Tiga's_mom Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Tiga insists on eating EVERYTHING in sight when he's on walks. It's super annoying. He knows drop it and leave it, but only if I give the command super quick. If I take my eyes off him for 1 second, he's eating some random thing off the ground. His favorite is mowed grass, but he's been known to go after anything, including cigarette butts! If he has a big mouthful of something and I tell him to drop it, he'll drop most of it, but always keeps a little bit to swallow. If it's small, down it goes as quickly as possible so I don't fish it out. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Unless it is dangerous, I let mine be. I know, annoying, but it's got the opportunity to become a "game" if "I" persist. Generally when nothing is said mine tend not to be as enamored with it (except the smelly gross stuff they roll in!) Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiga's_mom Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Nothing deters him. It doesn't matter if I leave him alone, or if I try to stop him. One of the problems with it is that I live a bit in the country, and so there's always random animal droppings or random dead animals. Also I'm probably moving soon more into a city and who knows what kinds of things he'll try to eat there. Just a habit I'd like to break if I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Hi, Tammy, You can get him to check in with you before he gobbles something. YOu'll need to watch like a hawk for a while, and reinforce repeatedly, but it can be done. First, you toss something on the ground that's not really very enticing to him. As soon as he goes towards it, you body block him. The instant he even starts to look your way, reward. If you use a clicker, this is a pretty easy thing to teach. Whatever reward you use, it's got to be more meaningful for him than the whatever it is on the ground. Repeat, repeat, repeat. When he's reliably checking in with you, up the value of the thing on the ground a bit, and up your reward a bit as well. Take it on the road, in your back yard, in your driveway. 'Salt' your walking route with things he's not really interested in, but will want to sniff. He sees something, he checks in with you, he gets a reward of some kind. It's painstaking, but I testify that it can be done! You might also think about getting him involved in tracking, as he really seems to like sniffing. Good luck! Ruth n the BC3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anda Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Tiga's mom, I feel your pain. Mine doesn't eat things outside, but instead eats stuff in the house. And I know exactly what you are talking about when you described how he swallows at least a bit of whatever he has in his mouth. Mine does the same thing with napkins By the time you catch him in the act and tell him to drop it, he manages to chew off a tiny piece and drop the rest of the napkin for you to see that he's obbeying, but instead he keeps the rest of the paper hidden in his mouth and tries not to chew on it until he thinks no one else is looking Many times we had to pry open his mouth and extract wet paper pulp from close to his tonsills Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 What a great idea to break the habit urge!! I've been searching for a solution to that for awhile! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Just a habit I'd like to break if I can.Well instead of making a positive approach if it's that "bad" you can go to something like Binaca. He eats something you lift his mouth and "squirt" some Binaca into it. They sell the stuff by the 12 pack He may catch on quickly that picking stuff up off the ground will result in a squirt of nasty stuff. And yes, Binaca is safe enough, just make sure you are consistent and squirt "in" the mouth, no threats w/o follow though and not just a squirt "at" the mouth. You should be able to wean down to just a verbal "Ahh" in no time! Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiga's_mom Posted July 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Thanks Ruth. I will try that. I've got a lot of time on my hands right now before I start my new job, so I'll give it a go. Karen, what is binaca? If Ruth's suggestion doesn't help, I'd be willing to give that a go, but I'd like to know what it is. Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Sorry Tammy, Binaca is the "breath freshner" for humans. It comes in a little hand hold spray cylinder - about 3 inches tall and as big around as a sharpie marker. Very easy to manage and fits in your pocket. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiga's_mom Posted July 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2006 Thanks Karen. I'll be starting to work on this tomorrow. We had a big day at the lake yesterday (Tiga did really well!!) and we're all pretty tired out today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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