Why is my puppy chewing on plants? What can I do to make him stop?

Try keeping a toy or something that makes noise with you (you can put some pennies or pebbles into an empty soda or tin can and tape it closed to make a shake can that you can rattle or drop next to her to startle her into stopping) when you go outside with her. When she starts to eat weeds, squeak the toy or clap your hands to make noise to distract her from what she is doing and tell her 'drop it' or 'leave it'. As soon as she stops what she's doing give her a treat or the toy to play with. Over time this should give her the idea that she gets a nice treat when she listens to you when you ask her to stop. If she does not stop you may need to take her outside only on a leash so you can control her trying to eat weeds until you can break her of the habit. Some species of plants can be highly toxic to dogs (lilies, sago palm are two common toxic landscape plants) so teaching her to stop is a good thing.

To be honest, removing the mulch is your best bet. You can try using a basket muzzle (not a regular muzzle) - only put it on when he is outside and I don't suggest you leave him out with it on unattended - but in the end, removing the mulch is the best option. There is this article about trying some home remedies. You are welcome to try them but I have not had many clients report that they work well. ( https://www.doityourself.com/stry/making-your-mulch-dog-repellent )

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sadly this is a puppy and or breed problem that MOST dogs eventually outgrow. Everything he could chew on should be put away or removed until this phase of puppy-hood is over. The family needs to learn to put their shoes in the closet. All plants should be put up on furniture or shelves. All exposed wires should be hidden or blocked with baby gates. When Damon can not be 100% watched he should be crated for his own safety or penned in a dog play pen or gated in a room that is puppy proofed. Make sure he gets plenty of exercise with walks and one on one play or sign him up for doggie day care during the day. Most chewing occurs out of boredom. Sign him up for training classes or start teaching him "leave it" and be sure he knows how to come when called. This is going to take time and patience and everyone doing their part to prevent injury to their belongings and to Damon. I hope this helps and I wish you the best!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend using a bitter tasting solution such as bitter apple or something very hot such as cayenne pepper and apply it to the things you do not want Peyton to chew on. Allow him to grab the object with the substance applied to it and when he drops it because of the bad taste, say "no!" to reinforce that this is not an acceptable behavior. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

Puppies are curious, so they will explore anything and everything with their mouths. Your best option is to restrict access to the mulch beds. Fence off an area for them to use for elimination. Make sure it is free of sticks, rocks, etc. before you let them out.

Unfortunately, this is a common issue in cats. First, make sure that all house plants are not toxic to cats. Then, you can try spraying the plants with something like Bitter Apple spray to discourage your cat from chewing on them. If that doesn't work, you may have to move the plants to an area where Lil Bit can't get to them. You can also try placing pet grass or a small planting of wheat grass or cat nip in an area where Lil Bit can get to it to satisfy her desire to chew on plant material.

This is a common problem with puppies! They eat everything! There's not much you can do to stop the behavior other than stay by her side at all times and try to stop the behavior. You could try bring high value treats out with you and treat her when she is not eating the grass. This process may work but will take a while to train her. Eventually she will learn to pay attention to you. The good news is, she will likely outgrow the behavior. I hope this helps! Please feel free to post any other questions!