Puppy obsession, what to do?

[BeverlyC]

Hello, I have been reading a lot of the posts about puppy behavior, but I haven't really come across anything while on potty breaks.

My puppy was 9 weeks old yesterday. He was fairly good about going outside and potting really quickly. Since Saturday he has discovered these things in our back yard. I call them gumballs, my husband says that is not what they are, but they are round and spiky. Anyway, Lothar can not go outside to potty now without absolutely going nuts over them. He hides them in his mouth (mainly from husband) and sneaks them in the house, you can see a bulge in his jaw. We are now trying to give him a couple of minutes to potty, if nothing take him inside and put him in his crate. So far this hasn't worked very well, he comes right back out and starts on the obsessive search. Occasionally he will potty as soon as he goes outside, but not often enough. I also bring him to work with me everyday and today at work he has started the same thing with just about anything he can get his mouth on- rocks, cigarette butts and sticks. He has spent a lot of today in his crate.

Is putting him in his crate the best thing to do for this, or would there be any better suggestions? Also, he has started growling when I go to remove the objects, even though I give a treat for them. He will eat the treat as he hunts for something new.

[Luvs]

Puppies are just like babies and they try to put EVERYTHING into their mouths. Be patient, they do eventually outgrow it. In the meantime try to clean up the area where you take him to go potty so that there is nothing he can put in his mouth. We had to do that with Akasha. She was horrible! I picked an area where I wanted her to go potty and cleaned up all the rocks and small items that she enjoyed putting in her mouth. It made things much easier for me when taking her outside.

I know that it's not always possible to clean everything up but try and get as much as you can at least until he is older.

[Judi W]

Luvs is right. Try to find clean places to walk your dog and at home get out the rakes and clean it up so the pup can play safely.

[K9-man]

Originally posted by BeverlyC
he has discovered these things in our back yard. I call them gumballs, my husband says that is not what they are, but they are round and spiky.

Ok, but what are these "things"? Something growing out of the ground? Something falling from a tree? Something someone's throwing into your yard?

[BeverlyC]

Our landscaper came yesterday and we asked him to try and get all of the "gum balls" out of the back yard. He got most of them, but not quite all. They fall out of the trees, I am not sure of the name of the trees. The main problem is that by the time we get home, thanks to the time change, I can not see a thing it is completely dark. Lothar, just constantly searches the ground for them until he finds one. So would you say that I am doing wrong in putting him in his crate until he can go potty?

[K9-man]

Do you have a chain saw, Beverly? :D


Seriously though, Can you take him out on lead to an area were there are no ‘things’. How about the front yard?

I’m not sure what you mean about the crating. He’s always crated when he’s inside? The backyard is the only place he’s allowed to romp around?

[BeverlyC]

Oh no, he is not always crated. I was using the crate if he wouldn't potty in a timely manner and just wanted to play. He is put in his crate for 5 to 10 minutes, then taken out again. If he still won't potty, same thing.

He spends about one hour in crate two hours out of crate and so on until I get home with him from work, he goes to work with me. Then he is pretty much out of the crate most of the night until bedtime, unless he gets a time out for rough play.

About a chain saw, I would love to cut the trees, but we have about an acre and a half fenced in the back of a subdivision that is surrounded by woods. We cut most of the trees in the fenced in area, but with all of the leaves (and everything else) falling off the trees, it is pretty bad right now. Here is a picture of what a "gum ball" looks like, he snuck it in the house with my husband.

http://community.webshots.com/script...ecurity=IefBdV

[Dallasbaby]

Link doesn't work, but I know exactly what you are talking about. I don't know the names of those things either. One fell into my car recently and I kind of forgot about it. About a week later I found it.....and it had dumped a ka-billion seeds all over the floor of my car. (Ka-billion is a number in Jilly-world).......

[Luvs]

Originally posted by BeverlyC
Oh no, he is not always crated. I was using the crate if he wouldn't potty in a timely manner and just wanted to play. He is put in his crate for 5 to 10 minutes, then taken out again. If he still won't potty, same thing.

We did that with both Akasha and Keil when we were potty training them. If they were too busy playing to go to the bathroom they went back in the crate. I would try again in 10 -15 minutes. If they went potty they were left out with us. If they didn't potty they went back into the crate and we tried again in 10 - 15 minutes.

Are you teaching your puppy to go potty on command? When we first got Akasha I had someone tell me that they could be trained to go on command. I was somewhat doubtful but thought I would give it a try anyway. I am sooooo glad that I did! Both Akasha and Keil go potty when we tell them to "hurry" (it was winter when we were potty training so I was always saying hurry:D ) It is very convienent that they go when they are told;)

[BeverlyC]

Originally posted by Luvs
Are you teaching your puppy to go potty on command?

Yes, we use hurry up for number 1 and do business for number 2. He pretty much has hurry up but we are still working on do business.

I am glad to know someone else did the back in the crate thing. I feel better about doing it if it worked for you.

Here is the link again that shows the "gum balls", see if it will work this time.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...98957159IefBdV

[Luvs]

Your puppy is adorable!

Do those "gum balls" have prickly things on them? I have never seen those before.

The crate was a GREAT potty training tool for me. Something else that helped me was keeping Akasha locked in the same room with me at all times. I even had her tethered to me at times so I could keep an eye on her. If I could not devote my full attention to her she was crated.

Good luck with your puppy! Have fun with him they grow up WAY too fast! Although at times it seems like it's not fast enough;)