# why is my puppy doing this?



## ewelsh (Jan 26, 2011)

Why does my puppy english springer spaniel Lucy chew anything which is stone............. she grinds her teeth on all the walls, slab stone floor fire place and every single patio slab................. but the worst thing is she loves little stones and I have a massive drive covered in stones and all the paths around the garden are stones so I can hardly pick every one up........... I am trying to stop her, naturally! and taking to her the lawn areas but she's finding them there to... as you can imagin I am almost walking on my hands and knees with her around the garden watching what she is putting in her mouth and frantically flipping them out when she does find one....................

is it just teething????????

also she is really being cheeky with my other 2 dogs.. biting nipping them and actually running up and barking at them.. she is really full of it... so far my terrier has taken every nip and attack with no reaction apart from jumping out of the way and my lab is walking around with her eyes permanently on her back side incase lucy comes up from behind! 

So should I stop her barking and going for them.. I feel she will be put in her place soon enough quite rightly so as she is being very bossy, but I am frightened one of them will hurt her as she is so little...

any help warmly welcomed


----------



## chrisrandall (Mar 6, 2011)

well im no expert but am about to go from the one dog to two on saturday so have been reading up a little bit. I would say its normal to expect the puppy to be full of beans and want to play all the time etc etc, im sure at some point like you say she will get put in her place by the older members lol, i wouldnt worry to much, just make sure that the older dogs do have some where (that they choose) that they can get some time alone to chill out lol!!

as for the stone issue i dont really have any advice. Sorry!!! well apart from a newly laid brick/tarmac drive way hahaha


----------



## ClaireandDaisy (Jul 4, 2010)

A Springer is pretty much hard-wired to find and fetch, so why not use this drive and initiate games. Hide toys for her to bring you. Play little tuggy or chase games? Interactive play is so much more fun than stone chewing. :wink:


----------



## Manoy Moneelil (Sep 1, 2011)

Sounds like teething that can become a learned habit through boredom, Give an interesting chew toy, after a week swap it for another one, hide the first for a few weeks - a bit like crop rotation. The toy is swapped and appears again and it's new/remembered old toy again.


----------



## ewelsh (Jan 26, 2011)

Oh dear......................

I have not made myself clear in my question, as the last 2 reply's insinuate lack of FUN given by myself.... resulting in boredom.

My puppy is 7 weeks and 3 days old and I am out in the gardens potty training.. the stones are distracting her from doing her toilet jobs and this chewing in doors is happening in between play and lots of it!!!!! 

I also don't think a 7 week puppy can find hidden items buried under a drive just yet.

My question was why such an infactuation with stone? is it because of teething?????


----------



## Manoy Moneelil (Sep 1, 2011)

> is it just teething????????


7-8 weeks is a bit young for teething, but given another month...

..so you are right to address this.

You might choose a reward method of training by rewarding the dog when she gives you a stone. Personally I would communicate that all stones/paving slabs belong to you (I did this with shoes), when she is seen with a stone you claim it by taking the stone with a grrrrrrrr! and body blocking - put yourself in between her and the interesting stone.

The other dogs will correct her when she plays too rough.

When that happens don't leap to rescue either side.



> I am frightened one of them will hurt her as she is so little...


The escalation will be a lip curl and show teeth, then a grrrrrrrrrrrrr then a snap - probably an air snap. The pup will cower, show submission and get the message quickly. Dogs to not hold a grudge, pity humans are so reluctant to use doggie language to correct a pup that is breaking the house rules.


----------



## grandad (Apr 14, 2011)

ewelsh said:


> Oh dear......................
> 
> I have not made myself clear in my question, as the last 2 reply's insinuate lack of FUN given by myself.... resulting in boredom.
> 
> ...


My springer did this for a while. I thought it was teething to,but he used to pass them as well. He eventually grew out of it. I used to worrry that he would cause a blockage, but he never did. The only thing I used to do was to catch him and say NO! loudly. Watch you don't make it into a game of chase though. I used to call him to me if he had anything in his mouth and make him give it up. Didn't matter what it was and reward him with a bone. Much nicer and tastier than stones. He also turned into a perfect retriever.


----------



## ewelsh (Jan 26, 2011)

Thank you Manoy & grandad,

That advice was perfect and answered my question.............. good idea with the claiming the stone lark as she was at my fire place last night which I want to stop before a fire is up and running in the winter...............secondly the noise is awful

So my next question is, if I am taking the stones out of her mouth as soon as I spot one going in..................... how do I make her drop it, as I've said drop a million times, but trying to get it out of her mouth is becoming a fun game to her and I can't sit there waiting for her to drop it then offer a praise as I fear she will swollow the stones before hand.......... bit of a chicken egg situation.., but my word those little teeth are sharphmy:

Your right about the other dogs........... she is pushing her luck and will be put in her place soon, I need to chill a little more and trust nature... at least now I know the signs to watch out for...........

I never had these problems with my other 2, the terrier just took to my Lab puppy and mothered her with gentleness which is why I appear nervous.

so 1000 thanks for taking the time to reply.


----------



## TheFredChallenge (Feb 17, 2011)

Hiya,

My lab has done this since he was small and grinds in the garden on loose rocks. He even has his favourites which he'll hunt for amongst the rest!!! I did the NO! thing, followed by just swapping it with something else he can do it to (as it used to become a 'chase me' game) or playing an alternative game - but he still did it so I played the ignoring game as the stones were too big to swallow. He still does it but we're at the point where he'll fetch it, go lie down with it, grind very briefly (seconds) and then just gives up. I think he's growing out of it finally. I was checking his teeth to make sure there was no visible damage but it was just a habit he like to do.  Hope yours stops soon


----------



## victoriaaa (Jun 8, 2011)

My english spaniel liked stones as a puppy too.. i was forever getting them out of her mouth!

It stopped eventually though..think she just grew out of it.. its alot worse when your gettin slugs out their mouths trust me ..erghhh!


----------



## ewelsh (Jan 26, 2011)

Hi Victoriaaa

Oh lovely another ESS lover................ Lucy is the first ESS I have had and I must say she is rather a handful............. the stone obsession is getting better she now likes a particular rose bush stub......!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you have other dogs or cats???? because Lucy is growling at them and actually attacks them and me, I think she believes her name is NO now!!!! Ha no fear at all................. any tips warmly welcomed


----------



## Mumbles (Apr 17, 2011)

My Toodles did the same, though only one with fireplace brick then didn't once i had told him not to. But we had loose pebbles at end of garden and i ended up going through it all picking up all the stones, just so that he didn't have so many to choose from. He still found the odd one that he chewed on, but kinda ended up just growing out of it in the end.

Though now he seems to find other stuff like shoes and socks grrr.


----------



## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

It could be her body is telling her to eat things with minerals in, she'll be growing fast and needing them. I'd get her a mineral supplement.


----------



## ClaireandDaisy (Jul 4, 2010)

ewelsh said:


> Oh dear......................
> 
> I have not made myself clear in my question, as the last 2 reply's insinuate lack of FUN given by myself.... resulting in boredom.
> 
> ...


A little sharp considering we were trying to help? 
The puppy doesn`t know you want to get back in to watch the tv or do your crossword or whatever. Do you really think a puppy or a child distinguishes from `jobs` and play? I suggest you get a good puppy book and try to get your head round the mind-set of a baby animal.


----------



## victoriaaa (Jun 8, 2011)

ewelsh said:


> Hi Victoriaaa
> 
> Oh lovely another ESS lover................ Lucy is the first ESS I have had and I must say she is rather a handful............. the stone obsession is getting better she now likes a particular rose bush stub......!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you have other dogs or cats???? because Lucy is growling at them and actually attacks them and me, I think she believes her name is NO now!!!! Ha no fear at all................. any tips warmly welcomed


Jessie still likes the plants in my garden and she is one now!! I only have a rabbit.. but Jessie doesnt interact with other dogs.. until recently she used to bark and them constantly on walks.. she was very timid. Now i can just about get her to walk past them in silence if i focus. She's the total opposite to the other spaniel i owned in the past but i wouldnt change her for the world. Best of luck.. keep me updated id love to see some pictures xx


----------



## ewelsh (Jan 26, 2011)

ClaireandDaisy said:


> A little sharp considering we were trying to help?
> The puppy doesn`t know you want to get back in to watch the tv or do your crossword or whatever. Do you really think a puppy or a child distinguishes from `jobs` and play? I suggest you get a good puppy book and try to get your head round the mind-set of a baby animal.


I do not know where I have mentioned I wanted to get back in to watch the tv etc.............................maybe you need to double check what the poster's question is......................#You have to be the most aggressive poster on this site and I am sick of you putting me DOWN and many others who seek constructive advice or help. I am sure you do not have ALL the correct answers nor do I.


----------

