Post-Meal Grazing

[Roo]

Every day after Eli eats breakfast and dinner, he meanders off over to the sofa and investigates (he'll wander around the room forlornly when he's hungry as well, but I'm usually around to stop him from eating anything potentially not good). Now, we do eat on the sofa on occasion, so I'm sure there are smells and maybe even a crumb or two, which he gladly finds and noms. I wouldn't mind so much if he didn't leave Greyhound nose-art on my computer and blankets! Is there a way to deter this? I'm afraid that some day he'll find something that's not so good for him. He'll occasionally pick up a stray tissue (he usually only rips them, but he actually ate one that escaped from me when I had a horrible cold a couple months ago). I've been quietly watching from the other room and clapping or telling him "Ah-ah! Go lay down" while pointing at his bed (which he does when he knows I'm there) but when I'm not around after feeding time, my mom tells me that he still grazes. I thought about sprinkling a little bit of hot pepper (we grow our own and just crushed a bunch of dehydrated ones to sprinkle on food) in his usual grazing locations to see if finding something spicy would make him realize that it's not a fun thing to do, but would that be too awful of me?

Edited January 1, 2013 by Roo

[Feisty49]

I have no advice because rather than discourage your boy from particular areas of the room, I'd make sure the room was safe for him. It makes me very sad to think he'd get his mouth/nose burned from hot pepper. I think it's cruel and would never do it to an animal (unless attacking my girl) or a person.

 

Nose art: ::shrug:: It is what it is and it's gonna happen with any dog. Close your computer (if it's a laptop) when you're not around and wash the blankets.

 

Sorry for the lack of empathy but I'm just not seeing a real problem.

[Roo]

I don't leave things laying around that will hurt him, but I don't live alone so anything's possible. I was half-kidding about the hot pepper - I've seen sprays and things that are supposed to discourage licking inappropriate things - ingredients in these are often types of hot pepper, but diluted. Would I throw bits of hot pepper on the ground so that he would eat it and hurt himself? NO. I'm not a cruel person, no matter how much you seem to think I am. I'm actually quite paranoid about what he ingests and keep a close eye on him when possible, but I don't have the luxury of being able to watch him like a hawk (nor would I want to even if I had the ability), so I thought maybe someone would have a suggestion for how to deter the behavior he's picked up of wandering around the room eating whatever he finds. This is not a healthy behavior and heaven forbid something potentially harmful gets left somewhere that he finds and eats. That's why I'm looking for a way - any way - to teach him that his grazing isn't a good idea. I don't want to HURT my dog - I want to HELP him.

 

If you have no advice, please don't insinuate that I'm doing something wrong or looking for a way to be cruel. I came here seeking advice. If that's so wrong, then I guess I'm in the wrong place?

Edited January 1, 2013 by Roo

[Feisty49]

I apologized for my lack of empathy/sympathy. I had no advice because I don't think there's a problem. As far as the hot pepper.... it wasn't clear to me that you were half kidding. Again, sorry for not reading between the lines.

 

I'm sure there will be many others who do have advice because they've had the same issue.

[Guest cwholsin]

I have no advice because rather than discourage your boy from particular areas of the room, I'd make sure the room was safe for him. It makes me very sad to think he'd get his mouth/nose burned from hot pepper. I think it's cruel and would never do it to an animal (unless attacking my girl) or a person.

 

Nose art: ::shrug:: It is what it is and it's gonna happen with any dog. Close your computer (if it's a laptop) when you're not around and wash the blankets.

 

Sorry for the lack of empathy but I'm just not seeing a real problem.

 

The problem is that he could try to eat something that could hurt him. Chew deterrants might work, and I do believe there are pepper flavored ones . you could also try not letting him in the room after meals if that's the only time he grazes... Or booting him from the room when he does it. Unfortunately, everyone will have to be on the same page to train the behavior out of him (your mom and whoever else cares for him will all have to be consistent too). You could also try developing a habit where he goes to a spot after meals to wait for a treat be it a crate or a bed, and maybe he'll stop looking for non-food items. Hope this helps, and never mind the snarking

[Hubcitypam]

Please let me reassure you that if eating a tissue was harmful Poodle would have been dead 12 years ago.

 

In my experience it has really been far easier to simply train myself with things that I don't want my dogs into. Just don't leave anything harmful or harmed by spit or snot at dog level.

Edited January 1, 2013 by Hubcitypam

[Roo]

The problem is that he could try to eat something that could hurt him. Chew deterrants might work, and I do believe there are pepper flavored ones . you could also try not letting him in the room after meals if that's the only time he grazes... Or booting him from the room when he does it. Unfortunately, everyone will have to be on the same page to train the behavior out of him (your mom and whoever else cares for him will all have to be consistent too). You could also try developing a habit where he goes to a spot after meals to wait for a treat be it a crate or a bed, and maybe he'll stop looking for non-food items. Hope this helps, and never mind the snarking

 

This is the only room he goes in I keep trying to get him to come to different rooms with me (I practically have to force him into my bedroom even though he enjoys his fluffy bed once he's there), but he must just be happier being in the family room. Might be because there's almost always someone nearby. Anyway, he eats in his crate, so going to the crate afterwards wouldn't work, but having him go to his bed for a treat might just do the trick! I should probably also start training "Leave it" - we've been working on "Wait" but he seems to be getting that, so I suppose it's time to add another command. He's still a youngin' so I'm fully prepared for a certain amount of curiosity, but if he would sniff and investigate things without ingesting them I'd be so much more relaxed. He ate a small chunk of lettuce the other day, hated it, and then went looking for more. (And no, I'm not sure where the lettuce came from, but I came in just in time to see it disappear down the hatch - that's what worries me so much: things will occasionally show up in the room, whether dropped on the way through or left behind from one of my parents, and Eli, the curious 2.5 year old pup that he is, thinks "I should taste this!")

[Roo]

Please let me reassure you that if eating a tissue was harmful Poodle would have been dead 12 years ago.

 

In my experience it has really been far easier to simply train myself with things that I don't want my dogs into. Just don't leave anything harmful or harmed by spit or snot at dog level.

 

I know the tissues aren't harmful - it was more gross than anything I was using that as an example of the way absolutely everything will go into his mouth and down the hatch if it's small enough.

 

I don't leave things laying around that could be harmful, but I live with my parents and I'm not always around when they are. Mom, more than Dad, will have a snack and then leave her bowl or glass on the floor when she gets up. Thankfully this happens most often when I'm around, so I can pick up after her and remind her not to leave things where Eli can get to them, but...I'd love to teach him to steer clear of humany things on the floor just as an added security measure. I know I can't teach him to leave everything be entirely, though. Maybe a good "Leave it" command is the way to go. Any recommendations on teaching that?

 

And just for a bit of clarity, I really don't mind about the noseart on my computer most of the time. Depending on my mood, it's either a nice reminder of how sweet he is or a slight annoyance that's easily wiped away. Honestly, not entirely sure why I mentioned it since it's not a huge deal. In my defense, I wrote this before I had coffee in me.

[BatterseaBrindl]

I'm with Feisty49 and don't really see that there's a problem with the dog.

 

We've had multiple dogs for 30 years.

We've found that it's just easier to think of them as human toddlers and just make sure the house is 'kid-proofed'.

 

We just don't leave anything at all laying around that could possibly harm kids or hounds.

Ever.

[Roo]

I'm with Feisty49 and don't really see that there's a problem with the dog.

 

We've had multiple dogs for 30 years.

We've found that it's just easier to think of them as human toddlers and just make sure the house is 'kid-proofed'.

 

We just don't leave anything at all laying around that could possibly harm kids or hounds.

Ever.

 

I've been saying this over and over - I don't leave things laying around. I also don't live alone, which means that stuff might be left around without me knowing about it, no matter how many times I remind both my parents to not leave things laying around the room. I don't expect him to ignore everything entirely - I just want to try to teach him that he shouldn't eat everything he finds. Therefore, I've come to the conclusion that training "Leave it" would be a good idea.

 

Does anyone have suggestions about how to teach "Leave it"?

 

ETA: I'm starting to feel like asking for advice here was a huge mistake. Instead of advice (with one exception, and thank you for your ideas!), it's been insinuated that I'm being negligent and that, rather than clean up after myself (which I DO), I expect my dog (who I refer to on a daily basis as "my two year old child in fur" - yes, I REALIZE that he's basically a toddler) not to wander around the room and be a dog. I know he's going to wander and sniff and investigate - he's a DOG.

 

I just asked for some advice and instead I now feel like I'm a horrible dog parent - so thanks for that, folks.

 

So - I'm sorry I asked for help.

Edited January 1, 2013 by Roo

[Guest OPointyDog]

You're definitely not alone in this - even though we try to pick up stuff around our dogs, they seem to always find something to get into. One of them loves rubber bands and seems to find them no matter how vigilant I am! We try to leave lots of dog-appropriate toys and items around in the hopes they find something more interesting than tissues, rubber bands, pillows, magazines, CD cases...

 

I hope you get an answer about "leave it" because it would be useful here, too!

[Hubcitypam]

I don't expect him to ignore everything entirely - I just want to try to teach him that he shouldn't eat everything he finds.

You are not a horrible dog parent.

However, what you are proposing above is almost impossible. "Leave it" is a very useful command but the problem with commands is that you have to be there to give them...and it sounds like you are more worried about times when you aren't there. You can teach him to be perfect at "leave it" but his 2.5 year old brain will not process that without you there. How is he to pick and choose what to ignore and what not to?

 

Just relax a bit. Unless your Mom is in the habit of leaving several squares of baking chocolate or tons of garlic on her plate what he ocasionally scarfs isn't going to hurt him. No use getting bent out of shape over a piece of lettuce.

[Roo]

You are not a horrible dog parent.

 

Just relax a bit. Unless your Mom is in the habit of leaving several squares of baking chocolate or tons of garlic on her plate what he ocasionally scarfs isn't going to hurt him. No use getting bent out of shape over a piece of lettuce.

 

Thankfully no one leaves baker's chocolate or garlic hanging around, so I think we're good! I feel like such a paranoid mommy and I'm so worried that any little thing will go wrong. I definitely need to relax some. The expression on his face after he ate the lettuce was really rather funny - it got stuck on his tongue and there was lots of "Get it off!" licking before he went back looking for more.

 

He's not left entirely alone after he eats - we're always in the kitchen, fixing our own breakfast or dinner, so we're always within "leave it" range. Although I wouldn't be surprised if he grazed while we were out of the room, too. I swear he's part goat. If I'm not careful on walks, he'll snag pieces of paper from the street. He even got a mouthful of insulation once and he was not happy when I pried it all out and investigated inside his mouth

 

Any recommendations on how to teach "Leave it"? I've worked with a couple trainers at the shelter and they both had different methods. One said to hold food in your hand, say "Leave it", wait, and then say "Take it". This one seemed so wrong to me because if you're telling them to leave it and then telling them to take it, won't they just learn that they can wait a little while and then take whatever you're telling them to leave? The other trainer said to use "Leave it" and then give them an entirely different treat when they "Left it" successfully. For those of you who've successfully taught "Leave it", how did you do it?

Edited January 1, 2013 by Roo

[Guest cwholsin]

Teaching leave it: have a fairly uninteresting object. Offer it to him, after he sniffs...tell him leave it. Give him a piece of kibble when he even glances away. He should pick up on it pretty quickly. As he progresses, reward him for moving away from the object more. Also, once he gets good at turning his head from something uninteresting you're holding, practice with more interesting items and/or practicing the leave it command at increasing distances away from you with existing household things or tossed objects. If he's a smartie, he should pick up pretty quickly what things are 'his' ( that you encourage interaction with) and what things aren't for him. I would never use one of his toys for leave it practice

 

In my opinion, I wouldn't use the first method with a dog that doesn't like training much or isn't very motivated, and I wouldn't necessarily do it to start training a leave it. You should eventually be able to tell him to leave a piece of food on the ground with a leave it and have him leave it alone until you give the okay, but it doesn't seem to be setting the dog up to succeed at first. He's gonna want the piece of food, and it's better to have him work it out himself instead of having to lure him away.

Edited January 1, 2013 by cwholsin

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

maybe give him a crumbly cookie after he eats but before he goes to the couch buffet? Lol, I live with my bf and he is a messy eater, so we always have crumbs around, I know how you feel! Luckily his diet consists primarily of cheese pizza and hotdogs, so nothing too dangerous there.

[Sambuca]

I'll admit it, my house is a mess. Thankfully my dogs don't eat random things. They are also awesome at "leave it". I eat sitting on the couch and they wouldn't even consider trying to take food from me or off the couch. That being said, if someone, especially other than me, left food out and left the room, my dogs would not hesitate to eat whatever was there. Thats what dogs do. I think you need to train your parents a bit. If hes eating things that aren't food, them you need to do some leave it training and setting the dog up with the goodies covered in bitter apple spray. Food left out with no one around, although not impossible to train a dog to leave it, is damn close to impossible.

[a_daerr]

I'm scratching my head a little bit over this post. Does your guy have a history of chewing on inappropriate things or is he actually ingesting them? Dogs won't usually swallow something that's not food. I would be concerned if he was routinely eating non-edible items. But if it's just an occasional tissue or a few scraps off someone's plate, he'll be fine. Sniffing and scavenging are totally normal for dogs. It's not something that I think would/should require training. "Leave it" is a great command, but it's more appropriate for dogs who persistently try to eat garbage off the street, or steal food from a person's plate. It won't train your dog not to explore. My best advice is to make sure he's (1) well exercised, (2) getting enough food, and (3) provided with plenty of appropriate things for him to chew on. If those needs are satisfied, he shouldn't have a reason to go looking for anything else.

 

Between my two guys, they have ingested all kinds of crazy things over the years (Neosporin, chocolates, food wrappers, toothpaste, houseplants, a variety of stuff out of the kitchen sink). Truman even swallowed a Sudafed a few weeks ago. They lived.

[Roo]

I'm scratching my head a little bit over this post. Does your guy have a history of chewing on inappropriate things or is he actually ingesting them? Dogs won't usually swallow something that's not food. I would be concerned if he was routinely eating non-edible items. But if it's just an occasional tissue or a few scraps off someone's plate, he'll be fine. Sniffing and scavenging are totally normal for dogs. It's not something that I think would/should require training. "Leave it" is a great command, but it's more appropriate for dogs who persistently try to eat garbage off the street, or steal food from a person's plate. It won't train your dog not to explore. My best advice is to make sure he's (1) well exercised, (2) getting enough food, and (3) provided with plenty of appropriate things for him to chew on. If those needs are satisfied, he shouldn't have a reason to go looking for anything else.

 

Between my two guys, they have ingested all kinds of crazy things over the years (Neosporin, chocolates, food wrappers, toothpaste, houseplants, a variety of stuff out of the kitchen sink). Truman even swallowed a Sudafed a few weeks ago. They lived.

 

He's a bit of a goat. It's getting better, but he used to snag paper and garbage off the street when we'd go for walks. Got a mouthful of insulation once and was not a happy camper when I thoroughly inspected his mouth afterward He'll grab bark chips and leaves too, unless I'm careful. But that's it, thankfully - nothing else out of the ordinary (I feel like I should add "yet" here..haha). He doesn't chew on anything ("yet") unless it happens to be yarn - if I leave a ball of yarn on the sofa, no matter how carefully concealed, it will be his new favorite plaything. He really is more cat than dog (was drawn to the feathery cat toy at Petco today instead of the wall of dog toys we were standing right beside - haha). I'm still trying to convince him that toys are fun.

 

I know I tend to overreact to things (working on it!) so that's where most of the post came from. I see him pick something up off the floor, as harmless as it may be, and think "What if he does that to something else that turns out to be harmful?" I blame it on my varying levels of anxiety and I'm hard at work to make it less of a thing. The whole "what if" mentality is a tough one for me to squash, but I'm getting there.

 

He weighs about 65 and is on four cups of Nutro lamb and rice (the "Natural" version) a day - two in the morning and two in the evening. His weight seems good and he has managed to put on a couple pounds since retiring in May (greyhound-data has his weight listed as 72 lbs, which it definitely wasn't when I picked him up from GFNC - I'm assuming that was a typo?). He gets a handful of kibble at night before bed, too. I need to find a good treat for him.

 

As for the exercise thing, he's pretty lazy for a 2.5 year old. It's not that he won't exercise - he just prefers not to unless it's happening under the cover of darkness (he could walk for hours at 10pm if it's a pleasant temp, but take him out during the day [even if the temp is nice] and he begs to go back ). Half the time I feel like I should've named him Bartleby because of how often I get looks that say "I would prefer not to".

 

I'm going to work on training him in "Leave it" and training my parents in "Take it (to the kitchen)".

 

ETA: I should add that having him is really helping with my general anxiety. Now I just need to get a handle on my pet-related anxiety.

 

And he's not "lazy" in a way that concerns me - he will run if given an off-lead place to do so and I will occasionally find him throwing a toy around the room. I think he's still settling in (even though it's been almost eight months). He's acting more and more like he's figured out his place here (yay!) but I can tell he's still not entirely comfortable yet.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Roo

[Guest greysmitten]

Hi there,

I didn't read all the posts in this thread, but wanted to offer my two cents.

 

Could he be honestly hungry? The reason I ask is because since the weather has turned really cold, my girl is a freaking PIG!

Seriously. She probably eats 15-20% more most days in the winter; she always seems to be looking for food!

 

Edit: During the other seasons, my dog is much more of a grazer ... Not overly interested in meals. Just something to think about

Edited January 3, 2013 by greysmitten

[Roo]

Hi there,

I didn't read all the posts in this thread, but wanted to offer my two cents.

 

Could he be honestly hungry? The reason I ask is because since the weather has turned really cold, my girl is a freaking PIG!

Seriously. She probably eats 15-20% more most days in the winter; she always seems to be looking for food!

 

Edit: During the other seasons, my dog is much more of a grazer ... Not overly interested in meals. Just something to think about

 

That's entirely possible! I've been contemplating adding "goodies" to his meals (maybe some chicken or something - keep meaning to hunt the forum for ideas!) so that might keep him a little fuller longer. Also thinking about starting to give him turkey necks maybe once a day - just a bit concerned that they might give him some tummy upset (he wears a muzzle at night because he was pooping and "cleaning up" for a while, so vomit in a muzzle would not be a good thing). Anyone who feeds turkey necks - do they cause unhappy tummies?

[Guest cwholsin]

He's a bit of a goat. It's getting better, but he used to snag paper and garbage off the street when we'd go for walks. Got a mouthful of insulation once and was not a happy camper when I thoroughly inspected his mouth afterward He'll grab bark chips and leaves too, unless I'm careful. But that's it, thankfully - nothing else out of the ordinary (I feel like I should add "yet" here..haha). He doesn't chew on anything ("yet") unless it happens to be yarn - if I leave a ball of yarn on the sofa, no matter how carefully concealed, it will be his new favorite plaything. He really is more cat than dog (was drawn to the feathery cat toy at Petco today instead of the wall of dog toys we were standing right beside - haha). I'm still trying to convince him that toys are fun.

 

I know I tend to overreact to things (working on it!) so that's where most of the post came from. I see him pick something up off the floor, as harmless as it may be, and think "What if he does that to something else that turns out to be harmful?" I blame it on my varying levels of anxiety and I'm hard at work to make it less of a thing. The whole "what if" mentality is a tough one for me to squash, but I'm getting there.

 

He weighs about 65 and is on four cups of Nutro lamb and rice (the "Natural" version) a day - two in the morning and two in the evening. His weight seems good and he has managed to put on a couple pounds since retiring in May (greyhound-data has his weight listed as 72 lbs, which it definitely wasn't when I picked him up from GFNC - I'm assuming that was a typo?). He gets a handful of kibble at night before bed, too. I need to find a good treat for him.

 

As for the exercise thing, he's pretty lazy for a 2.5 year old. It's not that he won't exercise - he just prefers not to unless it's happening under the cover of darkness (he could walk for hours at 10pm if it's a pleasant temp, but take him out during the day [even if the temp is nice] and he begs to go back ). Half the time I feel like I should've named him Bartleby because of how often I get looks that say "I would prefer not to".

 

I'm going to work on training him in "Leave it" and training my parents in "Take it (to the kitchen)".

 

ETA: I should add that having him is really helping with my general anxiety. Now I just need to get a handle on my pet-related anxiety.

 

And he's not "lazy" in a way that concerns me - he will run if given an off-lead place to do so and I will occasionally find him throwing a toy around the room. I think he's still settling in (even though it's been almost eight months). He's acting more and more like he's figured out his place here (yay!) but I can tell he's still not entirely comfortable yet.

 

Greyhounds are super for anxiety! Good luck with 'leave it'. It's one of the things that all dogs should be taught, in my opinion. Having a solid leave it should also help with your anxiety over his well-being!

[turbotaina]

I'm scratching my head a little bit over this post. Does your guy have a history of chewing on inappropriate things or is he actually ingesting them? Dogs won't usually swallow something that's not food....

 

Not true at all. Mine most recently puked up a piece of the ottoman.

 

Roo, to teach leave it, you can start with something that the dog doesn't really want - say, a sock or your keys. Present item so that he looks at it, say "leave it" and when he turns from the item and looks at you, give him a treat. You can then work up to more desirable objects (snotty tissues , food). I never went about teaching my old boy leave it, but over the years I had said it enough he figured it out For those of you who are trying to teach a dog to leave it by starting off with a treat on the ground - that's pretty difficult. Start with lower value items and work up. Also, my trainer suggested that when we get to the stage of asking them to leave food, to not reward the dog with the very food that we asked it to leave, but with another treat we have in our hands.

 

BTW, Roo, my dog is much like yours. As soon as he finishes meals, he seems hell bent to find yet more to eat and cruises around eating anything that even remotely looks like it could possibly be food. Or not. Like lint, or paper. Or bits from the ottoman, apparently. He's like this year round, weather has nothing to do with it. If you're looking for items to add to food, do something like greenbeans. They add bulk, but not a lot of calories. You don't want your pup to get fat

 

Good luck! I can certainly sympathize, living with a very busy, starved dog myself

[Fruitycake]

Dogs are, by their very nature, scavengers. That's how they came to be dogs and no longer wild canids. If there's anything that they think might be interesting, they're going to check it out (and your pup sounds like he's still being very puppy like in the "is it food? I'll put it in my mouth to check"). And unfortunately, every single time he finds anything that rewards his sniffing about the couch area that is tasty, fun or interesting enough to him, he's being rewarded for that behavior (which is already natural). Training him not to do it when you aren't there is going to be a difficult haul, because he may learn that he only gets the "leave it" when you're around (it may make him more sneaky and cause him to just wait until you aren't there to do it!).

 

You've had multiple explanations on the "leave it" training. Much emphasis on the starting with something completely unappealing at the start. And when you get to the more appealing things, like treats or food or whatever, don't give the thing you just told him to leave. His reward should come from another hand, or another location, and put the stuff you told him to leave in another container, or move to the kennel in his spot (his "eating area") and let him go ahead and eat when you've given the OK. If you tell him to leave something and then give it to him, as another mentioned it can be more of a "wait for it" command. We do that with our dogs with their meals - have them wait and then release to eat.