How to stop my dog from eating everything on walks? Worried about toxins.

Hi, this is quite the annoying problem you are having. First, you are doing the correct thing when telling her to drop it or give it to you. I would reinforce this with giving her a treat after she lets go of the object she's not supposed to have. Train her to keep her attention on you while walking by giving her commands randomly such as sit or wait, and reward her with a small treat. Then she will be looking to you for rewards instead of the ground for things to chew. Good luck, I hope this helps!

IF there is a generalised increase in appetite and/or weight loss a full health check would be recommended to rule out medical causes of increasing appetite such as diabetes or poor digestion/absorption of food. Otherwise I recommend clicker training at home focusing on the words 'drop it' and I would also consider walking her with a muzzle on to prevent her from consuming anything dangerous

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.

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!

I guess the answer will depend also on his age, however I would strongly suggest training done by a professional trainer that knows hounds breeds well and respects them from what they are. I have a basset-hound cross and she also loves to vacuum the floors but thankfully does not swallow everything she finds along the way, The only thing that worked with her was training, as she is very very food oriented ! It is a commitment and investment but will save you thousands of dollars in upset tummies treatments and surgeries and in worrying to death for his own health. Good luck !

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/

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!