Eating rocks

[Meeka]

Hello

I have an 18 month old lab. And recently she started eating rocks. I’m feeding her as I used to before there hasn’t been any change in her diet or at home. I have been taking to a dog park near my house since she was small puppy and there are small rocks there and she never once touched it but now recently she puts it in her mouth eats it or comes to show me that she’s eating it to tease me so I chase her. She has thrown up rocks sometimes so I’m really worried what can I do to fix this problem.


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[barry581]

She needs a solid "leave it". A lot of good videos on YOUTUBE, this is pretty much how I taught it to Brooks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQdg0qOVik0

[smartrock]

Sounds like you've got quite a rascal on your hands! You've mentioned before that she eats poop in the neighbor's yard and that she recently had a bout of vomiting necessitating a vet visit and several medications. Now rocks. Maybe the stomach upset was related to her poop or rock eating.

Labs are notorious for eating things they shouldn't. If she picks something up and you chase her, that's a fun game that she's going to want to play over and over. You'll have to eliminate the game by keeping her on a leash so she can't run away from you or take her someplace else to play. Then you start the training. By the way, have you taken her to any sort of obedience training classes? They're a good way to learn from an experienced trainer how to teach commands and practice them so you and Meeka get to form a better working team.

I'd start by looking up how to train her to do 2 things, "drop it" and "leave it". They are 2 separate commands, one if she's got something in her mouth, the other before she picks it up. There are many videos and articles online showing methods to teach those. I'd start working on those at home and once she understands what each command means, move to your yard and practice it over and over and over until she's got that down. Keep her on a leash if necessary so she can't run off with whatever you're telling her to leave. If she eats rocks at the park or poop in the yard, I'd work hard to avoid those opportunities while you're training her because if she gets away with it, it reinforces what a fun thing that is. It may mean walking her on leash in the park rather than letting her run free. If you have a yard in which she can play, you may have to stop going to the park if you can't keep her leashed up while you're working on training these commands. You might have to be creative in finding things to wear her out. Training, while it doesn't involve a lot of running around, does give them mental exercise which can also help tire them out.

Once she knows those commands, if you want to try the park again, if she will fetch a ball or do some other activity to get her to run and exercise, I'd try to keep her busy with that so she doesn't turn to the rocks again to get your attention. If she's had some time to run, and looks like she's finished with that exercise, leash her up and take her back home before she gets into the rocks again.

[Meeka]

Sounds like you've got quite a rascal on your hands! You've mentioned before that she eats poop in the neighbor's yard and that she recently had a bout of vomiting necessitating a vet visit and several medications. Now rocks. Maybe the stomach upset was related to her poop or rock eating.

Labs are notorious for eating things they shouldn't. If she picks something up and you chase her, that's a fun game that she's going to want to play over and over. You'll have to eliminate the game by keeping her on a leash so she can't run away from you or take her someplace else to play. Then you start the training. By the way, have you taken her to any sort of obedience training classes? They're a good way to learn from an experienced trainer how to teach commands and practice them so you and Meeka get to form a better working team.

I'd start by looking up how to train her to do 2 things, "drop it" and "leave it". They are 2 separate commands, one if she's got something in her mouth, the other before she picks it up. There are many videos and articles online showing methods to teach those. I'd start working on those at home and once she understands what each command means, move to your yard and practice it over and over and over until she's got that down. Keep her on a leash if necessary so she can't run off with whatever you're telling her to leave. If she eats rocks at the park or poop in the yard, I'd work hard to avoid those opportunities while you're training her because if she gets away with it, it reinforces what a fun thing that is. It may mean walking her on leash in the park rather than letting her run free. If you have a yard in which she can play, you may have to stop going to the park if you can't keep her leashed up while you're working on training these commands. You might have to be creative in finding things to wear her out. Training, while it doesn't involve a lot of running around, does give them mental exercise which can also help tire them out.

Once she knows those commands, if you want to try the park again, if she will fetch a ball or do some other activity to get her to run and exercise, I'd try to keep her busy with that so she doesn't turn to the rocks again to get your attention. If she's had some time to run, and looks like she's finished with that exercise, leash her up and take her back home before she gets into the rocks again.

You are right I do have a little rascal on my hands, she is a handful and keeps me on my toes. And all of this has started in the last five months so I don’t know if she’s a teenager or what’s going on.

I did Go to training classes when she was a puppy and taught her to leave it and drop it.. And she does listen when I tell her to drop it she drop the rock but sometimes when she is in a mischievous mood than she listens but chooses to not follow. Also she listens to my daughter very well as compared to me my daughter just has to say it once and she follows the command.
I also thought that I’m going to stop going to places where she has a free-for-all I think I’m just going to go to trails and go hiking with her and take a long leash which I have been doing for a hike so I can keep a close check with her and keep working on the leave it and drop it at home
. you’re right


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[SunDance]

You definitely want to keep her from eating rocks.

Years ago, I had a friend with two German Shepherds. The male ate rocks. He ended up having surgery twice for this and the vet told my friend that she had to do a better job of preventing the situation or she'd probably lose him the next time.

She ended up having a portion of her yard dug up, sifted, and fenced in so that Kaiser could go out without leashed supervision at all times. Luckily, he didn't just substitute with dirt.

[Snowshoe]

What do you do with her for training? Just guessing but I wonder if she needs a different/another outlet for her energy and her brains. Classes in obedience, rally, agility, field work, or there are others, might give her direction and something else to think about. Even the ones that are not very active, to start with anyway, like obedience and rally, will make her think and thinking is tiring. Plus, it sounds like she wants more engagement from you and more training would do it. Oh, freestyle, that's a neat one to try, any of that near you?