# Solution for pulling up grass, eating grass, moss and mulch as well as digging



## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

I taught my 12 week old puppy to trade, I always try to have some yummy treats in my pocket or hands, when he starts to rip into the grass, I ask him if he wants to trade up, show him the treat, he loves string cheese, usually he will spit out what he has in his mouth and run over for the treat. It doesn't always work but more times then not I can distract him. Don't have an answer for the nipping, maybe he is just frustrated and that is his way to tell you.


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## GoldenIke (Jun 28, 2018)

Very common issue and something I've dealt with plenty of myself. 

It's mostly resource guarding behavior. I never go outside with Ike (14 weeks) without kibble and treats in my pocket now because that's how I am teaching him "drop it" 

That said, I've noticed that the less interested I am in taking away what he picks up, the less likely he is to spend much time with it. I have a lot of big trees in my yard and the bark comes off them in the summer, so Ike absolutely loves to pick up the bark and chew it/eat it. 

Initially, every time I saw him go to pick up a stick or dirt, etc. I would try to pull him away from there or take it away from him, which just made him want those things more. I was obviously making a mistake there. 

He bit me on the hand pretty hard 2-3 weeks ago because he wouldn't stop with the sticks - so I picked him up to take him in and went to pull the stick out and he gave me a pretty aggressive bite in return that broke skin. I almost dropped him because he bit me so hard. 

Ever since then, I've been offering kibble/small treats for good behavior and he knows it always comes from my hands - so when I put my hands near his face now to take something away, he gives it up much more easily because he's anticipating a trade for something better. 

GR puppies are going to eat some grass and dirt and chew some sticks. The first thing we have to do is just accept that we'll never be able to prevent our puppies from _everything_ and have to pick and choose our battles a little bit. I definitely wouldn't give him free reign - but I also wouldn't drive myself crazy trying to take that stuff away from him every time he goes near it. It just adds value to those things in his eyes if you place such strong emphasis on it. I look at him now and just say "you want to pick up a stick or some grass? Be my guest - they're everywhere and what you have is nothing special. I have something better here..." and usually all I have to do is reach for my pocket and he just lets go of what he has and sits down in front of me. 

It takes some patience and time, but he'll get there. Try some hand feeding at meal time as well. The more he associates your hands with things he wants, the less aggressive he will be when you need to take something away from him that he shouldn't be eating/chewing. 

It's the old "don't bite the hand that feeds you" saying.  

Now that Ike knows how often I have food/treats for him in my hand, he is very, very hesitant to do anything but nibble at my hands lightly. He restrains himself from biting hard even when he's riled up. I can see it. When he's overtired, he gets more bratty and mouthy, but generally these techniques have worked quite well for me. 

Best of luck.


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

Keep a leash on your pup and a pocked full of treats. When they snatch at something give the leash a quick tug and begin calling the pup to you while you run backwards. Get real excited when they begin to move in your direction. Reward when they get to you. Use this as an opportunity to train "come". This way you are rewarding the behavior you want vs a power struggle on what you don't want.

I always rewarded even if she had a mouth full of something. She must let go to get the reward (can't do both at the same time) and always thank my girl for bring it to me. Before long they will let go of anything they pick up as you are pleased with this and it gets rewarded. Otherwise you are teaching her she must protect anything she picks up and soon will be chasing her down to get it. You have joined the game she has created  So make a new game by keeping the leash on so you have control. They learn quickly so soon you will be playing YOUR game and not hers.

When in the house reinforce this game by giving a treat for giving up her toy then give the toy back to her. There is no reason to "protect" the object if she understands it will be returned to her. Resource guarding is a learned behavior, teach her to trust her.


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## Jrsygrl (Aug 9, 2017)

Thank you all for your advice. I will definitely keep a leash on him when in the yard and have treats on hand.


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## NJGoldenMom (Jan 11, 2018)

Mia is 7 months old and still loves to eat grass and moss. She will drop acorns and rocks when I ask her to do so, but she will not relinquish the moss...even for a treat. I don't know what it is about that stuff. She actually knows where the mossiest patches of the yard are and will try to get to them whenever possible. It does make it hard to just sit with her outside. She would rather eat grass than play in her baby pool even! I've come to accept this is just something she does and I hope she outgrows it eventually. (She has finally stopped eating rocks.) If she takes too big a mouthful, then I will pry it out of her mouth. It isn't easy but thankfully she allows me to do it!


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