past palm trees (those berries she ignores) and camphor trees (I think). She loves to eat the camphor berries, so I have gotten her to walk past them chanting 'no berries, no berries' until we are past them. She wears a harness so I hold her leash as if she is a show dog. Straight up and if I have to I trot with her. Do I look crazy? well, yeah I guess so. It works 99% of the time. Drives me crazy though.
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I live in Los Angeles haha. I'm sooo vocal on our walks since we are still training, might as well throw in a specific no berries chant in with the good heel good heel c'mon c'mon c'mon walk! goood boy good heel No!.... you get the point...
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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I would get a well fitted Halti brand head halter and also teach the "no berries" command any time he tries to go for the berries, while correcting by gently and smoothly pulling up on the Halti. Be careful not to jerk on the Halti as this can hurt the neck. You can switch between collar and Halti on your walks, as he will be wearing both at the same time( Halti when in berry territory and on a fairly short leash, collar when in safe areas where you can afford to let out more of the leash ). It will take a fair amount of time to break the habit, but consistency will win the day.
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Thanks! Local pet store has a huge sale coming up, I'll see if they have them.
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Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on
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We have itinerant guys around here who climb up in the palm trees and cut out the fruiting stalks. That gets rid of the berry mess.
Don't think they're poisonous...just messy. Can't stand palm trees and don't grasp other folks' attraction to them.
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Permalink Reply by Carrie Baxter on
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Here in Florida we worry about palm nuts. My first corgi Sherlock had 3 surgeries to remove them from between the large and small intestines. He finally had to go to Rainbow bridge when he ate another nut. A famous Florida Corgi Spark Plug has a new brother who just had the same issue and surgery. Watch out if you are near palm trees!
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OMG. What kind of palm trees are we talking about?
We have mostly Mexican fan palms, although you see the occasional stupid queen palm (decidedly NOT xeric, which most Arizonans do not understand).
What is a "palm nut"?
Our annoying palm trees produce a) piles of pollen that clog the ool pump; b) harsh dreadful hard annoying blossoms that clog the pool pump; and c) enraging little round berry-like things, maybe 1/2-inch in diameter, that clog the pool pump and stick to the bottoms of your shoes and your dog's feet. All of this junk makes a mess. But hereabouts I haven't heard of a dog being harmed by it.
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Yes. We have both kinds in my neighborhood - the ones dropping berries and the ones dropping those huge nuts. I stick to the berries over the nuts, I used to walk two boxer labs and one of them had to have surgery from the nuts before I came around, so the owners warned me of those. And those were some big dogs. Luckily, he will drop it if I catch him picking them up. He just learned they can be juicy so I'm cracking down on those. I'll take a photo of the berries tomorrow. I'm 99% they are from the palms, but maybe you guys can help!
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