EAT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER, CANINES 1:02
If dogs had a Bible, these would be on the first page. Dogs are scavengers more than they are hunters, and everything is fair game to them.
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| Recent handiwork generously provided by a golden retriever named Violet |
It's not only puppies who are known for eating all sorts of items, any vet can probably rattle off a litany of things they have had to surgically remove from a dog's stomach. VPI, the Vetrinary Pet Insurance company even has a "Hambone Award" for the most unusual ingestion claim
( http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/20/living/unusual-dog-stories-mnn ). I once knew a ridgeback who ate an entire windowsill while the owners were at work.. My golden retriever Rimshot was almost legendary in the things he ate over the years, everything from a computer mouse to boxes of herbal tea, to a 5 pound bird treat mix of seed, dried peppers, and chilies, which made yard poop patrol much more interesting. He also once got into a bag of organic plant fertilizer, and the fact that he threw most of it up hours later didn't deter him from trying to eat it again. Once he nearly died from eating some mushrooms growing in the yard, try keeping those things from popping up in wet humid weather!
Don't assume your dog will grow out of this habit: Some do, some don't. Retrievers, being such oral dogs, are often the worst chewers. My dog Coach didn't chew items so much as devour them, more than once I found myself pulling a whole sock out of his throat, he was very quick at ingesting all sorts of cloth.
Dogs don't seem to learn from their gastronomic misadventures, so it is up to us to try to make sure they don't eat something that's going to make them sick--or worse.
There are products you can use to put on various household items, such as Bitter Apple and Bitter Lime that are supposed to taste bad to dogs and keep them from chewing. They work for most dogs and are worth trying, but there's always going to be one or two dogs who view them as condiments.
One way to stop a dog from eating something is to teach a good, solid "Leave it!" command. I like to teach Leave it in two parts. First as a prerequisite, I to teach them a self-control game such as "It's Yer Choice" game or Doggy Zen (see my previous blog, for more information). After doing this--and it only needs to be a session or two-- I will start working on Leave it.
Besides "Leave it!" you need a "Give" or "Out" command so that your dog will willingly give up the object he's chewing. I generally like to do this as an object exchange, I offer them a treat and they give me the object. They learn this lesson quite well. My sheltie finds things to bring to me, hoping I'll "buy" them from her. That's a much easier problem to solve than stealing, and at least shows understanding of the concept..
Supervision is important, as is "puppy proofing" your house. You wouldn't let an 18 month old toddler wander around without supervision, the same things goes for puppies and known chewers. You can have different doggy items around for them to chew, but eventually, the dog is going to move on to chew something else. Your dog will often start out happily munching on a nylabone right next to your wooden furniture leg. Then he gets an idea, and decides to move over to that wooden leg. Hm, that's a different taste experience, but it's still good, so the bone is traded in for the table leg. If you observe something like that happening,stop the dog ( a good, loud "Aaa!" often works) and use the "Chew this, not that" approach of substitution.
Sometimes despite our best efforts things get chewed up. If you find evidence of chewing after the fact, it does no good to punish the dog for it, he won't understand why.
If the dog has eaten something that can be harmful and is not an irritant, you can induce vomiting by giving hydrogen peroxide (3%, the kind you get at a pharmacy). The dosage is 1 teaspoon for every10 pounds of body weight. For more information on how and when you should do this, check out this link: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/03/15/how-and-when-to-induce-vomiting-in-pets.aspx . If your vet is not available, you can call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 888-426-4435. There is a charge for this service, but if you need it, you need it. Your local animal emergency center (if there is one available where you live) may be able to give you information as well if it is after business hours for your vet.
A little prevention is worth a pound of cure. Hope this helps, and if your dog does chew something, don't panic, it's amazing what they can eat and still live to tell about it. Rimshot would be proud of them.
( http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/20/living/unusual-dog-stories-mnn ). I once knew a ridgeback who ate an entire windowsill while the owners were at work.. My golden retriever Rimshot was almost legendary in the things he ate over the years, everything from a computer mouse to boxes of herbal tea, to a 5 pound bird treat mix of seed, dried peppers, and chilies, which made yard poop patrol much more interesting. He also once got into a bag of organic plant fertilizer, and the fact that he threw most of it up hours later didn't deter him from trying to eat it again. Once he nearly died from eating some mushrooms growing in the yard, try keeping those things from popping up in wet humid weather!
Don't assume your dog will grow out of this habit: Some do, some don't. Retrievers, being such oral dogs, are often the worst chewers. My dog Coach didn't chew items so much as devour them, more than once I found myself pulling a whole sock out of his throat, he was very quick at ingesting all sorts of cloth.
Dogs don't seem to learn from their gastronomic misadventures, so it is up to us to try to make sure they don't eat something that's going to make them sick--or worse.
There are products you can use to put on various household items, such as Bitter Apple and Bitter Lime that are supposed to taste bad to dogs and keep them from chewing. They work for most dogs and are worth trying, but there's always going to be one or two dogs who view them as condiments.
One way to stop a dog from eating something is to teach a good, solid "Leave it!" command. I like to teach Leave it in two parts. First as a prerequisite, I to teach them a self-control game such as "It's Yer Choice" game or Doggy Zen (see my previous blog, for more information). After doing this--and it only needs to be a session or two-- I will start working on Leave it.
Besides "Leave it!" you need a "Give" or "Out" command so that your dog will willingly give up the object he's chewing. I generally like to do this as an object exchange, I offer them a treat and they give me the object. They learn this lesson quite well. My sheltie finds things to bring to me, hoping I'll "buy" them from her. That's a much easier problem to solve than stealing, and at least shows understanding of the concept..
Supervision is important, as is "puppy proofing" your house. You wouldn't let an 18 month old toddler wander around without supervision, the same things goes for puppies and known chewers. You can have different doggy items around for them to chew, but eventually, the dog is going to move on to chew something else. Your dog will often start out happily munching on a nylabone right next to your wooden furniture leg. Then he gets an idea, and decides to move over to that wooden leg. Hm, that's a different taste experience, but it's still good, so the bone is traded in for the table leg. If you observe something like that happening,stop the dog ( a good, loud "Aaa!" often works) and use the "Chew this, not that" approach of substitution.
Sometimes despite our best efforts things get chewed up. If you find evidence of chewing after the fact, it does no good to punish the dog for it, he won't understand why.
If the dog has eaten something that can be harmful and is not an irritant, you can induce vomiting by giving hydrogen peroxide (3%, the kind you get at a pharmacy). The dosage is 1 teaspoon for every10 pounds of body weight. For more information on how and when you should do this, check out this link: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/03/15/how-and-when-to-induce-vomiting-in-pets.aspx . If your vet is not available, you can call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 888-426-4435. There is a charge for this service, but if you need it, you need it. Your local animal emergency center (if there is one available where you live) may be able to give you information as well if it is after business hours for your vet.
A little prevention is worth a pound of cure. Hope this helps, and if your dog does chew something, don't panic, it's amazing what they can eat and still live to tell about it. Rimshot would be proud of them.
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| Rosetree Rimshot's Honor CGC 6/18/1994 - 1/12/2004 |
