Bella is eating rocks
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 Willoughby used to eat bits of pea gravel when he was a puppy and I had to watch him carefuilly when he was out with me on the patio. We moved to a new location in another city: a townhouse with a very small garden and no pea gravel. He now eats bits of wood that he finds in my garden top soil. Luckily there aren't many of these bits.  I have to watch him as he'll lunge for things as we walk that he shouldn't eat. This is called pica and apparently this is not uncommon among OES. My only remedy has been vigilance and distraction!  |
| My son had the same problem with his Bloodhound. He noticed that his dog (Copper) quit eating his food. He took him to the vet and the xray's showed he had eaten 6 rocks...one of which was obstructing his bowel. He had to have surgery to remove it. My son put up a fence too, so that Copper couldn't get to the rocks....no luck...he just climbed over it to get to the rocks. Next...he got come heavy duty canvas material and put it over the rocks and staked down the edges....well....the dog ate the canvas to get to the rocks. My son tried everything he could to get him to stop. Someone told him to put a copper penny in his water becasue he may be lacking minerals.....Nope....didn't work. So.....for a while...Copper had to be supervised while in the backyard. He ate a few more rocks...passed them ok...then he eventually just stopped eating them. I don't know why some dogs have a taste for rocks. Hopefully someone else here can give you more advice than I am able to. I hope you figure out a way to get Bella to quit. Good Luck!! |
| Be very careful that she doesn't get an obstruction.
Rocks can be dangerous not to mention costly if surgery is required. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... icleid=162 You might see if applying a bad taste to the rocks will dissuade her from eating them. If you're consistent for a week or two, maybe she'll loose interest. I agree with the advice about supervision along with a stern "leave it" even before she can get a rock in her mouth. You might also leave a leash on her so you can make the correction. AND have some special outdoor toys she only gets when she's outdoors (it's called distraction  ).
Dogs... they can be such knuckleheads and I DEFINITELY include my bunch in saying that. |
| I lost my first sheepdog to rock eating. I wasn't forceful in stopping the behavior......she was bored. She needed more stimulation and exercise, but I was at the university from 7 a.m. to 6 pm, trying to run the house and preparing to sell the house and move down here with DH. She finally ate enough to get a blockage at midnight (thankfully I checked on her for some reason that night......saved her from a horrible death) and even though CSU vet med was just around the corner, she died a day later. At least they could control her pain.
Pups love to carry things around in their mouth. Replace the rock with an acceptable toy. Eventually wean the toy away, exercise the daylights out of the dog and correct the rock behavior immediately. I believe Cesar Milan had an episode on a dog who was crazy for rocks......it was a mature dog, not a pup. |
| Paco loves rocks and dirt also. In fact, he prefers dirt from flower pots over his food (I'm also feeding Iams large breed puppy chow). The bitter spray hasn't seemed to work for him. Alas, I am stuck constantly watching him like a hawk. Each time I hear him crunching a rock I give a firm "NO" and take it out of his mouth. It hasn't deterred him so far, but I'm hoping he will eventually grow out of it. |
| Hudson has a thing for rocks as well. Since the first day we brought him home he snarfs up everything that is outside. He's 21 wks now and it's a constant watch with him. It's not just rocks though, acorns, leaves, clumps of dirt ... whatever is outside. We have a fenced in yard but I feel bad that I can't let him off leash because he snarfs up everything and he'll swallow things before you can reach him. If I put him in a pen (with toys) on the grass he eats all the grass and if I put the pen on the stone he'll gnaw at the stone. He's fed Fromm Family Lge breed puppy and has a clean bill of health as well. I find it difficult taking him to parks, lake or just on a walk. He's been nicknamed "snarf-a-lupagus".
I know Canine Pica comes in all forms but the vet doesn't suggest that. I'm hoping it's more of a puppy thing and he's just tasting everything through his mouth and will one day just grow out of it. I might try spraying bitter apple on some rocks in hopes he makes the association that rocks taste bad and stops snarfing. |
| Yea, Bella has slowed down on the rock munching but we found her eating dirt the other day. Her current thing is tree bark. I was trimming brush on Saturday and she would grab a branch that I had cut off, run around the yard with it for a bit and then lay down and eat the branch. I guess she either wants more fiber or she's part beaver. We are hoping that it's a puppy thing. |
| I think it is usually a stupid puppy thing. Nigel will pick up anything he sees on the floor. Our dog run is all pea gravel, so we have to constantly watch him when we take him out. He never tries to eat the rocks so far, drops them right away when I make the ah ah noise.
I swear it's worse than having a toddler. I walk around the house with him on a leash now, as the play pen is starting to get too small and boring for him now. He tries to eat the leash too. good luck Wendy |
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