Dog Community

Stick-eating dog

Posted : 10/11/2006 10:55:42 AM

This issue came up in a thread about barking, but since it was off-topic and I wanted more advice, I'm starting a new thread...

My dog seems to have an obssesion with sticks... she picks them up whenever we're outside playing or walking. Sometimes she'll just play with a stick, but a lot of times she'll chew it up and swallow pieces. And although it's sticks that interest her most, she's been known to pick up-- and swallow-- pretty much anything that catches her attention. We taught her both "leave it" and "drop it", and this seemed to work well for a while, but now she seems to have relapsed. We had started to wean her off the rewards for these two commands, then she stopped listening, so we went back to consistant rewarding, and NOW the problem is that she's figured out "Hey, I can get a treat by picking up this stick and spitting it out when I'm told"... so I think she puts stuff in her mouth now more than ever!! I'll toss away whatever she's put in her mouth once she's dropped it (if I catch it before she swoops it up again!), but she'll just pick something else up. Also, she's recently started spitting out only PART of whatever she picked up, and continuing to munch on, and sometimes swallow, the rest.

When we're walking it's a little easier to manage because I walk her on a gentle leader which makes it easy for me to keep her head up, and if I walk fast enough she doesn't have much time to find things, anyway. It's more of an issue in the back yard, because the cemetary in back of us has a row of trees lining the fence, and it seems that sticks, leaves, and acorns fall from them constantly, and there's nowhere to go to remove her from the distraction except back inside.

So, I guess I'm partially looking for ways to get leave-it and drop-it to work reliably again, although I guess what I'm really looking for is some way to get her to lose all interest in eating foreign objects, because of course I worry about what she might be eating every time I'm not looking. Any advice??

Eric Mies

Posted : 10/11/2006 1:13:42 PM

Presley loves sticks too! nto just carryignthem but cheweingthem up and she ends up swallowing small portions of them. She has plentyfo chew toys and bones to.

Is it un-healthyf or them to eat small bits of sticks - it seems to be coming out the other end with out much probelm so far but...

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Posted : 10/11/2006 1:46:00 PM

Wellits not the worst thing she could be eating but defintly not the safest. She could be like my girl and just hate anything plastic. Try bully sticks or braided sticks, something that resembles a stick but not made of wood, ha ha!

Alisia Jezierny

Posted : 10/13/2006 8:57:41 AM

I've tried giving my dog rawhides, bully sticks, bones, etc. outside. As soon as she's finished eating a rawhide or bully stick, she'll go right back to real sticks, and as much as she loves bones, she'd rather eat a stick outside!! But the problem is trying to play with her or take her outside to go to the bathroom... she'll stop whatever she's doing and start munching on sticks! I haven't had any real problems yet, either, but I imagine it's only a matter of time before she swallows a piece of stick that's too big or too sharp... or possibly from something poisonous.

Xerxes

Posted : 10/13/2006 9:49:04 AM

I try not to worry too much about dogs and sticks. Dogs have been eating, chewing, playing with sticks since there were dogs and trees. On the other hand, if you think it is a problem, you may want to work on the trade command. While it seems to me that your dog has learned how to use the "drop it" and "leave it" commands to his/her own advantage, it actually works out to your advantage as well- you don't like the dog eating sticks and the "drop it" gets the dog to stop (thus pleasing you) and the dog gets something else to chew (thus pleasing the dog.)

Alisia Jezierny

Posted : 10/13/2006 2:28:30 PM

So, maybe I should bring out bigger or chewier treats when I take her outside so she's distracted for longer and I can clear the area sticks/acorns/whatever? But is there a way to teach her to only eat what is given to her, instead of what she finds lying around? Like I said, there's been plenty of other things that she has tried (and at times succeeded) in eating that she shouldn't have. For instance, last weekend we left her at my boyfriend's parents house. They've got a long-haired dog, and she went around the living room eating DOG FUR out of the carpet and corners of the room. The next morning, she threw up a hair ball... gross!!!

WolfDog

Posted : 10/22/2006 7:59:22 PM

It was dark, and my husky picked up a stick. He has an obsession with those also. He tries to chew, then swallow. I try to get them out of his mouth, so it won't do anything bad if it would at all. So I tried to get it out of his mouth. He was chewing on it, and he accidentaly bit me. It hurt, like, really bad. I know he didn't mean to, and I can tell he felt bad about it. He let me put on his buster collar (I just got him Friday, and he just got neutered, so he needs one so he won't lick the stitches), which he normally hates.

spiritdogs

Posted : 10/23/2006 7:01:33 AM

Wolfdog, if you keep grabbing stuff away from your dog you may cause him to escalate his mouthy behavior to get his stuff back - not good. Do teach him to trade the item back to you for something better. I don't know too many dogs who won't spit out a stick for liver or roast beef. [

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Alisia Jezierny

Posted : 10/23/2006 9:03:27 AM

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs
Wolfdog, if you keep grabbing stuff away from your dog you may cause him to escalate his mouthy behavior to get his stuff back - not good. Do teach him to trade the item back to you for something better. I don't know too many dogs who won't spit out a stick for liver or roast beef. []

I just picked up some Bil-Jac liver treats to try and use those to entice her to perform better with her "drop it" and "leave it" commands. It worked on our walk yesterday, so we'll see if it continues to work... I sympathize with WolfDog, though, when you're dog just WON'T "drop it", if you think the item's dangerous, you can't just let them swallow it. I've found that if I DO feel I need to pull something out of Scout's mouth, remaining very calm while doing it is key. A few months back I panicked when she picked up a corn cob at a bbq, and she chomped down on my thumb hard enough to draw blood, and still swallowed the corn cob (which made her quite ill, she was puking up pieces of it for nearly a week). But I've spent a lot of time since then calmly taking away rawhides and such, or just sticking my fingers in her mouth, and I find that this makes it easier to go in there and fish out something potentially dangerous when I need to (like the time she tried to swallow a tube of chapstick, or when she actually started choking on a piece of rawhide). I still wish there was a way to stop this scavanging behavior once and for all. I also have to worry about what she's eating when I'm not looking... I've found some pretty weird stuff in her poop (there was something with words printed on it last week), and after a weekend at a house with a long-haired dog she threw up a giant hair ball. She's almost OCD about picking up and eating stuff, I'm sure I can't be the only person with a dog like that, and it might require something more creative than just teaching leave-it or drop-it.

WolfDog

Posted : 10/24/2006 2:51:45 PM

quite ill, she was puking up pieces of it for nearly a week). But I've spent a lot of time since then calmly taking away rawhides and such, or just sticking my fingers in her mouth, and I find that this makes it easier to go in there and fish out something potentially dangerous when I need to (like the time she tried to swallow a tube of chapstick, or when she actually started choking on a piece of rawhide). I still wish there was a way to stop this scavanging behavior once and for all. I also have

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs

Wolfdog, if you keep grabbing stuff away from your dog you may cause him to escalate his mouthy behavior to get his stuff back - not good. Do teach him to trade the item back to you for something better. I don't know too many dogs who won't spit out a stick for liver or roast beef. []

Yeah, that sounds like a really good idea. I'll try that. I give my dog milk bones, train-me treats, and beggin strips. Do you think those would be good? if so, which the best? He seems to be craziest about the beggin strips, btw

espencer

Posted : 10/24/2006 5:02:14 PM

ORIGINAL: alisiaj78
and NOW the problem is that she's figured out "Hey, I can get a treat by picking up this stick and spitting it out when I'm told"... so I think she puts stuff in her mouth now more than ever!!

Thats what i have been trying to say this hole time!!!!!! [

], along with stop barking, etc. Finally somebody realized what the dog is really doing when redirecting behavior with treats, i feel the sky just opened a big hole and the sun is shining now hehe [

] j/k

There is this dude who has a TV show and he had a dog that was obsesive with rocks, and he showed how to stop that, i dont remember the name of that guy but is very famous [

] if you really want to i can give you the name if you send me a PM

Angelique

Posted : 10/24/2006 5:34:53 PM

I have a new client who's main issue was with her dog was dog aggression. This dog has attacked three dogs, two of which needed medical attention after the attacks. She was convinced her dog would attack mine on sight. Long story short, we've had two leadership skill sessions, and her dog never once tried to attack my dog. The issues were addressed (not supressed) from her owner learning leadership skills, getting a grip on her own nervous behavior, and directing rather than reacting to the dog's behavior in social situations.

During our last session, the owner complained that her dog would ignore her and grab sticks during the walk, which the owner could not get back from the dog.

We came upon a stick in the path during the session which the dog picked up. I moved towards the dog and said "hey". The dog dropped the stick and looked up at me. So I kicked the stick around a bit and said "hey" or claimed the stick by stepping on it whenever the dog went for it. In less that thirty seconds this dog listened to me and left the stick alone.

I find most dogs very willingly will comply with direct communication, even if there is no trading for higher value items, as long as the person working with them comes across as a confident leader, rather than another being "competing" for the item in question.

spiritdogs

Posted : 10/24/2006 6:53:20 PM

ORIGINAL: Angelique

I have a new client who's main issue was with her dog was dog aggression. This dog has attacked three dogs, two of which needed medical attention after the attacks. She was convinced her dog would attack mine on sight. Long story short, we've had two leadership skill sessions, and her dog never once tried to attack my dog. The issues were addressed (not supressed) from her owner learning leadership skills, getting a grip on her own nervous behavior, and directing rather than reacting to the dog's behavior in social situations.

During our last session, the owner complained that her dog would ignore her and grab sticks during the walk, which the owner could not get back from the dog.

We came upon a stick in the path during the session which the dog picked up. I moved towards the dog and said "hey". The dog dropped the stick and looked up at me. So I kicked the stick around a bit and said "hey" or claimed the stick by stepping on it whenever the dog went for it. In less that thirty seconds this dog listened to me and left the stick alone.

I find most dogs very willingly will comply with direct communication, even if there is no trading for higher value items, as long as the person working with them comes across as a confident leader, rather than another being "competing" for the item in question.

I find that most dogs will comply, but then there are the resource- guarding, give-you-the-whale-eye-if-you're-lucky, downright vicious food grubbing three-bites-up-the-arm kind. Try your tactics there...go ahead and grab that marrow bone away from that dog - can't wait for your next post after that.

WolfDog

Posted : 10/24/2006 7:13:06 PM

ORIGINAL: WolfDog

quite ill, she was puking up pieces of it for nearly a week). But I've spent a lot of time since then calmly taking away rawhides and such, or just sticking my fingers in her mouth, and I find that this makes it easier to go in there and fish out something potentially dangerous when I need to (like the time she tried to swallow a tube of chapstick, or when she actually started choking on a piece of rawhide). I still wish there was a way to stop this scavanging behavior once and for all. I also have
ORIGINAL: spiritdogs

Wolfdog, if you keep grabbing stuff away from your dog you may cause him to escalate his mouthy behavior to get his stuff back - not good. Do teach him to trade the item back to you for something better. I don't know too many dogs who won't spit out a stick for liver or roast beef. []

Yeah, that sounds like a really good idea. I'll try that. I give my dog milk bones, train-me treats, and beggin strips. Do you think those would be good? if so, which the best? He seems to be craziest about the beggin strips, btw

Wait, wouldn't that teach him that he'll get a reward if he picks up a stick?

espencer

Posted : 10/24/2006 7:49:48 PM

ORIGINAL: WolfDog

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs

Wolfdog, if you keep grabbing stuff away from your dog you may cause him to escalate his mouthy behavior to get his stuff back - not good. Do teach him to trade the item back to you for something better. I don't know too many dogs who won't spit out a stick for liver or roast beef.

Wait, wouldn't that teach him that he'll get a reward if he picks up a stick?

Wow you are a fast lerner, congrats [

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