Eating Dirt

[NorthJerseyRott]

We brought our new addition home last weekend and she is full of love and energy (3 months old). When I take her outside on lead to go potty, she is smelling everything in site (which I think is normal), However, she is also eating alot of the stuff she is smelling, dirt, leaves, small stones, little pine cones, etc (mini vaccuum cleaner). What is this?

Thanks

[samanthac]

It a puppy exploring the world. Since they don't have opposable thumbs, puppies use their mouths to explore. Just supervise carefully and be sure to remove things before he swalows them. Buckle up and get comfy because this phase lasts a while. :)

[Patty1231]

I second that! My male is almost 21 months old and still acts like a
4-legged vacuum cleaner. I have to keep an eye on him constantly when we're out for walks.

[babybluetx23]

mine does the same thing and he is 18 weeks now! Ugh! I think he thinks it is a game. The name of the Game, Fish stuff outta my mouth!

[NorthJerseyRott]

I'm doing the same thing as you (fishing things out of her mouth) as long as I can get to it before she swallows and she lets me. ;) Man, if only I would have known, topsoil and mulch is alot cheaper than the Innova and Oma's Pride she is getting now. :D

[samanthac]

Originally Posted by NorthJerseyRott

I'm doing the same thing as you (fishing things out of her mouth) as long as I can get to it before she swallows and she lets me. ;) Man, if only I would have known, topsoil and mulch is alot cheaper than the Innova and Oma's Pride she is getting now. :D

There is no 'if she lets me'. You have to get out of this line of thinking now. If you want to take something out of her mouth, do it and maker her comply. Don't make it a battle, don't back down. Be very matter of fact about it and it will never be a big deal.

Be very careful letting her eat mulch. Many commercial mulches are treated with chemicals...especially those new colored mulches.

[NorthJerseyRott]

Hi Samantha - Point well taken, we have no problems taking things out of her mouth that she is not supposed to be eating. She doesn't mind nor do we care if she minds we do it for her own saftey.

I can see the issue with mulch, we try to use as much organic stuff as possible.

Thanks!

[Patty1231]

I would suggest teaching the "out" or "drop it" command ASAP. It made my life a lot easier!

[JDUCE]

We were always taking things out of Duce's mouth. Rocks, dirt clump, twigs, rocks. He is 15 months and still does this - not as much. He ate so many rocks it made him sick. We were worried he may have a blockage - thankfully everything came out the natural way.

That was after two vet visits, 3 x-rays, a lot of worry and little bit of mineral oil or was it caster oil. Anyway - we were always careful until that happend then we were extra careful

He had this problem because we had friends over (couldn't see him where we were) and he was tied to his tie down (behaving) and someone left a plate of lemon squares out and he ate the whole plate - hence the nervous energy and the 10 lbs of rocks :p

Be careful and make sure to let her know who is boss and reach right in (take her by the collar and open her mouth) and take whatever is in her mouth
out.

[NorthJerseyRott]

Good points. I have seen some things in her stool that don't belong in her stool (like small pieces of twigs and so forth). Although we just picked up from the breeder last Saturday, we are starting formal obedience training this Sunday.

[Debidoozer]

This made me laugh - Nina has been on a mud-clump kick lately. I'm surprised I don't have permanent teeth marks on my hands from fishing around in her mouth all the time. You'd think there's absolutely nothing tasty about mud, rocks and other nastiness, but like one of the replies said - they are EXLPORING. I hope Nina gets her exploring done really soon, but at 6 months, I think we have a long haul ahead of us!!! I actually had to put plywood down on the patches of yard with no grass because it's been raining and Nina has a good old time eating all the mud. GROSS! And the other thing about the mud...Nina is a little princess and doesn't like to put her precious little (HUGE) paws in the mud. How funny is that? I have to carry (well more like pull) her off the deck because she tries to do her business there where there's no mud!