Teach Yellow Labs not to eat rocks?

Question

We have 2 yellow lab pups [11 months old] and they are eating rocks [pebbles] and throwing them up. How can we train them not to eat rocks?

Answer 1

Believe it or not, this is fairly common. The condition is termed 'Pica', and there are all kinds of theories behind it, from your dog craving some missing 'mineral', to anxiety, to just plain boredom. It can kill your dog, or at the least result in an extremely costly vet bill to remove rocks from the dog's esophagus or intestines. Don't fool around with this. It's a very dangerous activity. Talk to your vet and do some research.
Here are a couple of links regarding this:

http://www.azcentral.com/families/articles/1224wvpetadvice1224Z3.html

http://articles.hotlib.com/show.php?t=8_Tips_to_Help_Prevent_%22Pica%22:_A_Dog_Compulsive_Disorder

http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/pica.jsp

http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/applied-ethology/behaviourproblems/picabeh.html

Good luck!

Cave

Answer 2

Teaching any dog not to consume something is never going to be an easy task,but by removing the problem (meaing the rocks) and replacing it with things that are more for his suiting,(but does not realize it yet) for the dog is clearly the best way to go,but with his/her fettish of rocks that may not be possible at all times since rocks are everywhere..So one other thing that I know will sound dumb but it worked but to find a food item with a terrible taste and make sure you are able to make a large area of rocks the same smell or taste of the food item you chose to use.I used Tobasco sauce to get a dog to stop digging up the fence posts and it worked,it only took a couple of good taste and he left the fence alone for good.Don't over do it on the hot sauce though since it doesn't take much for them.Just let them get the general taste and feel of it and they usually avoid it from then on.Dogs are very smart and don't forget things real fast,although they are very forgiving so don't worry about them holding a grudge against you for to long.

Answer 3

Teach them "Leave it" command. When your labs are trying to pick a rock, say "Leave it" with a stern voice and use the leash to jerk them slightly at the same time. You can also squirt some lemon juice in their mouths at the time when they are trying to pick up some rocks and say "No" or "Leave it".
Make sure that the dogs pay attention to you and look at you. When they do, reward them with a treat for example. In this way they'll learn that picking the rocks does not bring them any good while leaving them brings rewards.

They should learn that pretty fast. Just make sure you're in control and that you have them on a leash while teaching them the behavior. Then you can try using a long lead and eventually they should learn not to pick the rocks even when they're off leash.

Good luck!

Alex

Answer 4

This problem is much more common than you might think, and it is a dangerous one. It is called "pica". It could have very serious effects if your pups eat rocks that they can neither throw up or pass through their digestive system - that happened to our dog.

A number of reasons seem to be connected to this behavior. Are your puppies bored? Are they getting enough exercise? Are they looking for attention? Do they have enough chew toys?

Stopping this behavior can be very difficult once it has started. Scolding does not work. Scolding may even increase the behavior, because it gives your puppies your attention.

These links should help you identify the cause of the behavior and find a way to stop it. You do need to stop it though, as it can be very dangerous, even fatal, for your puppies.

Answer 5

I would say try and keep them away from rocks!! i have a 6 month old pup and although he has loads of teething toys he will still eat anything not nailed down!! only last night he finally threw up a sock he ate ages ago!!
u need to keep a really close eye on them!

Answer 6

Give them good strong teething toys to chew. I would also recomend that you fill your garden with lots of different toys, with a variety of textures, smells and size. This should help keep them away from the pebbles and more interested in the wide variety of toys to play with. I don't think you will ever completely stop labradors eating things they shouldn't; it's just their nutty personalities! Keep watch on them though just incase they do swallow too many, which could cause a serious blockage.
Good luck!

Answer 7

As one above post says you can teach them the leave it command. I use that for my dog since she's prone to sniff and lick.

To start off take a treat and put the treat in your had if your dog grabbed the treat then you say "leave it" and once your dog stops grabbing and trying to get at the treat then open your had and tell the dog to "take it."

The next step is to take a treat and put it in the floor and when your dog tries to get the treat cover the treat with your hand/foot and say "leave it."

Another good one to learn is drop it. So when your dogs put the pebble in their mouth you can say "drop it" and they drop the item.
I don't know exactly how I taught my dog to "drop it" but I know she does it really well.

I prefer take it and/leave it better though because it makes them stop before they get to the actual measure of putting the item in their mouths

You should try both methods either method can be used first. My dog responded well to both methods. It helps a lot when your walking your dog.

To train your dog "leave it" while on a loose leash walk:
Try this in the house by simply putting the leash on and take treats/objects and put them around the house. As your dog approaches the item say "leave it" and reward your dog for when he leaves the item. When I trained my dog (I'm enrolled in a training course) we went into an aisle and put a treat on the group and walked by the treat (with the dog on leash) and when my dog came up to the treat I said "leave it" and she left it. I rewarded her.

Now when we're out walking and she tries to snift @ something I say "leave it" before she actually puts the item in her mouth or licks it and she does. I reward her for it @ the end of the walk after she uses the restroom, which is a overall treat for doing good.

Good Luck :)

Answer 8

Spray the rocks with distilled white vinegar. Make sure it is NOT apple vinegar...just plain white vinegar. It's safe and cheap.

Supervise the pups and only take them out on leash. Teach them a "leave it" command so you can redirect them when you see them go for the rocks.

Get them kongs, stuff them and toss them out in the yard for them to chew and play with. Yogurt, bits of hot dog, shredded cheese, cooked shredded chicken, make great stuffers, so does peanut butter.

Puchase nylabones. You can get them affordably at http://www.frrco.com/121668 If you feel they are lacking something in their diet, try one of the foods out from there as well.

Hope all of this helps. Swallowing pebbles/rocks can be dangerous, deadly, or at the very least lead to expensive emergency surgery, so this needs to be stopped NOW!

http://www.libertydogtraining.com

Answer 9

If you go to your local pet store and look by the puppy stuff there should be some spray that you can buy to spray on rocks (or other things you dont want them chewing on) and when they go to eat them next time the rocks will taste bad, after a few trys of eating "gross rocks" they'll probably give up. Give them something else to chew on then, like a rawhide.

Answer 10

They must be salty. Keep them in an area the rocks aren't. Be careful too, if you use cocoa shell mulch or have a neighbor who might dogs love to eat it. The smell attracts them to it. It will make them sick as well. The pebbles are no real threat. I think they will learn from experience and it wouldn't hurt if you scolded them when they did eat them.