# 6 Month old Pup eating everything



## comiconor (Mar 23, 2018)

Hi everyone, 

I'm a newbie here, so hope someone can help a little.

I have a 6 month old golden retriever pup called Ralphie who loves nothing more than eating things off the ground on walks. 
I try to stop him as much as I can with the 'leave it' and 'drop it' cue. But he still tries constantly to eat things.
He picks up just about anything from leaves, wet wipes, cigarette butts, dirt, cans etc, etc. He's even picked up glass ? 

I realise it's something puppies do, but I'm worried he's gonna pick up something really bad and hurt himself. He'll literally swallow anything. It's almost as if he as a fixation.

He's walked twice a day and is let off lead for a run about as well as plenty off Mental stimulation. I also do a few sessions of obidence and tricks throughout the day.

The problem isn't too bad when I can watch him closely. But if I look up to check the road or something he'll very quickly pick up something and he eats it so fast I don't even get the chance to get him to drop it.
It's also hindering his time off lead as a lot off the time he's searching for stuff to eat.

Is there anything I can do? I work on leave it and drop it everyday.

I've also tried giving him something to carry on the walk but he just drops it immediately.

I spoke to vet about it a few months ago whilst he was having a check-up and he just said 'we'll that's retrievers for you'.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm considering getting a muzzle to stop it as I'm worried it could turn into a long term habit.

Thanks ?


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## GoldensOldie (Apr 23, 2017)

My 9 month old, Dax, does the same thing. He only does while walking on lead, off leash he's too busy searching for squirrels and such. When he picks up something on a walk, I tell him "drop it" or "trade" and he gets a treat when he drops it. Having the leash on him helps with this tremendously... off leash it's more challenging. 

I'd suggest you keep up with the "drop it" and "leave it".... it will take time. 

Keep your pocket full of treats! :laugh:


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## comiconor (Mar 23, 2018)

GoldensOldie said:


> My 9 month old, Dax, does the same thing. He only does while walking on lead, off leash he's too busy searching for squirrels and such. When he picks up something on a walk, I tell him "drop it" or "trade" and he gets a treat when he drops it. Having the leash on him helps with this tremendously... off leash it's more challenging.
> 
> I'd suggest you keep up with the "drop it" and "leave it".... it will take time.
> 
> Keep your pocket full of treats! /images/GoldenretrieverForum_2016/smilies/tango_face_smile_big.png


Thanks ? I'll keep on with the 'drop it' and 'leave it'. Hopefully it's something he'll grow out of. It just seems at the minute that his only interest out and about is trying to eat rubbish off the ground. 

If I don't see something on the ground and he does manage to pick it up. He eats it so fast I can't even say 'drop it'.
Any way to get around this? It is literally milliseconds before he's swallowed it.


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## GoldensOldie (Apr 23, 2017)

The only way I can see to avoid that is to keep his leash short enough he can't reach the ground. I do that occasionally, when I can't watch him every second. 

When you can pay attention, leave the leash a bit looser, but watch him and pull him up, with a "leave it", when he gets too close to something. .. even if he's only looking in that direction.

Sometimes, I'll tell Dax to drop it, he swallows and sits at my feet, waiting for his treat. It's tempting, because he's sitting there waiting, but I don't treat for swallowing something. We just move on.

Retrievers always pick things up. Some are acceptable, some are not. If you can train "leave it" and "drop it", you can decide what is acceptable.

In my experience, it takes time and repetition. You can do it.


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## jdavisryan (Jan 28, 2018)

When Daisy was a puppy I used to call our walks "scouting for food." She loved to have her nose to the ground and tried to scarf up anything that came her way. I think the "watch me" command helped us, along with keeping her pretty close and watching out for trash so I could anticipate. I carried treats and when I saw something ahead that I knew she might go for I said " watch me." As soon as she looked up she got a treat and lots of praise. I kept her leash short (but loose) so she couldn't forage. Not a relaxing walk by any means, but it got better as she got older. If you haven't mastered the "watch me" I suggest you start working on it. Its helpful in so many situations.


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## Neciebugs (Nov 18, 2017)

My Daisy does this all the time... she is almost 7 months. One street over has some sort of berry tree in front of all the houses and one day she just wouldn't quit. We haven't been down that street in a while. She got a little runny stool from it but that's about it. Another day she found an apple someone must have dropped. She carried that thing all the way home. She will pick up a leaf and carry it... stick, rock, wood chip... Thankfully she has stopped ingesting MOST things... LOL I should have named her Hoover or Dyson.


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## Seamus18 (Nov 22, 2017)

Yep. Having the same issues with Murphy. He turned 6 months yesterday and it is all I can do to keep him from eating everything. As mentioned above, sticks, rocks, bark, weeds - he loves pulling up and eating weeds! We have a fairly big back yard and when we go out there to play he will always get sidetracked by weeds or even just grass. He loves to pull everything out by the roots and then chew it. A mouthful of dirt and weeds! What fun. We work on drop it and leave it, but sometimes he just gets so excited and runs around with his mouthful of whatever. I too worry that he will get hold of something dangerous. Hopefully with a little work and age, this will pass.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

My current puppy is much more of an eater than my older dog was, but my puppy has drastically cut down on this behavior. I used the same protocol with both.

(1) Pick your battles. If my dogs pick up leaves, grass, or sticks on leash, I do nothing. In fact, I have offered sticks for them to chew on. This takes the game element out of it. My older dog now has little to no interest. 

(2) Teach a *default* leave-it. With your dog on leash, have your best treats ready. As your dog spots something on the ground (not sticks, leaves, grass-- those are OK), keep the leash short enough so that he can't get it. Don't say a word! At all. He can stare at it as long as he likes. The MOMENT he looks away from it OR at you, say "yes" or click and treat or use whatever marker word you want (taught at home during training) and give him a treat or treats. Praise! Repeat, repeat, repeat. Pretty soon you will notice your dog look at something on the ground, and then look at you like... "Where is my treat?" Eventually you can stop treating every time, and make it more of a surprise thing or for bigger, more tempting objects. You can do this in the house, too, by setting up objects on the ground ahead of time. (Just make sure he can't get to them.) The default spares you from sounding like a nag!

(3) When you are out in the yard (off leash) then just keep things busy-- fetch, flirt pole, training, etc. I allow my dog to chew on sticks, but when he starts ripping up grass too many times, that seems more of a boredom thing so we either stay busy or go inside.

(4) Always work on "trade." When my puppy gets something he shouldn't, we throw treats down on the ground toward him... we do not chase. This has worked very well. Now he brings things TO us.

(5) If your puppy seems only fixated on eating things on walks, then keep walks more frequent but short and busy. Use them for training where his mind is focused on you.


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## Susan Rogers (Sep 30, 2017)

I have the same issue, especially because our girl Bailey just got spayed and is using her cone in two ways...1) she puts the cone on ground to cover what she wants to eat such as acorn, rocks, twigs. This prevents me from getting it quickly. She is also using her cone as a shovel, which is hilarious to see but so frustrating. I am trying to attach a picture of her with the cone and hope you can see her. 45lbs of love...she thinks she is a lap dog!


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## jdavisryan (Jan 28, 2018)

Susan Rogers said:


> I have the same issue, especially because our girl Bailey just got spayed and is using her cone in two ways...1) she puts the cone on ground to cover what she wants to eat such as acorn, rocks, twigs. This prevents me from getting it quickly. She is also using her cone as a shovel, which is hilarious to see but so frustrating. I am trying to attach a picture of her with the cone and hope you can see her. 45lbs of love...she thinks she is a lap dog!


Our Daisy found a third use for her spay cone; a weapon. The cone freaked her out and she would sort of charge at us in a panic. I think I still have marks on my legs, twelve years later. She was so upset the vet put her on a sedative but then it was like having a drunk with a lamp shade on her head stumbling around the house. It was a long ten days. Sorry to derail the thread but your pic brought back memories.


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

jdavisryan said:


> Our Daisy found a third use for her spay cone; a weapon. The cone freaked her out and she would sort of charge at us in a panic. I think I still have marks on my legs, twelve years later. She was so upset the vet put her on a sedative but then it was like having a drunk with a lamp shade on her head stumbling around the house. It was a long ten days. Sorry to derail the thread but your pic brought back memories.


The cone freaked my dog out so much. She first had to have it as a puppy before she got spayed because she got scratched at her bum and kept licking it. She tried to run away from it on her head. Fortunately, she got used to it and had no issues other than just generally being dejected when she got spayed and had to wear it. And well, getting it caught on everything (doors, entryways, stairs, just the sidewalk). 

However, back to the picking up everything. Its much worse in puppyhood, or at least was for me. I kept Piper on a short leash, and we got really good at drop it, but REALLY good at leave it. Watch your dog like a hawk, and if it looks like he's eyeing something (or you see something that he will want), tell him to leave it in advance. Or "watch me" if you teach that. Its also a really good time to make sure your dog heels. 

I like the idea of a default "leave it" though! I wish I had thought to do that. 

Honestly, you have 1, a retriever--they are so mouthy, and 2 a puppy. Everything goes in the mouth. I agree with picking your battles. I don't care if Piper chews leaves, grass, sticks (but she doesn't actually eat chunks of stick whole), but there's a some jerk in my neighborhood who throws out cooked chicken bones into the grassy area by our place. And I live in the city and there's broken glass sometimes. Those things could actually harm her. The more you work on proofing "leave it" the better it gets. Piper mostly ignores things now, because she knows if she goes for goose poop, I'll tell her to leave it.


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## Cooper Golden (Jan 11, 2018)

Susan just want to say that Bailey is SO adorable and that note about her using the cone as a shovel made me laugh. What a smart little pup pup!


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## PattyMcN123! (Oct 15, 2017)

Exactly how does the “watch me” work? I have an 11 week old ADHD puppy hehe only kidding about ADHD ( I think)


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## PattyMcN123! (Oct 15, 2017)

Sorry I’m new to the posting part and was reading another post about “watch me” and responded to the wrong thread


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## PattyMcN123! (Oct 15, 2017)

Exactly how does the “watch me” work? I have an 11 week old ADHD puppy hehe only kidding about ADHD ( I think)


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## Neciebugs (Nov 18, 2017)

PattyMcN123! said:


> Exactly how does the “watch me” work? I have an 11 week old ADHD puppy hehe only kidding about ADHD ( I think)




The way we worked on watch me at puppy school and level 1 obedience...

Have a large treat (reward with small pinches of the treat). Hold it at your nose and say "watch me". Maintain eye contact for a few seconds, then bring the treat down to your side and say "release". Reward with a small piece. Do this again, and each time, increase the duration of the watch. eventually she will watch you for as long as you need her to... (within reason). I can Daisy watch for a minute or so... 

Good luck!


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## comiconor (Mar 23, 2018)

Thanks for the tips everyone! 
I'll be working on the default leave it. Sounds excellent. I'm definitely fed up of saying 'leave it' all the time ?


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## smcguirt (May 10, 2017)

Drop it, leave it will eventually work. Leo is a year old and I sometimes wonder does he prefer sticks over food? He just loves a good stick! He will throw it up, carry it around, then plop down and chew away. But drop it will get him to stop and keep moving if we are in a hurry. 

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk


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