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chewing bark

rocky

rocky

Well-known member
vegas is driving me mad i have a lovely back garden all enclosed for him to run around in but all he wants to do is chew and sometimes eat the bark if i see him i always take it out his mouth but sometimes he beats me to it and has already ate a little i'm worried that this can be harmful to him unfortunately i can't take it out the garden as there is too much we got rid of the grass last year and it is all chipped and barked with slabs very low maintenance which is great although vegas is making it high maintenance at the moment he also chews the stones but my hubbie assures me he wont swallow them but i,m not so sure, can you please advise what to do
 
Someone needs to be out minding him at this age when he is outside -- both stones and bark can be very dangerous if he swallows or chews on them. Stones are one of the most common items to cause intestinal obstructions and this can be life threatening. Chunks of bark could also do this. Stones can also crack teeth requiring costly dental work. And if the bark is cocoa mulch, it is *lethal to dogs* so would all have to removed. Many dogs have died from eating coca mullch -- it is as dangerous s eating dark chocolate.

You can also start training Vegas the 'leave it' command if you are enrolled in obedience. nd go out with him and keep him busy so he isn't focused on eating things outside. A dog shouldn't really be left to run around alone in a garden anyway, especially not a pup.

But as he is young I would keep him in a puppy pen on an area where there are slabs, not bark. Most puppies grow a lot less interested in chewing and mouthing items as they get older and he may very well just give this up, making life easier for you! :) This may however be a permanent problem in which case you are probably going to have to rethink the back garden.

Also see: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Canine-Behavior-3553/Swallowing-stones.htm
http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/petcolumns/showarticle.cfm?id=310
 
When our dogs were puppies they were never left alone in the backyard either, especially qwick since basically he would eat EVERYTHING he could get a hold of.. The first years I was really scared he would poison himself by eating something when we went out for a walk..

These days the only things they eat except their food is grass.. I call them our two cows..
I'm sure they don't have worms or anything cause they get treated for that every 6 months but they both have anal problems (glants? not sure about the translation) and I guess that's what causing the eating of the grass..
I'm not worried about it since I do look out where they eat it.. When they are in the back yard they only have access to the grass on our land so I don't care if they like to be cows anymore ;) I just call them that then :p
 
thanks for your advive i usually do watch him but for instance today was such a lovely day i thought i would leave the back door open and let him come and go as he plased with me obviosly still watching back and forward but i will not let him out of my site now and will try and nip this in the bud. Great advice karlin as usual, thanks
 
Also, try giving him plenty of chew toys. The urge to chew is very strong in young dogs, and indeed in some for life.
 
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