# V eating EVERYTHING



## MaggieD

Just curious if your V eats absolutely everything he can... We have an 11 week old that has the most unhealthy and bizarre things in his mouth every time I open it up to see what hes chewing... Ive found big rocks, little rocks, bird feathers, chunks of mud, grass, sticks, METAL chunks, tinfoil, paper, he lovess leaves (esp chasing them), bottles, clothes EVERYTHING (except his excrements, thank goodness!).. Just wondering if this is common? Luckily he has all his shots but it worries me he is going to swallow something he cant pass one time when I dont see him chewing..We decided to start giving him a spoonful of yogurt everyday to calm his belly down if thats the case. We have bully sticks that he loves chewing on but its getting hard to take him places because all he does is eat stuff on the ground instead of socializing! Any suggestions or has anyone experienced this? Thanks :


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## clover

At 11 weeks we never let Osha off her leash. She walked around the house everywhere with me so I could monitor her. Same with outdoors.

It's also a good training tool and teaches them to pay attention to you, at least we found it helped 

That way, if you see him put something in his mouth you can take it out and replace it with a toy or bully stick immediately.


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## jld640

Savannah used to eat everything, too. In addition to your list, in the garage she would also eat any nuts, bolts, or screws on the floor that the vacuum cleaner missed.

I finally made peace with a decision that she gets to eat anything she would find in nature, but nothing man-made. So she gets told to drop any paper, metal, or processed wood. When she doesn't drop, it gets pried out of her mouth. She gets to eat the sticks, rocks, bugs, mud, and feathers (and yes, some dead things, too). Funny thing happened pretty soon after I started enforcing the distinction. She picks up fewer man-made things and tends to drop those she does 'taste' before she is told. But she also swallows less of the other stuff. She still picks up rocks, but she rolls them around her mouth and spits them back out. She chews sticks to tiny pieces, but leaves the pieces for me to pick up. Teething caused a constant mess with all the shredded sticks. The feathers, mud, and dead things, she swallows, so I am not advocating a solution here - just giving the story.

The one man-made item that she will not drop on command is chewing gum. She picks up every piece of chewing gum she walks across. Some she chews and swallows, some she chews while she carries it a few houses and drops it again (she will pick the same piece up the next day, carry it for a few more houses and drop it again). Prying chewing gum out of her mouth has become a constant on our walks.


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## JillandDan

They all seem to pick things up that they shouldn't. We are constantly pulling things out of Holley's mouth. We are working on telling her to drop it and sometimes she listens but other times it is just too good to her and she won't listen. Then we remove the item. I am hoping they grow out of it as they mature. Haha.


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## MaggieD

Phew ok glad im not the only one! I will try making the distinction that jld did, that sounds helpful! I wonder how long his extreme curiosity with eating everything will continue haha


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## Bellababy

At 5 months old my dog ate a dead blackbird, she just swallowed it whole! I was mortified, especially because we had passed it on our walk for about a week and then on this particular day (Christmas day as it happens!) she decided to pick it up, I walked towards her telling her to drop it and she just gulped it down! Yuk!


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## jld640

Hey Maggie - if you go with the distinction I made, be aware that sharp edged sticks and bark dust can cause internal problems and stones that are too big to pass can cause blockages. IMO, those risks were not all that much different from the disclaimers on toys, the blockages that can be caused by rawhide, and the sharp edges on bone splinters, but you should evaluate the risks yourself. Again, for us, it was and still is a good decision, but however you decide, stay vigilant.


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## MaggieD

Okay thank you! Yes i will stay vigilant for sure ;D


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## sniper john

Watch for sticks that get bit into and break causing a section of stick to be stuck in his upper palet from one side to the other. Wedged between the two rows of teeth of the upper jaw would be another way to explain it. My girl Blaze did this once around a year old. She was unable to eat for over a day and we could not figure out why until we looked in her mouth and saw the stick wedged up there. It happened again about 5 years later, but I knew what to look for and caught it right off the second time.


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## SandraDee

Scout enoys eating kleenex. if he spots one he's all over it, he isn't allowed to eat them if he is caught, the mouth gets pried open. He also enjoys eating diaper wipes (non used ones, although I'm sure given the opportunity he wouldn't be picky), but again we don't let him, he manages to sneak one every once in a while and we find it in his poop. The other day he barfed up a washcloth that we were unaware was missing. I have no idea where he found it, or when he would have had the opportunity to eat it (I'll go with on my husbands watch, he's slightly less then diligent when it comes to watching the dog ). I don't even know what would posses the dog to eat a washcloth.


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## MaggieD

Haha wow, a washcloth! I can see my V doing that sometime in the future... And good post about the sticks Sniper John, Ill definitely watch out for that because he loves them...


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## Ms1234

My 1 year old V also eats pretty much anything. Her favourites include washcloths, kleenex, underwear etc. She will also take anything she can find off of my dresser or the kitchen counter. I have found her running around with butcher knives that she has stolen off of the counter! I don't know what would possess her to think that was a fun thing to have. I have started to watch my reaction and try not to chase her when she has something so she doesn't think it's a game. However, when she is running around with a butcher knife in her mouth it's hard to stay calm and collected!


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## Jinx

Mine would always try to eat anything and everything as well. Especially around that age. He now only seems to eat leaves, sticks and grass and not very often so they grow out of most of it in my experience.

The most helpful for me was teaching him the "leave it!" command. I find it better than "drop it" for a couple reasons. Firstly, if I just see him even thinking about grabbing something I don't want him to have I can stop him before he touches it. It's a lot easier to stop it before they get the taste of it in their mouth.

Secondly, I don't want my dog to drop anything he's supposed to be retrieving so; to me, it seems better not to confuse him with the "out" command which I use when he brings me something. That may be just personal preference or superstition though.

"Leave it!" is probably the easiest command I've taught my V and one of the most usefull.


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