My puppy won't stop eating mulch. What can I do to prevent it?

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.

Yes, a basket muzzle is a good idea but you should also consider working with a professional in-home dog trainer. They can probably help you train her to stop this behavior rather easily. I like BarkBusters and they have a trainer in your area. I’m pretty sure they do a free consult and the training is guaranteed for the life of the dog. No harm in calling them. ( https://www.barkbusters.com/dog-training-naperville-chicago ) Hooe this helps. Best wishes.

This is certainly a frustrating behavior and can it hard to control. I have two thoughts for you. 1) Often dogs who eat lots of none food items have mild intestinal upset all the time. I would recommend starting by talking to her vet about this and starting her on probiotics 2) For management, remove all the dog beds from your house and teaching her to wear a basket muzzle while outside and/or only taking her out on leash. Check out this site for more information: https://muzzleupproject.com/muzzle-training/ . I know this sounds extreme, but her current behavior is potentially life threatening. My last idea is to talk to a behaviorist to see if she needs help with anxiety or other behavioral problem. But only after exploring the possibility of intestinal upset with your regular vet. https://avsab.org/resources/behavior-consultant-near-you-2/

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.

It really sounds like you have pretty much done everything we recommend in these situations. Often times dogs will "outgrow' this behavior but there is no guarantee. There is an old wives tale that says dogs do this due to a nutritonal deficiency. That has never been proven so I don't necessarily believe it but you can try giving Chaplin a multivitamin (like Pet Tabs) to see if that helps. This article has some other ideas you can try. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1613 My other recommendation would be to add a probiotic to his diet like Fortiflora (the best one in my opinion). https://www.walmart.com/ip/Purina-Pro-Plan-Veterinary-Diets-FortiFlora-Probiotic-Supplement-30-CT/43284986 Finally, if he is eating inappropriate things (other than the feces) you can try putting basket muzzle on him when he is unattended. He may be able to still eat feces through it but depending on which type you get you can minimize that. Don't get a regular tight fitting muzzle on the snout. It needs to be the kind where he can still pant and drink water through it. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=basket+muzzle Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This can of course be an issue as she could eat something tha perhaps upsets her stomach or even worse that causes an obstruction. The best thing is to teach her by continuously letting her know that that is unacceptable behavior. Otherwise, another option is using a basket muzzle when going outside which may prevent her from getting things in her mouth. Good luck and have a great day!

Hello, and thanks for your question. Sounds like Alex is quite the trouble maker! You're right - the best way to prevent them from eating material is to simply keep the house as spotless as possible. Dogs naturally explore the world with their mouths, and some are more prone to eating what they find than others. Teaching Alex the "drop it" or "leave it" command will help when you see him getting into something he shouldn't. I would also recommend crate training Alex and keeping him safely confined when he's alone. In a few extreme cases, I have had patients wear basket muzzles to prevent them from eating what they shouldn't - but this is not usually necessary and is only something I usually consider after a dog has had multiple foreign body surgeries! If you are thinking about going this route with Alex, I would definitely touch base with your vet for guidance. It's important to make sure it's an appropriate fit so dogs can still pant, drink water, etc, and they need to be properly trained to wear the muzzle to minimize stress. Hope this helps!