# Eating everything outside!



## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Cute picture. Rukie outgrew the picking up everything except the rabbit poo:frown2: I don't think mouthing an occasional stick or leaves (as long as they aren't poisonous) will hurt him but I would keep him on the leash to try and prevent it. I sometimes gave Rukie a good size stick with bark removed to teethe on and just took it away when it started to crumble.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Yes, he will get by it - as long as you keep preventing him from doing it now. Bring him out on leash only, don't let him out there on his own, don't give him the opportunity to develop he habit. It will take until he is about 8-9 months old, but it is worth it.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

This is one way dogs investigate things. Can't break my dogs from eating goose poop, like m&ms for them.


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## ctassoni (Dec 3, 2018)

Our 16 week old pup puts EVERYTHING in his mouth whether he's in the backyard or out for a walk (or in the house)! His nose is like a little dust buster moving along the ground! We try to take him out on the leash most or put him on the lead even though our backyard is fenced in. When he's running and playing off the leash/lead we make sure to be out there with him to extract the things he shouldn't have in his mouth!

When he comes out of the crate in the morning or when we get home he always brings something with him - his blanket, a toy, a slipper! This morning after he ate breakfast he went into the living room and pulled the full size blanket right off the couch and brought it to me. He's such a good boy!! LOL!


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## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

So normal. I would watch him, but not worry too much. I wouldn't let him eat rabbit poop, or things like rocks. But otherwise, he's going to chew sticks and stuff, and generally that's not a problem. Just don't let him out there alone, and if he gets something you're concerned about, take it away and give him something better. I don't think you have to keep him on a leash. 

One thing I'd do is practice recall A LOT, so that if he's out of reach and gets something you want to take away, you'll be able to get him to come to you and give it up. With our puppies we make a huge game out of coming when called, and giving up whatever they have in their mouths.

For recall, we use two people. We stand some distance apart with lots of wonderful treats on us, and we take turns calling the puppy. the puppy quickly learns that to run back and forth between us when called, and he gets a treat and tons of high pitched praise and petting whenever he comes. They LOVE this game. As the puppy gets it, we move farther apart, until we are on different sides of the house, or someplace where he can't see both of us, and we do the same game. Puppies learn very fast that coming when called is fantastic fun!

For giving things up, we practice ahead of time, before there are problem items. We give them something harmless that they shouldn't have but that they like. I usually use a paper towel, as puppies love to tear them up and it's harmless and not too high value. So, I'll give him the paper towel, and then tell him to "give," and simultaneously offer him a super high value treat (we use pieces of chicken, or liver treats, or something very high value). When he gives up the paper towel, he gets the treat and tons of praise. And then, importantly, I give the towel back to him. So he learns that giving it up doesn't necessarily mean he loses out on it, but just that he gets something good. This is why I use something harmless. I always give it back at this stage. I then practice with other things, sometimes returning it, sometimes not, until he's totally comfortable giving up whatever he has in his mouth.

Then I combine the two. We will repeat the recall exercise after giving him a harmless object. When he runs to me with the object, I will hold the treat and give him the command "give." At this point it's pretty obvious to the puppy, and he drops whatever he has to get the treat. We do this over and over as a huge game, until it is second nature to the puppy. When you reach that point, you have a puppy who will gleefully run right to you and give up whatever they have. At which point, you can feel pretty safe with him off leash in a yard full of stuff he's not supposed to have.

You can get to this point within a week or so of rigorous training. They catch on very quickly, and it's a hugely fun game.

That's a lot, sorry for the length.


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## nancie (Aug 4, 2018)

Join the club hahaha. My pup is the same, and I've been constantly reinforcing leave it, but generally I've had to keep him on a leash unless I know for sure that the area is clean etc. He's starting to understand leaving things while on the walk, but usually I have to steer him away as well as the temptation can still be very strong... for anything, for leaves wafting in the wind, for empty wrappers, etc. He's 7 months now, but he's also very very oral. He will even try to get the dried bird poop on the floor which is stuck to the ground, he'll lick at it even if he can't grab and eat it. Just whaat?

It's a work in progress, keep at the good training and just supervise. Usually I can let my pup off leash if I have good treats, because he will drop anything for real food.


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## kmalm (Feb 8, 2019)

Thanks so much! We're already doing a lot of this, very similarly to how you described. I'm finding that he's smart enough to know that when we're "training" he knows exactly what to do and will do what I want every single time. To a point where if we're working on "leave it," I could literally throw a steak in front of him and he wouldn't touch it because he knows what I'm doing. It's getting him to apply these commands in daily situations that is a struggle. I know he's young and it will come with time and patience but I know he knows the commands, it's just that he weighs the value of each situation, sometimes it's worth it to listen and sometimes it's not.....at this point. I'm trying to do more real-world application based training and I'm seeing improvement so I know he will be great eventually, but this stage can be challenging


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## Otter (Feb 23, 2011)

I have nothing to add really but...

Just wanted to say Pebbles just turned 7 and she is a literal vacuum cleaner outside. 
Sandy isn't too bad. At least she'll "give" when I tell her to.
Barkley wasn't a vacuum. 
Nellie was to a degree. 
Henry was a massive vacuum. His thing was small acorns. Loved eating them.
Giggles loved eating loafs of bread (don't ask) and opening the fridge and eating anything she could get to out of the freezer; she learned how to open it - we had to put a baby lock on it.

I blame the trainer.


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## Valhalla09 (Jan 26, 2019)

Ragnar is doing the same thing. It is cute but time consuming when you want them to go potty outside. I am thinking you live in the same province as me as we also had that wind storm. Oh that was fun because leaves were blowing the dried plants and grasses in my garden were moving in that wind and don't even get me started on the sticks!! LOL


My previous golden ALWAYS chewed sticks in the yard, till the day he passed. I figure the sticks I have piled when I clean my lawn are a toybox. As a puppy, Odin also pounced on everything and tried to eat everything outside but it did pass.


By the way, I believe our goldens were you mentioned that our pups were born on the same day. Did you happen to get your him near Toronto? I am wondering if they are littermates.


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## MushyB (Oct 31, 2018)

Sweet Girl said:


> Yes, he will get by it - as long as you keep preventing him from doing it now. Bring him out on leash only, don't let him out there on his own, don't give him the opportunity to develop he habit. It will take until he is about 8-9 months old, but it is worth it.


Our now 4-month old (18 weeks yesterday) is pretty much the same, although it's much better than it was when he was 12 weeks. He's doing much better with "leave it" outside, although it's 50/50 instead of 90/10 :grin2: 

I agree with this advice; what's worked best for us is going outside for potty on a leash, every time, and constant monitoring by an adult (love our kids but even at 8 and 11, we don't expect them to be watching him like a hawk every second he's outside, which is what he needs right now, just like they need to be outside to run and play). The big reason for the leash for us is more because of the digging that had started (here in lovely Northern CA we've had a ton of rain and the ground is nice and soft, perfect for digging for a curious puppy...sigh...my husband knows there's a lot of reseeding in our future) and we wanted to better manage instead of yelling "no!!", and turning it into a game for him.

It does get better!! But it takes more time. Hang in there!! Good luck!! (and take lots of photos; they get big so fast!!)


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## kmalm (Feb 8, 2019)

No we actually live in MA, just outside of Boston


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## kmalm (Feb 8, 2019)

Valhalla09 said:


> Ragnar is doing the same thing. It is cute but time consuming when you want them to go potty outside. I am thinking you live in the same province as me as we also had that wind storm. Oh that was fun because leaves were blowing the dried plants and grasses in my garden were moving in that wind and don't even get me started on the sticks!! LOL
> 
> 
> My previous golden ALWAYS chewed sticks in the yard, till the day he passed. I figure the sticks I have piled when I clean my lawn are a toybox. As a puppy, Odin also pounced on everything and tried to eat everything outside but it did pass.
> ...



No we actually live in MA, just outside of Boston and got him in NH.


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## mp2005 (Jul 17, 2018)

Mine is 5 months now and is WAY better now, but when I first got him, I was worried I'd never be able to take him outside to play because he ate absolutely EVERYTHING he could find. He still loves tasting grass and chewing on mulch occasionally, but he no longer tries to eat pebbles mouthfuls at a time


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## Lincgold (May 11, 2018)

Such a cutie. My 7 mos old, Bear, will pick up something in the house and luckily, he comes over to us with it in his mouth as if to ask, “can I have this?” If we don’t notice him with the object in his mouth, he will actually go out of his way to catch our attention. We usually just thank him for it. I have a collection of sturdy small sticks by the door. When we go out always on a leash, I will give him one. He’s usually content to hold it in his mouth and most of the time ignores the smaller twigs. I think for now you should keep him on a leash when outside and be consistent each and every time with the “leave it” command. It’ll get better.


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## CbJax (Jan 12, 2019)

kmalm said:


> No we actually live in MA, just outside of Boston


Me too I am in JP.


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## brocksmom (Feb 17, 2019)

My 4mo old is doing same. I've taught him "drop" and he gets a mini treat when he does. It's all so new for them & popping everything into their mouths is how they learn about things.


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