# 4 and Still eating EVERYTHING!



## jessme7 (May 29, 2006)

Hi, It has been a while since I have posted on here. I have just gotten quite frustrated:doh: with Marley. He will be 4 years old this month and he is still doing the same things as when we got him at 8 weeks old. 
We have been really good about not leaving socks and small items that he can swallow around. Though he still gets a hold of some things once in a while and we would have to get our hands down his throat to get it out. But we just came back from a 2 week vacation from Asia and had a house/dog sitter for both our goldens. When we got back from our vacation the housesitter told us how great our female Maya was (she never does thing she is not supposed to) but Marley, ate 5 of her socks, a roll of toilet paper, and a big clump of his own fur when she was brushing him. 
When we got home and picked up all the poop in the yard, we found 3 of the socks that he ate. Then in the last two days he pooped out the other two. Marley also still eats big clumps of loose sod that is in the park and also countless other things. It just really makes me feel bad because Marley is the known in our neighborhood that he is the golden that eats everything (the bad dog), and Maya (our female that is the same age) is the "good one". He even steals little dolls, paper towels, anything out of kids hands and eat em. 
I really hoped it was something he would of grown out of but he is 4 already, is this something we will have to live with? :doh::doh::doh::doh::doh:


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## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

Rookie is 3 and will eat a kleenex that lands on the floor. I suspect he probably always will. If I catch him, he will leave it or drop it on command. If I don't catch him, he's going to eat it. He does the same with stuffed animals. And socks. I just don't leave him in situations where he has access to those things. If he's around things like that, I make sure I'm paying attention to him so I can tell him to leave it or drop it.

I don't find it upsetting. A little annoying, sure. But that's just part of who Rookie is.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Brady is now three, and still has his moments, especially if it is anything white and fluffy. He no longer eats socks, but he does destroy them, or plays tug-of-war with MacKenzie with them. It is mostly kleenez, cardboard, and stuffed animals. Just part of what makes him a golden retriever.

MacKenzie is almost a year, she won't eat socks, but steals facecloths, paper towels, toilet rolls, and who knows what else. She will "drop it" when I ask her.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

My 9yo is like that too... and after 2 foreign body removal surgeries, we've only increased his supervision. We have strict management and use a ton of food dispensing toys to help orient him towards appropriate items. 

You can google "Pica" for more information (...and intersting stories!...)


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## jessme7 (May 29, 2006)

Thanks for your reply. I am glad I am not the only one. The thing is that Marley seems to try to swallow things down as fast as he can as soon as he knows that he is caught. Unfortunately we always have to keep hydrogen peroxide and a turkey baster readily available. He even finds a way for things that are too big for him to swallow, swallowable. For example lathering up a tennis ball with his mucous so it would just slide down his throat, Tearing up a long sleeping pants and swallowing it in parts. Is he just always that hungry with a eating obsessive disorder?


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## jessme7 (May 29, 2006)

RedDogs said:


> My 9yo is like that too... and after 2 foreign body removal surgeries, we've only increased his supervision. We have strict management and use a ton of food dispensing toys to help orient him towards appropriate items.
> 
> You can google "Pica" for more information (...and intersting stories!...)


Pica...thanks!
Oh yea...he also still eats his poop. 
Sometimes, or most times...when he cant stomach the sock or whatever he ate and throws it up he would eat it back up again.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Goldens are very mouthy dogs. Most of the time when I grab something from mine, I will actually put one of their bones right in their mouth, and they will happily just continue chewing that. 

I would be concerned about the tennis ball, have you seen the oversized balls? They a bigger so they can't get stuck in their throats.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Lol, why do people continue to name their dogs Marley? I thought the book and movie would have taught you all otherwise! :

Flora eats a lot of stuff too, and she's 1.5 years old. Fortunately not socks, but paper, sticks, leftover food on the street (ick), mud, goose poo... and boy is she FAST about it! It's a golden thing, I guess.


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## jessme7 (May 29, 2006)

kdmarsh said:


> Lol, why do people continue to name their dogs Marley? I thought the book and movie would have taught you all otherwise! .


I know. Actually, I named him before the movie came out and my hubby and I are actually from Hawaii and Bob Marley is quite big there mostly when we were younger. We still listen to him. But we do always say that we have cursed ourselves.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Teaching a retrieve, a drop it, and trading may help, but at this point the behavior has gone on so long it would be a ton of work to change.

A lot of dogs do quickly learn that if people are approaching they should swallow and/or run or their item may get taken away. And with some dogs that can be very very dangerous.

Has he had to get anything surgically removed yet?


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## jessme7 (May 29, 2006)

RedDogs said:


> Teaching a retrieve, a drop it, and trading may help, but at this point the behavior has gone on so long it would be a ton of work to change.
> 
> A lot of dogs do quickly learn that if people are approaching they should swallow and/or run or their item may get taken away. And with some dogs that can be very very dangerous.
> 
> Has he had to get anything surgically removed yet?


No surgeries yet. We have been very very very very lucky. We always say that he has guts of steal. But worried that he may have bowel problems later on in life because of the countless things that he has passed through.
You are right though, I should do some refresher training.


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## jessme7 (May 29, 2006)

Just went for a walk and I had to pull another sock out of him! It's not even a little funny anymore.


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