[Mima]

Hi. I apologise....but I am new to this!

I have a few questions to ask about my 13week old puppy - Ben.

He is a really chilled dog and I love him to bits. Never had a dog so everything is new to me!

1) I have caught my dog eating his poo this morning - surely that is not normal??? How can I stop it??

2) The past few days, my dog has slathered loads when sleeping. This includes his sleep during the day. Is this normal?

3) How can I stop him chewing EVERYTHING!!? wires are his favourite - they have all been removed out of sight now. But he goes in the garden, comes in with plant pots, flowers, wood etc. He chews the back door and just discovered he has chewed off the leg to the cupboard!

Thanks for your help!!

 

[...]

Hiya. Don't apologise, we were all new at some point and we all ask loads of questions. That's how you find out the answers :wink: .

Firstly...Poo eating. Unfortunately perfectly normal, although understandably undesirable. If it is his own poo you can add things to his food, such as Pineapple or courgette and this will make his poo taste nasty. If it is other animals poo, then it's a bit more tricky, as you will have to teach him the LEAVE command and make sure his reward for leaving it, is of higher value than the poo. Best thing to do if he is eating his own, is to lead him away as soon as he has done it, take him indoors where he can't see you, then clear it up immediately. If he sees you diving for it, he may think you want it for yourself and this will make him want it all the more. :wink:

Secondly...I'm not sure what slathering is . Do you mean drooling? If so it could be that he has a bit of a sore mouth. Check his gums, tongue and round his teeth to make sure he hasn't got anything caught (like a splinter).

Thirdly...Chewing is what Lab pups do BEST! :wink: Keep your eye on him and remove him from anything you don't want chewed (furniture, etc) and make sure he has something better to chew on. While you are not available to watch him, pop him in his crate, as he doesn't know yet what he can and can't chew, so everything will be tried out (just like a toddler putting everything in it's mouth). Work on LEAVE or AH AH by using a reward when he does put down whatever he is chewing....And if he fetches things to you (even if you don't want him to have the item), praise him to the hilt and swap the item for something nice, as otherwise if he thinks you are constantly going to take things away, he'll either run off with his Prize or swallow it quick. :wink:

 

[Tarimoor_Art]

Hello, and welcome to LF!

What a cutie!!!

1. Poo eating is normal, to you it's yuck, to your pup it's yummy half digested goodness 8O

2. Indie's a drooler, she leaves puddles on your leg whenever she rests her head on there, so sounds fairly normal to me

3. Ben is about the right age to start teething, and so his gums might be irritating him, hence sudden chewing if he's never done it before. Some wires and cables contain ingredients which, although undetectable to our nose, animals can smell and interpret as being palateable. Also, when he chews something, he's likely to get your attention, good or bad, and Labs love attention. You need to always remember to praise the positive, and not just always give the attention when they do something negative, easily forgotten. If he is teething, frozen carrots are a good treat, and frozen stuffed kong toys to help soothe his gums.

There is lots of stickies and informative posts in the Puppy section, if you take a while to read through some of them they will help :wink:

 

[81cat]

Hi,

Can't help with question 1 - Truffle has (thankfully) never eaten poo.

With the drooling, probably his teeth hurting. Truffle has started to drool lots recently, and he's teething so I've been giving him frozen carrot and frozen bones to chew on (I keep hold of the bone so he can't eat it all in one go otherwise a runny tummy!!!)

With chewing, we put a bit of Vicks vapour rub on things he went for lots (TV stand, bottom of sofa, stairgates), and after a few licks the smell was enough to put him off! Only had to do it for a few days - you need to keep applying until they stop investigating the area completely - and now he rarely chews anything he shouldn't, and if he does I get the pot down and he stops pretty quick. He even stopped nipping my son when he decided to coat himself in Vicks :lol: :lol: :lol: This works well until you can teach a good 'leave it' command.

Hope this helps

Cat and Truffle

 

[bld]

Gillie is a poo eater - fortunately not dogs but fox, geese, rabbit he loves! Recently the fox poo has been full of berries and Gillie was sick last week and it contained the berries so we have been keen to stop him. He totally ignores the leave it command when he has some yummy poo so we bought a kiddies water pistol in Tescos and he gets the leave it command and if he ignores it he gets a spray of water on the nose.

It has been very effective, he now stops when we say leave it and the water pistol is now a fun game for him!

 

[_Donna_]

Glad i read this, Alfie has been drooling something terrible..and he really is chewing everything and anything.. 8O Now i now its his toothie pegs i'll get his kongs in the freezer, that'l help.

ANd i can say woohoo...i don;t have a poo eater..lol

 

[Mima]

Thanks for all of your help and suggestions.

He is fantastic and I love him to bits! Got to get the poo eating to stop! pineapple is sounding the best option.

Thanks xxx