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Chewing Rocks

6K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  TitanS_MoM 
#1 ·
Hi all! My 3 month old GSD, Titan, has been chewing on rocks.. big rocks, small rocks... ROCKS! I have never seen a dog chew on rocks like he does and its gotten so bad that he has actually ground down his teeth. Luckily they are still baby teeth and he'll lose those. But I was wondering if anyone has come across this before and how do I get him to stop? I don't want him to damage his adult teeth like he has his baby teeth. Thanks in advance!!
 
#2 ·
only way we could get this to stop was to always have my dog on a leash for a few weeks and every time she picked up a rock, pull it out of her mouth and give her a toy instead
 
#3 ·
Thats really difficult to do because most of our backyard is rocks... We are renting and that is the landscape... We are looking at finding another place with a nice grassy filled area but for the moment we are stuck with a rocky yard : /
 
#4 ·
Go outside with your puppy every time until he gets the idea. It's a common thing in young dogs, mine tried to eat everything but after pulling enough crap out of her mouth she finally stopped
 
#5 ·
LOL....yes, my current shep was a rock muncher as well when she was a pup...didn't make any sense to me at all. Big rocks, little rocks, in between sized rocks but never my socks or my 25 year old Scotch.

I do remember even finding smaller stones in her poop.

I recall just getting on her and using the old "leave it" or "no". Over a short period it worked and I probably used a high priority treat when she obeyed. I also remember using verbal distractions since I wasn't about to chase her and take them from her...I'm sure if I had, she would have just viewed grabbing rocks and munching on them as a precursor to a game of chase.

Pups love to chew and explore with their mouths/taste, so the sooner you get Titan accustomed to what is acceptable chew items, the sooner Titan will quit ruining his first set of teeth.

SuperG a la Dr. Seuss
 
#8 ·
Supervise, supervise, supervise!!! Last thing you want is a huge vet bill for emergency surgery because your pup swallowed rocks that caused an impaction/blockage.

I raised a young dog that went through a rock-eating phase when still at about the same age as Titan - just supervised, redirected, and if possible, picked him up put him down on grassy areas so we'd avoid the gravel he was so fond of completely. If not allowed to continue, the rock chewing behaviour usually extinguishes itself.

You want to stop this now so it does not become a life-long habit. The only way to stop this is just hard work and the personal effort of supervising and preventing.
 
#10 ·
how can your dog chew on rocks if you're there? your dog has
chewed it's teeth down from the rocks. that means you're
not taking the rocks away from him. leash your dog
and don't let him chew on rocks. don't leave your pup
outside unattended. if your pup does manage to get
a rock take it away from immediately.
 
#12 ·
Again my entire yard is rocks. It is difficult to catch every rock he picks up. He did not grind his teeth down while with me because I do pay attention. He was with my mother for a couple days while I was very ill. I do my best to train him otherwise, I was just curious if there were any other tricks that I might be missing. He has already gotten better about leaving the rocks alone.
 
#11 · (Edited)
All puppy or most puppy goes through this stage, supervise. As stated already emergency surgery can expensive and sometimes the pup don't make it.
Take it as an opportunity to teach leave it and drop it, mine did the same.
If taught properly he will learn to avoid it within a month :) Happy training.

ETA: i like his color, he is so cute..Please share some pics..we love to see puppy pics :D:D

Edit again; sorry found the pics Meet Titan :)

NOOB me lol
 
#14 ·
He is handsome ;) love his colour.

Supervise, teach him to drop it or leave it...make sure he does not swallow rocks, if he chews it do not hesitate to put your hand inside his mouth to take it out and you will be just fine :)
 
#15 ·
Thank you! Thats what I've been doing.. Like I mentioned above it was out of my control when he ground down his teeth.. I just want to make sure I can break the habit now. I can't wait until we can have a grassy yard for him and not a yard of rocks. I take him to the park all the time and I have loaded him up with chew toys.
 
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