# 5 year old golden problems



## Scarlett23 (Apr 4, 2011)

My 5 year old golden Scarlett is eating rocks And no matter what I do she will not stop.; Any suggestions? And also, I cannot go Swimming in my pool because she panics. She sits on the top step in the pool but won't swim and then panics when someone gets into the pool to swim. Help please!


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

First off, keep her on leash and away from rocks for a while, so she looses the habit if that's what it is. If there are rocks in your yard from landscaping that she's eating, make a 'tea' of black pepper and boiling water, when cool put that on the rocks in question (you can use a watering can, put the pepper in, add the water, let it cool then 'water' the rocks). That way they don't taste as good. Instead offer her some raw bones to chew, or a stuffed kong to distract her from the rocks.

For the swimming, you may want to just put her away when you do swim, or work on training her to be calm when someone is swimming. A good trainer will help you reteach her on this sort of thing.

Good luck and welcome!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

How long have you had her, how long have these things been going on? What have you done to address the challenges? What has your vet said?

In what scenarios will she eat rocks?

Initial thoughts:
Rocks: Prevent access. Discuss with your vet. We will need to teach her an alternate behavior when outdoors and a strong automatic leave it.
Pool: Have her in the house wehn people are swimming. Prevent opportunities to get stressed. If it's really important to you for her to be outside at those times, find an appropriately qualified trainer to help you reduce her anxiety.


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## Scarlett23 (Apr 4, 2011)

Thank you both for the advice, I will try that. I have had my dog since she was 3 months old so almost 5 years now and this usually happens when we are outside working so I know it is a behavioral issue there. My vet said to spray her with bitter apple when she has a rock in her mouth so I have tried that and spraying it on the rocks, but it doesn't deter her. She does it sometimes too when no one is outside and she just swallows them. As for swimming problems, I have put her up and she still freaks out. She was inside and she nearly tore my door down. Other than these issues she is an amazing dog


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Have you trained a leave it behavior? With what situations does this work and when does it not?

Have you given her kong toys? There are numerous posts on here and on the internet for things to put in the kongs. After she's good at emptying it out.... start to freeze the kongs before giving it to her. Once she's loving that... put her in a room of the house where she can't see out (and play music/tv so she can't hear pool sounds) with the kong while you do other things than the pool. And once she's okay with that, then start to be in the pool while she is contained.


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## Scarlett23 (Apr 4, 2011)

Ok I will give that a try. She has a few of the kong toys and loves them but gets the treats out quickly so I will try to freeze them and see if that helps. Thanks so much!


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## Scarlett23 (Apr 4, 2011)

I've trained her to leave things but she gets so excited sometimes or nervous that she refuses to listen


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