Playing in the mulch...

[StuartsMom]

Hello everyone, we are starting leash training slowly with Stuart and I know this will help tremendously when we take him outside to pee. But we have a section in front of the house with dirt and mulch that he is obsessed with. That's when he just stops listening. Eventually we have to go over, pick him up, tell him no, and place him back on the grass, inhopes that he doesn't run right back. Does anyone have any ideas or know anything specific about why he loves chewing the mulch??
Also, is this harmful???

[rencook]

Mulch is made from cow manure, so its sweet and tastes yummy to the dogs-my husband is a landscaper so we have a lot of mulch in our house-my girl has always munched on it-and it has never seemed to bother her-if she gets too much, it does give her diarrhea-so I do try to discourage her from eating it-work on a leave it command with your pup-and just take him out on a leash to go poddy.

[Burnsway]

Until he learns the "leave It" command and does it well I suggest if you don't want him in the mulch you either leave him on lead not allowing him near it or block the area off. If you continue to get after him and he doesn't listen he just learns that its Ok to ignore you.

Also if your in the Front yard and its not fenced he should be on lead anyway until he knows recall 100%. Just walk him out on-lead and when he starts to approach the area snap or tug the lead and say leave it and move to another spot. If he trots happily away with you without a fight I would reward him immediately after the leave it command with a pat on the head or better yet a tasty goodie......

[StuartsMom]

Thanks, I will definitely try the leave it. I;m glad at least its not toxic for them. We are going to really push the leash training this week. We started over the weekend, and he didn't like it, but cooperated for the most part. Any suggestions on if its too soon, he's eight weeks today. I dont think it's ever too young to learn, but I could be wrong...

[Toowicked]

Do you mean the wood mulch that you spread over your flower beds? I heard something on the news this week about the mulch this year being full of mold bc it is supposedly made from all the downed trees from Katrina and being shipped all over the US.

[StuartsMom]

Yes, regular mulch for around bushes.
This has been here since we moved 6 months ago, I'm not sure it would have been in that bunch, but maybe.
Gosh i hope it doesn't hurt him, I usually catch him and pull it out or bribe him my way with a treat.