# eating things she shouldn't



## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Have you been to an obedience class with her? You should consider a class where the command 'drop' or 'give' is taught. It is critical that dogs are trained to drop items. If you drop a pill or they grab a mushroom/toadstool it could be a bad seen. Obedience training is important! 

My youngest pup would grab small rocks when we walked her by our flower beds as a small puppy. Our trainer told us that for a dog, if you always go and force them to give up some 'treasure' they picked up, it teaches them to swallow it, so you cannot take it from them. Sometimes they learn to bite you instead. So training to drop, is the best solution....

Good Luck


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## Martin (Feb 21, 2011)

I've been going to a training class with her about once a week for about three years. She's long since passed her Begleithundeprüfung (equivalent of Canine Good Citizen), but I keep going so she stays in practice. "Drop" and "give" haven't been taught there. I'm pretty sure I could teach it to her myself, though. I think I'll work on that tomorrow.


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## Martin (Feb 21, 2011)

A "drop" command will keep her from eating whatever it is if I see it before she swallows, but is there a way to prevent her from picking it up in the first place? She doesn't try to eat things as often as she used to, but she still does it. She will leave things alone if I see it first and tell her to. While I do my best to watch her on walks, sometimes something is hidden in the grass, and in the winter it's too dark to see much on our evening walk. If I didn't let her sniff anything, she wouldn't be able to sneak anything, but I don't know if she'd still do her business then - and it seems a bit cruel to forbid her to ever explore things with her nose.


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