Hi

I have a bit a of a problem with my pup when he is in the garden. At the moment he is only in the garden to go to the toilet which is quite alot being a puppy and all. He is always supervised but he has started picking up and chewing slate. we have quite alot of blue slate in the garden and most of the time i say ah ah to him loudly and he wont pick that bit up but inbetween toileting i am spending most of my time either telling him not to or removing small peaces of slate from his mouth. Any tips on stopping this? He actually swallowed one yesterday and was sick last night and it came back up so its a real concern!

any suggests would be great!

Thanks

Hannah

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Walter - Whippet
Lola- American cocker x Jack Russell
Ruby-Exotic Long hair
Pepper- Persian

I'd keep him on a lead when toileting (which is often a good idea anyway when toilet training) and then you can keep him away from the areas with the slate. Meanwhile, start working on a solid 'leave' command (I know it's easier said than done!).

My pup ate EVERYTHING as a little one but she did get better and now unless it's food (or poo) she leaves most things alone

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Kilo had a stone fascination too...arm yourself with treats or a favourite toy and get him to swap the stones for one. Once he reliably drops them, add 'drop' as a command. It was one of the first things we learnt as he would pick up anything and everything on a walk. Thankfully he seems to have grown out of the habit now unless it is something very tempting - and anything he does pick up is dropped (or swapped if high value).

Then prepare for a dog who picks them up on purpose, comes to you, spits it out as hard as possible and then looks to you for praise and a treat .

ETA: turn giving things to you as a game; if your pup thinks that you want the item and you usually take it from his mouth, he may try to swallow it to prevent you doing so.

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My lola will pick up everything when out walking

You have to have eyes in back of your head

You really dont realise how much rubbish there is on the floor till you get a pup

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thanks for your help! We will try putting him on a lead. I thought about the swap thing but thought maybe it might start to become a game like Dogless said. However i suppose a game is better than a vet bill for stones stuck! It is a bit difficult in the early stages as we are often rushing him out of the door for the loo. He hasnt got to the stage where he whines to go out yet. I thought it was because we werent really giving him the oportunity to whine as were taking him out at every oportunity so yesterday i tried to give him a little time to just give me a clue! We had 2 accidents in the house yesterday after 3 days of no accidents lol :-) we have only had him a week so i thought this was pretty good! We also have the added complicating in that we live on the end house of a row of terraces and our garden is on the other side of a communal path therefore we have to pick him up and take him to the garden. I think i will leave some easy access toys in the garden to distract him and grab some chicken from the fridge and try the swap thing.

Thanks

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Walter - Whippet
Lola- American cocker x Jack Russell
Ruby-Exotic Long hair
Pepper- Persian

It doesn't stay a game for too long; more interesting things come along...and if it is a game, so what? All it costs after a while is a 'good boy' every time and an occasional treat or play with a toy . It is a valuable thing to have them do - Kilo got a huge piece of broken glass from a bottle and I was so glad that he dropped it for me whereas previously he would have attempted to swallow or run out of reach with his prize .

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You are totally right, i will defo get on this as he's only been with us a few days hopefully we will be able to nip it in the bud straight away. Its a horrible sound hearing him crunch on slate and almost impossible to get out of his mouth once its in.

So, I'll continue with the ah ah if i see him go to pick it up but if he does pick it up will pick up his toy and say swap and give him is toy for the slate. I dont want to play with him to much in the garden though so that he doesnt forget why i bought him out there but this will work all over the place when he picks up things he shouldnt have in the house too! :-)

Thanks

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Walter - Whippet
Lola- American cocker x Jack Russell
Ruby-Exotic Long hair
Pepper- Persian

What Dogless says.

My two were awful for this, didn't generally swallow stones but the gravel and stones were utterly fascinating and they still play but rarely pick up stones anymore. They were about 8 months when they grew out of it. Tiresome!

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Transplanted Geordie
RIP Jake, my best dog. 10.8.10
RIP Boomerang, beautiful horse. 27.5.08

You could try teaching him drop, start inside first, so he can get the concept without distractions, experiment with what he loves best, cheese,hotdogs,sausages,chicken are usually pretty high motivators, if you get smelly cheese you only need tiny pieces same as hotdogs. Give him a toy, ball or something but at first one he likes, but is a bit take it or leave it, then when he has it, offer the treat, as he drops toy for treat say drop, repeat drop and then give the treat and loads of praise. Once its reliable then try it when he picks up the slate.

They do grow out of it, but at the moment it is dangerous, luckily as you said he brought up the piece he swallowed, but slate can also be sharp and can cause injury even if he does bring it up, or if its starts to pass through as well as causing a blockage.

Try not to chase after him either if he gets something, if he starts to see it as a rewarding game, then hes likely going to grab bits so you chase. Also if they are intent and you try to grab that can make them swallow it so you cant have it.

Absolute last resort things if all else fails and he persists, would be fencing off an area away from slate, lead him down to it and let him off, or a little box muzzle, after habituating and getting him used to wearing one just to go in the garden, bit drastic granted but if all else really failed, better than, an operation or digestive tract injury through a sharp piece of slate.

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Zeus my little Staffy 14-02-2011