# Eating Grass, Stick...Trees?? Help!!



## Brooklyn's Mom (Apr 21, 2008)

OK. So my beloved Brooklyn has this grass/bark/stick eating compulsion. Its annoying. From newly mown lawn clippings to digging up chunks of grass and sod in the back yard to literally ripping bark off a tree...she's eating it. Not breaking it up in her mouth...but consuming the stuff. 

FYI: it doesn't make her sick and I normally don't mind her having a little grass because it seems to, um, keep her "regular" if you know what I mean.

Well, now we have the newly fenced in yard. Hooray, right? Um...not so much. I can't leave Brooklyn off leash or she immediately starts digging and pulling up grass or going under the bushes to find sticks and the poor poor tree...it is missing huge sections of bark right at Brooklyn head hight. So now she's back on leash in our newly fenced in yard.
















And her baby brother, Remy? He's watching Brooklyn's every move to see what big dogs do...and is starting to dig up the grass and take the bark off the tree too!!







This is completely unacceptable.

I DO NOT want this behavior to continue but I don't know what to do to stop it. Has anyone had issues like this and/or any suggestions to get them to knock it off??

Oh, and just because this question gets asked a lot when we discuss the grass eating obsession - she and Remy are both getting Solid Gold Wolf King/Cub for food.

Thanks in advance ~


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## SadieBodean (Mar 28, 2008)

That sounds just like my 3 month old puppy---bummer! I was hoping it was just a puppy thing and she'd outgrow it soon. Sorry, no help here, but I'll be watching for other replys.


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## happyjoy (May 2, 2008)

The best solution I can think of is get a few hard rubber kong toys, fill them with kibble, liver treats, chicken wings or peanut butter - whatever. Freeze them and them put them around the garden. This should have a higher value than the environment and will keep her occupied. Teach her to be a chew-toy-aholic. Remember, though if you are feeding her these during the day to reduce her meal intake otherwise she will get fat. Or get some hard rubber toys, nylabones, etc rub them with vegemite or marmite and encourage her to chew those instead. You might want to look at my website for some more information.

Good luck
Carolyn


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## Brady's mom (Dec 20, 2007)

Sadly my only advice is to walk your dog on a leash in the back yard. That's what we do, and Brady is 7 months. Otherwise he'd tear up every tree and plant out there.


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## Eupher (May 9, 2008)

Belle, at almost 11 weeks, shows a remarkable fondness for chunks of grass clippings and she'll pull up chunks of sod, too.

She hasn't started on any trees yet. That probably won't happen since we have only one big tree in our fenced-in yard (which includes a pond).

I don't have anything to offer, but I'm interested in hearing what others say on this topic.


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## TuckerPupp (Apr 10, 2008)

Well my Tucker is now a little over two and when he was younger he was HORRIBLE with this. He would pull down tree branches, eat grass, but his all time favorite was wood chips. I would love to tell you he grew out of this.... but i thats not entirely true... After a lot of stern no's and redirection to chewing on appropriate items and teaching the "drop it" command we now have it under control. It took a while and constant "eagle eyed" supervision while outside. Not just standing and watching him but being close enough to redirect and correct. On the plus side he is not so destructive anymore but he still eats grass and sticks... I think its a dog thing... I consider teaching him not to destroy the yard but still let him chew sticks sticks and eat grass success... Good Luck


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## chopsuey (Jun 3, 2008)

my dog marley who is almost 8 months was a bark eater, stick eater (would strip sticks of their bark then eat both bark and stick) flower eater , dirt and grass eater. Now it seems to have lessened into a occasional plant and stick eater! Like tucker it took alot of watching and training of "NO" and drop it. I want to stop the plant eating entirely incase he gets ahold of a poissonous plant and so my mother can have a garden this year.


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