How to stop my puppy eating grass and sticks outside without anxiety?

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!

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.

Certainly sticks and stones are not good for Teddy's GI tract. They can cause irritation, ulcers, and can get stuck and require surgery to remove them. You can try keeping Teddy on a leash to be able to keep him from the sticks as he learns what is ok to chew and what is not ok. I also recommend always having something to redirect his behavior when he does things like grabbing a stick. Things like chew toys or balls to fetch can be helpful tools to redirect Teddy's behavior to something more appropriate to do besides chewing sticks and stones. I always tell clients that animals cannot change behavior in a vacuum. Meaning just saying, "Teddy No!" When he chews sticks or digs in the yard is only one half of the equation. The other half is to give him something that IS ok to chew on or play with. Eventually with consistent redirection your little guy should get the hang of it. Keep in mind, also, that digging is a part of normal puppy behavior, even though we need to stop them from doing it or our yards will look like disaster zones. You can try this same redirecting trick with digging. Also make sure not to leave Teddy unattended outside until he gets the hang both of not digging and not going after sticks and stones. Best of luck with your sweet little trouble maker!

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.

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 )

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!

What a cutie! Consistency is key here - each time he picks something up remove it from his mouth - you may need to bribe him with a treat to get him to release the item. You could also work on a cue like 'look at me' to teach him to make eye contact with you, and if you can anticipate when he's about to pick something up ask him to look at you instead: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/watch-me-command-grab-dogs-attention/