# Consistent Stone Eating....Help!



## Rocco2010 (May 9, 2010)

Hi all

Im new to this site and in desperate need of some help! I have a 16 week old English Springer Spaniel called Rocco. Strangely when my partner and I were trying to think of a name for our pup, we were saying we should really pick a name that suited his personality. After much thinking and umming and arrring, we settled with Rocco. Not because it suited his personality but because it was a more manly name than anything else we could think of lol. But now it seems to suit him very well!
Rocco keeps consistently eating stones!!! When we take him out he picks them up off the footpath and field, when we take him in the garden to play he picks them up and runs around with them. He has even started to pick the cat litter up (Clean cat litter, not soiled). If it is a chalky type stone he eats it outright, but anything else he just chews on then spits out. My B/F and I try to make him realise its a bad thing what he's doing by using the 'No' command and the 'Leave' command, even 'Drop it' but it isnt seeming to get through to him, sometimes he drops the stone but other times he gets over excited and runs around in a hype. My neighbour said he heard that dogs sometimes eat stones when they are due to be wormed, but Rocco is up to date with his worming and vaccs. Please Help!!

Jade xx


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## hutch6 (May 9, 2008)

When you take the stones out if his mouth then to him that is the end of the game ge wants to play. He picked up a stone, you wanted the stone so you chased him, he loved being chased but when you finally caught him you took the stone off of him and possibly told him off.

Next time he picks up a stone chase him, but make sure you have a tennis ball on you. As soon as you take the stone out of his mouth give him the tennis ball and then chase him. Roll the tennis ball and encourage him to get it by racing him to it and chasing him again when he gets it. Once you gave him running after the ball and picking it up,walk the other way and ignore him if he runs to a corner of the garden or room. He will eventually brung you the ball to try and get you to chase him again. Don't. Just praise him and carry on doing what you were doing. You need to wait for him to release the ball. Then it is big praises and roll the ball again. Wait for him to bring it back to chase him and drop it again. Big praises and roll the ball.

Hey presto you have gone from chasing to playing fetch.

He does the cat litter stufffor attention. Tell him no and get the ball out for a bit and give him the right kind of attention.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Rocco2010 said:


> ...16-WO ESSl Rocco ...consistently (eats) stones!!! ...he picks them up off the footpath and field,
> ...(while) in the garden to play he picks them up and runs around with them. [snip]...
> If it is a chalky-stone he eats it outright... anything else he... chews ...then spits out.


what color is he, jade? 
i ask because *RED + White* or *Fawn + White* (dilute of red) are the colors most-often associated with rage-syndrome 
in Springers, and this can be associated with various OCD behaviors - pika, tail-chasing, etc.

bad news - 
rock-chewing *and swallowing* can both be OCD - i would invest in a *box-muzzle with an overhead-strap*, 
to prevent him from pulling the muzzle off his face, as a safety precaution while U try to find a pro to help; 
teaching him to wear a muzzle happily and put it on his own face is easy. 
YouTube - Muzzle Training

ABRIonline.com has *jean donaldson* teaching a dog to put on her own muzzle, too.

a pos-R trainer with experience of other OCD-behaviors may help, 
CALMATIVES are strongly recommended - post #22 of the *dog body language sticky* lists calmatives + admin of same; 
a vet-behaviorist may be needed, for prescription psych-drugs.

swallowing rocks can be lethal - it is not too silly to take the dog to the vet, and ask for a physical exam to see if they palpate 
anything - a rigid abdominal wall, a sagging stomach with pebbles in it, etc. 
if they feel something, an X-ray is the next step.

even rock-CHEWING can shatter or crack teeth, leading to abcesses and tooth loss, pain, infection, etc.

here is a wire PADDED police-muzzle with an overhead strap - 
Padded Wire Dog Muzzle - Hard Dogs Working Wire Muzzle : Dog muzzle, Leather dog muzzles, Wire dog muzzle, dog muzzle training, Basket dog muzzle, small dog muzzle, Dog leashes 
the padding is silly, more open-wire means more air = less risk of over-heating; 
TUBE *aka* GROOMERS muzzles are extremely dangerous, do not use them! 
they can cause heat-stress or heat-stroke, seizures, brain-damage, paralysis, deafness, ataxia, etc.

the bottom muzzle of this pair has NO overhead strap - 
Wire Basket Muzzle 
which means the dog can hook a thumb on it, + yank it off their face - not good, not safe; 
ONE success, + for days or weeks the dog digs at the muzzle trying to repeat that success.

hopefully the pup has not yet swallowed any, but i would not bet the farm - 
or the dogs life or health; if he were my pup, we;d go to the vet... just in case.  
paws crossed, 
--- terry


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