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Help! Holly's chewing stones!

the doll

the doll

Well-known member
Lately Holly's started chewing on stones whenever she goes into the back garden. It's gotten to the stage where I can't leave her out there by herself.
I have a patio area with decorative stones between the slabs. She picks a nice big pebble and chews on it, it's really freaking me out. She knows she's not allowed but she just won't drop it once she has one. I end up chasing her back inside and waiting for her to rop it for a minute so I can hide it, its a nightmare, i'm terrified she's gonna break a tooth or choke.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Any ideas appreciated, i'd hate to have to keep her indoors all summer:mad:
 
That's not really an option, its a major feature in the garden which my OH spent weeks building last summer. I don't really think he'd appreciate me even suggesting it!
Is this something other dogs do? She seems to know it's wrong and gets a real perverse pleasure out of doing it!
I always try to distract her with her own toys, treats etc.. but when she has that pebble its all that matters!!!!!!!!
 
besides whos most important your otherhalf or the dog, lets face it there no contest, goodbye stones, she might swallow one have a chat im sure he wouldnt mind replacing them with something else, gravel or slate maybe. di
 
Thanks Di, I did see the Ceasar Milan thing & i'v tried redirecting like he did but she's just fixated!
I'm not talking about big rocks it's little pebbles she's munching.
If I can't get around this they're gonna have to go, but its taken us 3yrs to get our garden done and i've been looking forward to enjoying it all winter:mad:
 
A friends dog used to do this on the beach, she had to watch him like a hawk he ended up having to have an operation to remove them from his stomach:(
 
Hubby caught Max with a small stone today and had to "trade" to get him to give it up- I hope it won't become a habit because our yard used to be a gravel pit (or so I'm told) and we've been picking stones for the 10 years we've lived here and they just keep coming up out of the ground. When we find them we've been putting them around our pond as landscaping.
 
I see you live in Ireland... (very cool, I live in the US, but am half Irish) I wonder do they have bitter apple spray there? How much gravel is there? I was thinking you could possibly spray the rocks with bitter apple spray or something similar so that if you cav tried the taste of the gravel she'd be sorry (Bitter apple is Yucky) and hopefully she'd soon learn to hate the "taste" of the gravel. You may have to re-spray the rocks maybe everyday, or for certain after a rain. I could send you a link of a website for the bitter apple spray if you needed but I bet you have something like that there.... Maybe worth a try? Good Luck! My 5 month old cav tries to eat everything too, we can hardly let her in the yard alone! :rolleyes:
 
My two both love to snatch the wood chips (mulch) from our flower beds and run around with the pieces in their mouths. If they get the chance, they will start to eat them. Why on earth would they want to eat pieces of wood, or rocks? I feel your pain dealing with Holly- it would be nice to take them into the back yard and not have to worry about them eating something that could be harmful. :(
 
AliceAbbyBellaDaphne said:
I see you live in Ireland... (very cool, I live in the US, but am half Irish) I wonder do they have bitter apple spray there? How much gravel is there? I was thinking you could possibly spray the rocks with bitter apple spray or something similar so that if you cav tried the taste of the gravel she'd be sorry (Bitter apple is Yucky) and hopefully she'd soon learn to hate the "taste" of the gravel. You may have to re-spray the rocks maybe everyday, or for certain after a rain. I could send you a link of a website for the bitter apple spray if you needed but I bet you have something like that there.... Maybe worth a try? Good Luck! My 5 month old cav tries to eat everything too, we can hardly let her in the yard alone! :rolleyes:
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That sounds like a great idea, definately worth a try. I thought she had her chewing phase behind her! There isn't a huge amount and she's no fool! i reckon a couple of tastes of something really vile might put her right off(y)
 
Mom of Jato said:
My two both love to snatch the wood chips (mulch) from our flower beds and run around with the pieces in their mouths. If they get the chance, they will start to eat them. Why on earth would they want to eat pieces of wood, or rocks? I feel your pain dealing with Holly- it would be nice to take them into the back yard and not have to worry about them eating something that could be harmful. :(
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I think our idea of yuk is their idea of yum! Think when there's cavs around we always have to keep our eyes open!
 
The bitter spray is a good idea. I've also hear of sprinking cayenne pepper in areas you want them to leave alone. It works for digging, etc.
I have to use a spray called bitter barrier in Lizzie's ears to keep her from chewing them. Strangely, she will only leave them alone when the spray is fresh, even though it has good staying power. If it is "old" she will chew them anyway. I tried bitter apple and it didn't stop her. Don't be surprised if you have to try a few different brand before you find one that works for her.
I understand your worry. Though I didn't put the rocks in my back yard, I could never get all the rocks out. We live in a SUPER rocky area. You can barely dig a hole to plant a flower. If you got every rock picked up, there'd be thousands more the first time it rained. I hope mine don't start doing that. As it is, I have enough of a hassle with my thousands of walnuts.
 
Thats a worry for you. Can you teach her to trade the stones for something else, get her to drop them and then give her a treat - some food or a favourite toy maybe?
Just thinking you would probably need to order gallons of Bitter Apple with our lovely rain, but maybe not today though, as its lovely and sunny for a change :)
 
She's actually been really good today, we were outside for ages in the sun and she didn't touch any!!!!!! She knows i'm talking about her, ha ha!!!
I'll definately get myself a spray though, thats a great idea, might try the cayenne pepper too as she's also a bit of a digger!
Thanks for the help everyone, enjoy the sun while it lasts!!!!!!!!:p
 
I got some bitter apple spray from my vets, just ordered it and it was in the next day. Worked for a while to stop Pippin chewing Maddie's ears.
Pippin still likes to pick up stones and gravel, and as he's 2 1/2 yrs old I don't see him growing out of it anytime soon. I guess some dogs are just like this!
We're lucky that when he gets anything high value (?) like a stone he runs in with it and lies down on the rug for a good chew. When I say "Pippin what have you got?" in a fun voice he spits it out and looks at me as if to say "nothing mum" :D. If I try to get him to drop it (and his drop command is usually good) we end up playing chase.:( This makes stones fun, so I try not to do this. I'd much rather he learnt that giving me a stone meant a treat, than he ran off with them. (y)
 
MadPip said:
I got some bitter apple spray from my vets, just ordered it and it was in the next day. Worked for a while to stop Pippin chewing Maddie's ears.
Pippin still likes to pick up stones and gravel, and as he's 2 1/2 yrs old I don't see him growing out of it anytime soon. I guess some dogs are just like this!
We're lucky that when he gets anything high value (?) like a stone he runs in with it and lies down on the rug for a good chew. When I say "Pippin what have you got?" in a fun voice he spits it out and looks at me as if to say "nothing mum" :D. If I try to get him to drop it (and his drop command is usually good) we end up playing chase.:( This makes stones fun, so I try not to do this. I'd much rather he learnt that giving me a stone meant a treat, than he ran off with them. (y)
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Thats a much better idea, i've been panicking and chasing her around! Next time will try the lighthearted approach, actually makes way more sense. I'm gonna speak to my vet about the spray later too.

Thanks everyone for the great advide, its good to know she's not the only one!(y)
 
Bitter apple may work for some dogs, but my German Shepherd LOVED it. We had to bandage her foot once and the vet told us to spray bitter apple on it to keep her from licking the bandage. Well, she just went to town licking all the bitter apple spray off. As soon as the spray was all licked off, she ignored the bandage. Go figure!
 
can i just say you should (in my opinion) NEVER do ANYTHING Ceasar Milan does. Even hearing his name makes me so angry i feel sick. he knows nothing about dog training and is nothing but a sadistic evil bully
 
As a doggie surgeon, I frequently remove stones (and multiple other foreign bodies!) from dogs' stomachs and intestines.

One easy and cheap solution (when removing the stones is not an option), is to use a "wire muzzle" or "cage muzzle." The design is important as it must allow the dog to pant and drink.

Sure, it sounds harsh, but how much harsher and expensive do you think belly surgery is???

Just food for thought.

drphilzeltzman
www.drphilzeltzman.com
 
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