Help! My dog thinks he's a goat!

[Milo'sMom]

OK, he doesn't butt things or give milk, but when I take him out for a walk, all he does is graze and forage and eat, twigs, leaves, rocks, plastic, anything he can get in his mouth! He is 5 months old and it's at its worst just after he eats and I take him out. I don't get it! Anyone have any advice?

[Canadianrotti]

Give him a verbal "ahh" (too young for corrections really) and keep him moving!! When he listens to you, give him a treat, and he will catch on pretty quickly. Most dogs are garbage pickers and grazers, so it is nothing new. Oh, and get working on teaching the "out" or "drop it" command!!
Be thankfull you don't have him going after "kitty cookies"!!!!

[Milo'sMom]

Originally Posted by Canadianrotti

Give him a verbal "ahh" (too young for corrections really) and keep him moving!! When he listens to you, give him a treat, and he will catch on pretty quickly. Most dogs are garbage pickers and grazers, so it is nothing new. Oh, and get working on teaching the "out" or "drop it" command!!
Be thankfull you don't have him going after "kitty cookies"!!!!

Thanks for the advice! He does know the command "leave it", but only when it comes to paper towels, etc. I guess twigs taste better? BTW, he was into eating his own "doggie cookies", but at least he's stopped that nonsense!

[VANCOUVERISLANDROT]

Oscar's a freegin' Hoover! He drives me nuts some days if there's lots of garbage on our walk (i.e. the school yard etc). Like the other poster said..."leave it" and "out" will be your new best friend words. From about 5 months to 8 months I must've said it 100x per walk. I honestly felt like a parrot. He's excellent and leaving and outting EXCEPT when it comes to tissue. The dog's a walking toilet paper roll. He must have the cleanest butt in town with the amount of tissue, toilet paper etc he scarfs down. The dog makes a run with the toilet paper roll like a cat, through the whole house etc. Drives me bonkers! I just want to be a normal house with toilet paper on the roll, not on the shelf!!

Be firm with your leave its and outs AND sometimes if he's not "outing" I will trade up. I flash a treat in his face at the same time as "out" and he's dropping that item so fast.

[Trace]

ROFL!!!! Boy does all that sound familiar. Jasmine can spot a stick or a piece of paper from a mile away it seems and of course she makes a bee line for it.

From what I've read everywhere you just have to keep working on the leave it command and redirecting over...and over...and over....

[Milo'sMom]

I feel like I need a tape recorder...Milo leave it..Milo leave it..Milo leave it..
Well, I'm just glad it's not just me! Makes me feel better, so thanx all!

[Tracyd]

No, it's not just you! I hope mine will grow out of the garbage man duties too! What in the world is soooo yummy about paper? Cannon steals dryer sheets from the laundry room and swallows them! He waits until I get a load out of the dryer, then goes in there in search of them. I'm more careful now about not dropping any but he still manages to find one sometimes. Cannon is now a year and 1/2 and sorry to say it hasn't gotten any better. Tissues out of the garbage in the bathroom is a real prize, YUCK! Good luck to you, and thank you for keeping out streets clean! LOL It's never looked better around here!

[summit]

Persistence and consistency is key, be patient, keep working at it, this too, shall pass. BTW - I have a four month old counter-surfing aardvark! :o)

[Milo'sMom]

Hey, maybe that's the idea, think of it as yard cleaning! Who needs all that stuff lying around and composting? NOT ME!

[robynerikd2]

Zan is a garbage hound as well. I finally wound up putting the garbage can up on top of the chest freezer. We tried a locking can, but the kids couldnt undo it, and several other ideas. The freezer just works best for us.

[NDDogLvr]

Mia just recently developed a taste for TOILET PAPER! What is it? She IS wiping her butt from the inside out! Gross! She will also pick up anything she can and put it in her mouth...dirt, twigs, paper, pinecones...dust bunnies...ANYTHING. She is good about leave it, but she's so sneaky I often don't catch her until after she's chomping away. She's good with drop it, but I haven't tried out...which would be a good one to teach her. If I had a dime for every time I have had to reach in her mouth and dig something out...I'd be rich. The look of resignation on her face whenever I go fishing is priceless!

[Jaggerfur1]

HA ha ha ha ha - I can so relate to you. Kodi is 5 months old as well and everything goes into his mouth here is a list of what I have pulled out so far.

Grass, twigs,rocks,dirt,toilet paper,paper towels, glass, feathers, carpet, bananna peels, orange peels, scrambled eggs, stuffing, shrimp, candy wrappers,cheetos, cereal box, popsicle sticks and his tooth when it fell out....trust me the list can go on and on. People throw everything on the floor so I have to be extra careful with him. He is on his leash and I give a tug and tell him Kodi, drop it and take it out of is mouth, he has actually started to learn now just to drop it when I tell him - unless it is something really good then I have to take it out of his mouth (we are working on this)

[JuneyB]

toilet paper seems to be the preferred "snack"....at least in our house.....

Keep working on the "out" and in time, sometimes a long time, they will stop trying to eat everything they can. My dog stopped being as "nosey" as he matured...and now he knows that eating anything outdoors (except from Mom) is not acceptable. Don't know if I would trust him 100% on that if I were not around.......

But the toilet paper inside the house....sigh.......

[Milo'sMom]

Just to add, I've decided to use the Gentle Leader on him when we walk outside, and it seems to work. I can guide him easier when we walk and just give a very slight pull when he makes a mad dash at a twig. I say "leave it" when he makes the attempt and it is getting a little better! Thanks to all for the replies, it's a great feeling, knowing you're not alone!

[Ninasmom]

Nina loves to 'dumpster dive'. She will eat anything that doesn't try to eat her first. It's quite disgusting. Over the years, we have had to train ourselves to leave bathroom doors always closed (this was key in our son's potty training as well ), purchase industrial strength garbage cans, raise all plants (except the 6 foot cactus) off of the floor and commit the phrase "LEAVE IT" to memory to the point where it is an automatic response. Also the phrase "DON'T EAT THE GRASS" works as well.