# Puppy eats rocks and stones



## vickieb (Nov 22, 2010)

is this a normal thing........ he is 10 weeks old Lab.... 

he is always snuffling about the garden when he is out to go to the loo, and he picks up stones and eats them!!!!! Im worried about his tummy! as I am not used to puppy antics (1st time puppy owner)...

Is this a normal thing for pups to do, and will he be ok? They are only smallish ones, not big bolders or anything

Thanks, from a worried new puppy mum


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## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

This WILL kill him


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## vickieb (Nov 22, 2010)

JESUS H! ummmmm ok. wasnt expecting a reply like that.....

but how on earth can you stop dogs from picking stuff up?



hawksport said:


> This WILL kill him


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## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

I know so many that have either died or had to have major surgery to have them removed. Only last year I had a Weimaraner in puppy class die from eating them. Remove the stne, keep him on lead, muzzle him do what ever it takes. My own dog swallowed a piece of corn cob a few months ago and wasn't expected to survive.


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2011)

Agree with hawksport here. Someone I know nearly lost their dog through this, as it was, they had to have a major operation.


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## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

While we are on the subject gloves, sock ect can have the same effect.


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## vickieb (Nov 22, 2010)

yeh, the house is clear of stuff that he shouldnt eat..... Its just the constant snuffling outside......

he picks up EVERYTHING..... leaves, twigs, and stones.



hawksport said:


> While we are on the subject gloves, sock ect can have the same effect.


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## SPUDSMUM (Aug 8, 2010)

vickieb said:


> yeh, the house is clear of stuff that he shouldnt eat..... Its just the constant snuffling outside......
> 
> he picks up EVERYTHING..... leaves, twigs, and stones.


I have a 7 month old lab and he was just the same ... Stones were his favourite although I dont actually think he ate any  He also ate leaves, twigs (which he still does) and some other disgusting things that I will not mention.

We taught him the "leave it" command ... takes time but you need to be patient and consistent. Tell him leave it and take the stone from his mouth ... needs close supervision whilst training this out of him ... as I said he now 7 months old and he dosent eat stones anymore, although he will carry them around occasionaly.

The other thing we used to do with him was let him go for a wee and then have a game of fetch with a ball or chase ... just distracts them from the snuffling around :thumbup:

Failing that (and we did this in certain areas of our garden) ... take the stones up :thumbsup:

Good luck and enjoy your little pup as believe me they grow soooooo quick


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2011)

vickieb said:


> yeh, the house is clear of stuff that he shouldnt eat..... Its just the constant snuffling outside......
> 
> he picks up EVERYTHING..... leaves, twigs, and stones.


Leaves and twigs can go through the system and out the other end 
Stones rarely do


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## keirk (Aug 9, 2010)

Jack does this. 

Last month he had a lucky escape - he swallowed a stone (we didnt know this at the time). A few hours later he was looking quite poorly - puking, not eating or drinking, no bowel movements, shaking, listless. Took him to the vets - they thought it was gastroenteritis. The next morning (after eating a load of grass) he managed to push out a poo with a smooth white stone about the size of a conker (followed by a wad of grass which I'm guessing helped it thru). Luckily it was smooth.

We had a large area of pebbles in our back garden (about 15 sq meters) which we have removed (still need to lay patio slabs down - currently have a large mud pit  )

You need to be really consistent with the "drop it" training. Dont just grab stuff out his mouth - this will just make him swallow before you can get it - always "trade" for a treat. 

HTH


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2011)

I agree with the others - I have a 'leave' command when she looks like she's going for something I don't want her to have and 'swap you' when she has something I want in exchange for a treat. Like someone else said if I try to grab what she's got she'll just swallow it as fast as she can. Only very rarely will she not do the swap, and like yours McKenzie used to eat EVERYTHING when she was younger.


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## vickieb (Nov 22, 2010)

thanks guys, I will change my tactic from running after him (I see this is a silly thing to do now) and try the treat / Drop it...... 

the stones are really quite small...... more gravel like...... they just sound massive when he is chewing them!


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## CheekoAndCo (Jun 17, 2009)

My friend has to muzzle her cocker because she eats anything. She has had major surgery twice because of it and one time they removed a pile of gritty rock and berries from the trees from her stomach. If they had waited any longer she would have died. Sadly people think she's an agressive dog because of the muzzle but it's that or she dies really


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## ballybee (Aug 25, 2010)

My aunts 11 month old lab had surgery on Monday to remove 2 pretty large stones from 2 different parts of his bowel...cost her £3500 for the operation and treatment she's very lucky she took him to the vets when she did.

My pup used to pick up stones and hold them in his mouth but never swallowed them, still taught him leave it which ow works well with anything thats not a stick or cow poop


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## BubsyBear (Apr 23, 2010)

I had to muzzle my lab as well because he would eat anything that would fit in his mouth! He also had a really bad problem with eating poo which I wont go into, but it helped with this as well. I know a lot of people don't like muzzling their dogs, but if its the cost of a muzzle vs the cost of surgery or the chance of losing your dog then it has got to be worth it.


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## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

I bet you are glad you asked now


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## ChatterPuss (Sep 4, 2010)

vickieb said:


> yeh, the house is clear of stuff that he shouldnt eat..... Its just the constant snuffling outside......
> 
> he picks up EVERYTHING..... leaves, twigs, and stones.


My 13 week springer is just the same. when we let him out for a wee he thinks it's great to grab stones, leaves, mouthfuls of leaves and branches off the bushes (still attached until he grabs them as he runs passed).


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## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

I also had this problem with Kilo - the treat and some praise in exchange for dropping whatever he has works brilliantly. We are at the stage where things are now dropped in anticipation of a treat /praise like a game. He will leave anything bar horse poo now!


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## hazel pritchard (Jun 28, 2009)

One of my dogs used to eat stones as a puppy, so i bought a big pot of white pepper and sprinkled it all over the places in the garden where there were stones, after a couple of attempts to eat the stones again he soon stopped, another thing i did with him is i gave him a toy to hold everytime he went out in the garden, I fully understand how frustrating it is when you have a dog like this.


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## DKDREAM (Sep 15, 2008)

If i where you id look at your dogs diet, as I have heard of some dogs doing this when lacking something in their diet. I would also recommend you getting a muzzle as it will stop him doing this. Their is a name for this called Pica Syndrome

http://hubpages.com/hub/Pica-in-dogs


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