# Is this Normal?? 7.5 month old still eats everything outside!



## Sierra's Mom (May 17, 2011)

I am actually getting some advice in another thread about GIVE and TAKE. As Drop it is not one of my puppy's favorite words as thats all she hears outside. 

Sierra will eat anything: mulch, sticks, grass, plants, flowers, dandelions, helicopters, leaves, poop, bird poop, etc. I am so concerned about hazzards as well as a blockage. The things she has pooped out are scary some times!! My husband thinks I need to loosen up and let her eat some of the things. I do let her eat grass and dandelions. Even some helicopters. I know i am right to be concerned abouts plants and some items, but am I being too worried?

She is so into this outside she will barely play fetch, practice coming(long line for enforcement)or anything. She looks like goat out there just grazing away. 

Anyone else have this problem? will it ever stop? any advice? 

I just love this forum. You are all so knowledgeable and helpful!


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## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

My boy Ace just turned 1 and he still loves to chew on sticks. Him and my other two also eat grass a lot. Can you redirect him with a ball or something when he does this, I never had mine (that I know of) actually swallow the sticks they had chewed up. They always just chewed them up and spit them out, hope that you can find a solution that will work for you and keep your pup safe.


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## Sierra's Mom (May 17, 2011)

IMO it is so not normal! My trainer and vet say she will grow out of it. But I am very skeptical..... as it has not gotten any better with age.


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## lrodptl (Nov 12, 2009)

Sierra's Mom said:


> IMO it is so not normal! My trainer and vet say she will grow out of it. But I am very skeptical..... as it has not gotten any better with age.


Is she getting enough exercise? 2 hours vigorously every day. Mental stimulation?

My dogs seem to have stopped around that time but they were never neurotic about it. I knock the **** out of them with exercise and they come home and flop. I do walk a 10 month old Lab once a day that will eat anything he finds but not in a neurotic way. He's poorly trained and probably needs more physical and mental stimulus.


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## Sierra's Mom (May 17, 2011)

lrodptl said:


> Is she getting enough exercise? 2 hours vigorously every day. Mental stimulation?
> 
> My dogs seem to have stopped around that time but they were never neurotic about it. I knock the **** out of them with exercise and they come home and flop. I do walk a 10 month old Lab once a day that will eat anything he finds but not in a neurotic way. He's poorly trained and probably needs more physical and mental stimulus.


She gets 1/2 hour in the am and 1 hour after work of walking. Plus backyard ball/games(see below) and also indoor ball(thanks to not being able to play outside). She also gets to play find it, training excercises, usually gets a kong to disect every day as well. It is all about this Pup form the time we get up till we go to work and again till she drops around 9:30pm. 

Sigh.. her eating everything does affect her excercise and ability to get it in the backyard. I would love for my husband and I to take her out to play more ball/games. but she gets so distracted by bird poo, weed eating and stick eating that it makes it very hard. I keep the backyard rather tidy and she still is find small sticks and such. She would rather sniff and eat than play. Totally stinks!


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## lrodptl (Nov 12, 2009)

Sierra's Mom said:


> She gets 1/2 hour in the am and 1 hour after work of walking. Plus backyard ball/games(see below) and also indoor ball(thanks to not being able to play outside). She also gets to play find it, training excercises, usually gets a kong to disect every day as well. It is all about this Pup form the time we get up till we go to work and again till she drops around 9:30pm.
> 
> Sigh.. her eating everything does affect her excercise and ability to get it in the backyard. I would love for my husband and I to take her out to play more ball/games. but she gets so distracted by bird poo, weed eating and stick eating that it makes it very hard. I keep the backyard rather tidy and she still is find small sticks and such. She would rather sniff and eat than play. Totally stinks!


That's a tough one,she'd rather eat than play and not out of hunger or nutritional deficit. I'm sure someone can figure this out if she's healthy and well exercised otherwise. If noone can help here,I'd contact the breeder for an IACP professional. Good luck.


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## Sierra's Mom (May 17, 2011)

Any other thoguhts out there? I am gorwing concerned it is an OCD thing.


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## Sunstreaked (Oct 26, 2010)

Sorry, I'm not going to be any help. Hoping some others with experience will chime in here.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Why aren't you able to pack up the pup in the car for 'real' exercise and socialization?

Are you still in dog classes and how are they going?

How many hundreds of people have your pup met? Other dogs? New places?

How many miles of running (off leash) is your pup getting each week?

I would be EXTREMELY concerned about all the items your pup is eating. At best you just have to keep medicating for the intestinal parasites/worms. At worst you can have extremely expensive vet bills from obstructions and poisonous items your pup may get into. I also do not expect my yard to exercise, socialize, train or entertain my pup. That is MY job. One I have to plan, organize, and arrange my life around at least 3 times a week.

This is what I do with my puppy:


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## Sierra's Mom (May 17, 2011)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> Why aren't you able to pack up the pup in the car for 'real' exercise and socialization?
> 
> Are you still in dog classes and how are they going?
> 
> ...


 I'm sure you were not trying to make assumptions....... I DO "pack up my pup for real exercise and socialization". Maybe not as much as you can but alot more than most people I know. 

Puppy class went great except we got yipper on our hands . Someone has a great thread on this going on right now under puppy behavior as well. Classes will be starting again in July we cant wait!!!!!!!!

Sierra goes almost everywhere with us so she is meeting new friends and their persons frequently. We go to parks and such frequently and try to get her dog friends to join in. 

My Pup gets no off leash time(except my yard or other fenced in areas that are clear of potential hazards always with a long line attached) as she does not have a reliable recall and I wouldnt feel safe allowing her to be off leash. Plus she eats hazzardous items that I would not be able to get safely back if she was off leash. The eating items is so distracting to us being able to get her attention. We do the best we can to meet her needs as well as keep her safe. We are working on some long line games of fetch at the park by us as the recall is slowly getting better. We go there a lot and run and have her chase us and practice come as she loves it. 

I can run this dog till she wants to drop and take her outside and she still will eat anything she can find. I think in someways its an oral fixaition I wish i knew how to focus that on toys while she is in yard. But toys or food do not hold a candle to dirt and weeds with her.


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## Sierra's Mom (May 17, 2011)

I understand it is not the likely outcome but this behavior can KILL her and I am not willing to let that happen.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Sierra's Mom said:


> I can run this dog till she wants to drop and take her outside and she still will eat anything she can find. I think in someways its an oral fixaition I wish i knew how to focus that on toys while she is in yard. But toys or food do not hold a candle to dirt and weeds with her.


I was going to suggest training with super-duper-high value treats, so that she learns what you have is going to be way yummier than whatever she might find on the ground. Maybe you haven't found the right treat to turn her on? Freeze dried liver? Meatloaf? Cheese? Keep trying, I know how frustrating it is when you're trying to get a dog's attention and her nose is always to the ground. A friend of mine has a dog who is the same way, constantly foraging for whatever he can possibly put in his stomach. She tried using a basket muzzle, but he learned how to smash whatever he wanted through the holes.


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## Sierra's Mom (May 17, 2011)

I just wanted to give a little update to this in case others out there struggle with this issues as well. At a year it is a lttile better. What she seems to like to eat seems to change with the seasons. Right now it's pine cones. 

The biggest help is that as she matures she listens better and I have an easier time getting her out of things. 

Maybe the CNY winter will break her.....


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## Ellie's Mom (Feb 6, 2013)

Hi Sierra's Mom - we just got a puppy that is now 13 weeks old and she has the exact same issue you described and as obsessed as you say Sierra was. I do exercise her galore but that doesn't help either. Would you mind providing an update since Sierra is older? Did she finally grow out of it?


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## Marnie (Oct 11, 2011)

She will grow out of it. My pup ate rocks, sticks, anything he could swallow before I made him drop it. My sister used to laugh when she saw him eating rocks. She said just think of the money you could save on dog food. Little kids touch and put things in their mouths. It's part of learning about the world and it will pass.


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## carl0st001 (Jul 15, 2014)

Sierra's Mom, any update? 

I have a 14 week old GSD and she likes to everything... Grass, sand at the beach, dead lizards/frogs, pine cones, and most recently her rubber bone toy. It's impossible to keep an eye on her at all times to make sure she's not eating something she's not supposed to. 

Any clue if something like the Garmin shock collar would help with something like this?


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