Dog Keeps Eating Foreign Things

[Guest TatumJ]

I was hoping that someone could give me some feedback in reference to my girl eating my son's toys. This just recently started and she is literally EATING the toys. Not just chewing but physically consuming them. I am worried that they won't pass and I'll wind up at some emergency vet for it. Has anyone else had this issue? We just got her about 4 months ago and this has only started in the last few weeks or so. We have disciplined her and it doesn't seem to phase her, we tried kenneling her and she just started shredding her bedding so today we kenneled her for an hour or so with no blankets and came home and she had chewed on the bars of her kennel! I am stumped as to what to do next. We ordered her a kennel muzzle and hope that it will prevent any more of this from happening but it's just weird that she only eats my little guys stuff!!

 

TIA for any help!

[Guest june]

I'm sure you will get lots of good suggestions but here is just a bit to get you started thinking.

First a couple questions for you. How much exercise is your pup getting? If you dog is not getting enough exercise it could be bored. and, What has recently (just before this behavior started) changed in your house? New pets, different work hours, gone from the house longer, or any changes that my have upset your pup. Next,have your son put his toys up and don't leave them around for her to find. You are right she could end up with an obstruction from eating the toys. Also, something for you to consider is can you try leaving her with the muzzle on and not in the crate. Often once these pups have gotten used to not being crated they really hate it and can, if determined enough, actually hurt themselves if left in the crate.

[Guest DeniseL]

I'm a bit of an expert on this. My boy Miami eats things. Mostly soft things and mostly my things. Socks, Brillo pads, gloves, paper, books, etc. it's called Pica. U of Penn even used him for a news segment they did.

 

With Miami, it's an anxiety thing. When he gets nervous or overly excited he likes to mouth things and then chew and swallow. Yes, it is very dangerous. We have gotten lucky so far, with everything passing. You will need to muzzle or completely puppy proof the house, like we did.

 

Miami is on prozac which helped with the anxiety and thus the Pica, but we are still hyper vigilant and will always have to be. We took him to a behaviorist which helped us to understand his behavior and how to manage it.

 

Not sure correcting or disciplining will do anything as they will have no idea what they are being disciplined for. With Miami we just try our best to not set him up to fail.

 

It definitely sounds like your girl has some anxiety issues, also.

[Guest greyhound_in_LA]

If it only happened recently, what changed in the last few weeks that could cause this swallowing of toys?

 

Is it anxiety or stress related?

 

If it is, then punishment is not the answer. Also, you can't punish or discipline a dog for something it did hours before; they cannot make that association.

[Batmom]

No punishment, please! If you catch her with something she shouldn't have, just gently take it away ("Good girl!" for letting you take it) and give her something she CAN have. And make sure the things she shouldn't have aren't accessible :) .

 

Kennel muzzle should help when you can't supervise.

 

One of mine used to eat things too. Other dogs might shred a toy/other object and leave the pieces lying around; he shredded and ate. Kennel muzzle worked fine when we couldn't watch. He did make a fine recovery from a costly foreign body surgery and died years later of something else.

[Guest normaandburrell]

She sounds just like my dog Iceman. I posted another thread about this after he swallowed a nylon leash. The title of the thread was "eating bizarre objects." He primarily likes to get in the trash. However, he also likes to chew on the grandchildren's toys whenever they visit us.

When I got him I was told that he had been sent back after 5 days in foster care because he got into everything, including a can of nails. He had chewed his crate in the kennel to the point where he had dental damage. He never raced, and was in the adoption kennel for 9 months, and I suspected he simply did not get enough exercise.

It took a while for the behavior to show up after I adopted him. When it did, I started giving him a lot more stimulation and exercise. I take him for a long walk first thing in the morning. At least once a day I take him out and throw a ball or something called a "kong wubba" around for him to run after. I make sure he is good and tired when I'm done. If I get busy and don't do these things, he follows me around all the time or gets into things.

All of the other GT suggestions are good. Keep your son's toys up, and/or the door to his room closed. Look around for things your dog might get into and give her more exercise. I would resort to babygating or muzzling only if the first suggestions don't work. Crating obviously just increases her anxiety. If she is a young dog, she should calm down as she gets older.