theshine Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Ok, so basically Shiner eats anything and everything, and it's becoming very difficult to manage. It's not chewing, it's eating, and it could be something on the floor, but lately he'll pick things off tables and outside even. He's very fast, and before he does it, the times I've caught him anyway, he has a crazy look in his eye, hugely dilated pupils, and when I tell him leave it or drop it, he cowers and runs in his crate, even though I'm not being particularly harsh...I don't think he can help it, like a compulsion. Some examples, a few months ago my cat knocked over a lamp and the light bulb broke out...I went around the corner to see what was up, and in just those few seconds, Shiner had gotten the broken light bulb and was hiding under the table eating it. A month or so ago I had a pair of earrings laying on the table beside the sofa....he walked by casually and as he did he turned his head and picked them off and swallowed them before I even realized what he had...found those in his poop later. I've tried to be good about managing what's laying around...clothes in the hamper, no toys are allowed outside my kids rooms anymore, but I've still found an entire sock in the poop, legos, barbie clothes, random plastic pieces and fabric pieces that I don't even know where they're from. Outside he eats acorns, grass, sticks, dirt, poop....yesterday he got a bag of rubber bands off the table while I was in the bathroom and ate the whole bag, 80 rubber bands. DH was up half the night with him puking rubber bands and I'm afraid this time he's going to end up blocked. I just wish I knew why he does this...I really am starting to think it's a mental problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Until you can figure out what's going on, I think you and DH are going to have to be extra diligent about leaving stuff where Shiner can get to it. A rubber band in the intestines can cause a major emergency, let alone all the other stuff he's eating. If you can't watch him, crate him. This could also be some weird seizure disorder, but I think the first thing I'd do, beside keeping him tethered to me or crated, is take him to the vet for a complete blood profile and exam just to rule out anything organic before deciding it's a mental issue. For the immediate future, you need to take all necessary steps to protect him from eating something that could at best result in expensive emergency surgery and at worst cost him his life (and if that means a basket muzzle when he's outside, then that's what I'd do for now). J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshine Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 I thought we were doing a pretty good job managing for a while, but obviously we've both been letting our guard down too much...I'm taking him to the vet, hopefully we can get a clue as to what's going on...the reason I mentioned thinking it's mental is because of the crazy look he gets, and because I don't think he can help it...I don't think it's a training issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 I don't think it's a training issue. Doesn't sound like it to me, either. I'd also check out the physical angle and then consider a mental issue. The dialated pupils definitely suggest something involuntary going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 My brother's old dog, a dalmation mix, used to eat everything. My brother had to... er... remove a leash, some mittens, and several plastic grocery bags from the dog. Eventually, Cookie got hit by a car a second time and finally died of that. (Not the most likely candidates for "dog owners of the year" over there.) She seemed to have the same disorder as Shiner, whatever that might be. She ate EVERYTHING. Their current dog was near death when the vet found a blockage in her intestines. They had it removed. Now they keep it in a glass jar and call it "The $3,000 Acorn." Sounds like quite a tricky problem. Good luck. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumpin Boots Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Sounds like a tricky problem, I wish you the best of luck with solving it. Not to make light of your real issue, but a quick funny story... A few years ago I worked at a vet for a while and one morning we had a 9 month old black lab rushed in who was ill, he had a habit of eating things around the house and the wife was very concerned he had eaten something. Sure enough he had something that couldn't pass and we had to do surgery. To our suprise, out came a pair of womens red panties. The dog made it through the surgery with flying colors and the wife returned a few days later to pick him up. When the vet presented her with her missing panties, she coldly stated that red was not her color. Turned out the husband didn't pay as close attention to the dogs bad habits as she did. Best of luck to you guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshine Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Now they keep it in a glass jar and call it "The $3,000 Acorn." Great, and I thought the acorns were relatively safe, seeing as they're sorta food-ish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Great, and I thought the acorns were relatively safe, seeing as they're sorta food-ish. Well, to be fair, it was a VERY large acorn. I don't imagine that makes you feel much better. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthfieldNick Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Nick is also an "if it fits in my mouth, I'm going to EAT IT!" dog. It drives me nuts! He eats dust bunnies, and then gaks all over trying to get the fuzz out of his throat. After some observation, Nick's eat-everything phases seem to occur when he hasn't had enough exercise for a period of time. I was fairly sick last week, and the dogs were pretty sedentary as a result, and Nick was back to eating everything. A good hike & a some stockwork on Sunday, and he's quit. Just an idea, in case Shiner's eating is episodic. Good luck! We had a dog with a blockage as a kid- it was not fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 The brain is a part of the body, so I don't really get this "physical/mental" dichotomy. I do distinguish between problems that I call "behavioral" (and that have an at least partly organic cause) and "training" (which is self-explanatory). A veterinary behaviorist is qualified to deal with behavioral problems that have biological underpinnings and that's where I'd be inclined to take this dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I think most of the advice given so far is good - so work with that first. But just another personal experience....When my 10 yr old large mixed breed guy started eating things, it was as much CHEWING as eating, though he certainly did consume some small things I wish he hadn't (including one of those fingertip toothbrushes....which appeared quite awhile later in his poop...). As it turned out, he had a tumor in his mouth, oral melanoma. It was under his tongue, right up against his teeth. So, in his case, the chewing was definitely a result of something physical. Hope yours turns out to be an easy fix! diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerfulgazelle Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Lightbulb. Wow. That's heavy duty. The English bulldog, Molly, we had years ago ate: rocks (all kinds), socks, running tights/bras/swimsuits (Lycra---yummy!), a 2 inch metal bolt from the bottom of a breakfast barstool, a fiberglass furnace filter (pulled out of the furnace where it was doing its furnace filter job), and part of a roll of lead solder/flux. We chalked it up to her mighty, mighty bulldog intellect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsADogsLyfe Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 My oldest Border Collie, Seth, just had surgery a couple weeks ago to remove a "foreign body" from his colon. The vet did not expect him to survive. He was in the hospital for 9 days. They were perplexed that it had made it clear through his digestive tract and then got stuck. We first thought it might be pancreatitis because he got sick the night I switched formulas of dog food. He would kind of eat for a bit then he just stopped altogether. They finally did an exploratory and found a piece of purple rubber toy. When they gave it to me I could not believe what it was. It was the ball end of a dumb bell toy that I had found half of and thrown the other half away. I hadn't really thought much of it because it was so large. And it was over 2 months ago! $2,000 later and I still have Seth with me. This is a dog that is usually either crated, kenneled and never let run loose unsupervised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshine Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Just an update on this, Shiner is fine, he's passing rubber bands with little effort, but we ended up in the evet with the puppy this morning, she's having massive diarrhea and vomiting and we aren't sure if she'd gotten any of the rubber bands or not...xrays didn't show a blockage, just a severely upset stomach and huge amounts of gas...she had to have fluids and we're continuing to watch her, but she seems to have improved slightly...so once we're sure she's ok, we'll focus on Shiner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 The eating anything and everything is a frustrating thing. On January 29th I lost a dishcloth from the kitchen sink, yesterday the dishcloth appeared wadded up looking like a big turd in the back of a crate that Ugh had been in. Worse part, Ugh was not in the house at the time of the disappearance. I watched everyone close for over week after the disappearance, everyone was fine but no dishcloth to be found, I figured that it would turn up or maybe it was my imagination that it was missing and maybe I threw it into the wash. Three days ago Ugh was real bloated and gassy, we attributed it to eating to much, he and a few others had been getting some raw added to their diet, occasionally I'll get one that gets gassy from that. Well, I guess it wasn't the food, he was trying to pass the dishcloth, he must have picked it up outside after someone else passed it or threw it up. I had Wayne throw it in the garbage, here I figure it was the end of the dishcloth mystery when Ben vomited in the middle of the night, there was the dishcloth again, Ben must have fished the dang thing out of the garbage and swallowed it. That darn thing must taste aweful good, it's getting burned as soon as the wind dies down. I hope your other pup is ok. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I had Wayne throw it in the garbage, here I figure it was the end of the dishcloth mystery when Ben vomited in the middle of the night, there was the dishcloth again, Ben must have fished the dang thing out of the garbage and swallowed it. That darn thing must taste aweful good, it's getting burned as soon as the wind dies down. Oh, I'm sorry, but LOLOL! Talk about reduce-reuse-recycle. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Oh, I'm sorry, but LOLOL! Talk about reduce-reuse-recycle. Mary Oh..but there was no reduce about it, it was in all it's white with green and red striped glory with unidentified chunks and slime on it. I bet I could have washed it an no one would know any better, but I just couldn't do it. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiga's_mom Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I've got one that will eat things but he's a bit more picky. He LOVES cardboard and wax in particular. So we always have to make sure anything made of either of these are put away before he's left alone. If we leave out paper towel or toilet paper rolls, he will remove the carboard insert and eat it but leave the paper towel/toilet paper pretty much intact. He did also chew up a light bulb when he was a puppy but he didn't eat it, just chewed it up and left the mess in the middle of our bed. He's been to the vet for eating BBQ charcoal and fuel soaked firestarter. Our pet insurance sent us a letter saying that he can only be covered for one more accidental poisoning and then they won't cover that anymore because we'd be bad owners. Just when I think everything has been put away he surprises me. I think for him it's correlated to when he's home alone and either has to go outside or it's around meal time. He'll do it outside too, usually random wild animal poo or food people have decided is a good idea to throw on the side of the road. That's awesome when you have a dog with food allergies. He's been really great with drop it and leave it lately, or so we thought. The last 2 days he's been on walks each day spereately with me and my SO. Both times he's been eating something random in the snow in the same spot very intensly and will NOT listen when told to leave it and come. Yesterday with my SO I guess he was at it for a long time and then afterwards was going crazy rubbing his face in the snow. Apparantly he had something sticky stuck in his fur but my SO thought there was something wrong and called our roommate to come and pick them up. By the time our roommate arrived (I was at work) he was fine again. He's been fine ever since but boy is it ever frustrating. He's 4 1/2 and we're still struggling with it. I hope the puppy feels better soon and I hope you can figure out this thing with Shiner. I can relate to how frustrating it is on a smaller level. I'm sure it's way more frustrating when it's so random. At least Tiga is fairly consistent and predicatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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