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Help!!!

1K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  SuperG 
#1 ·
I NEED HELP!

My 9 week old GSD is eating everything. He has an incredible drive for rocks especially.

I have tried redirecting. Did not work. He is VERY determined.

So my trainer said a solid leash tug with a firm "NO... LEAVE IT" would do the trick. Well, no... NOT AT ALL. He tries harder and grows more intent with every tug and command. It escalates to the point that he gets wired and out of control and all I can do is bring him in and kennel him up until he calms back down and we can try again.

Sadly, I have to kennel him because this happens while taking him out to go potty and he grows so focused on the rocks and dirt that he wont relieve himself half of the time.

So, if redirecting and a leash tug with a firm command does not work, what do I do????

And, note... my backyard is mid landscape. The dirt will be grass soon, but the rocks are permanent. This is not a case of simply redoing my backyard to accommodate. We need him to learn he cannot do it. We have other dogs and this has never been an issue. Rock eating is a new one!

I have another call into our trainer, but thought I would reach out to you all for some pointers. This is not how I want our relationship to start. :cry:
 
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#2 ·
Just wondering, how well does he respond the "leave it" command in training? How do you train him "leave it"?

My 14 weeks old male gsd likes picking up and chewing rocks and many other things on the ground too, I got him at 9 weeks old and noticed he has this habit. I used treats, meat, his toys when training him the leave it command. He responds well 99% of the time, yes only 99%. He sometimes intentionally picked up things even I asked him not to and refused to drop, or dropped it, got my treat, then picked it up again.

Find something that have a higher value than rocks to him, treats or toys, instead of stopping him when he is already determined to get the rocks, try using his favorite treats or toys to get his attention before he gets into that mode. Just a suggestion! 9 weeks old is young, he will get better and have more self-control. Good luck.
 
#4 ·
your pup is a baby. I just kept telling my pups to leave it (in my case it was tiny acorns and seaweeds) and kept taking the item from their mouths. No big deal, not even trading. It was just a quiet matter of fact, leave it. They accepted it.

that being said, sometime when your pup is bigger he will find something he really wants. That is when it will be good to have something valuable to trade it for. In my case, my boy, when he was younger, found a dead fish on the beach. I was glad to have tasty treats when he was so good about spitting it out on command.
 
#5 ·
Is it possible to clear a small area of rocks that you will take him to in order to go potty? Many people will train a puppy to go potty in a designated area anyway, so the puppy gets the idea that going to that area isn't play time, it's only for going to the bathroom. It's not possible to get rid of all of the rocks in the entire yard-that would be impossible for me too, but clearing a small area might be possible until he gets a little older.
 
#6 ·
Is it possible to clear a small area of rocks that you will take him to in order to go potty? Many people will train a puppy to go potty in a designated area anyway, so the puppy gets the idea that going to that area isn't play time, it's only for going to the bathroom. It's not possible to get rid of all of the rocks in the entire yard-that would be impossible for me too, but clearing a small area might be possible until he gets a little older.
I would definitely try that. I always train my dogs to go in the same area anyway. One of my dogs had a thing about acorns. He outgrew it. My other dog is the 'pine cone queen'.
 
#7 ·
I would definitely start working on actually training the leave it command. Saying "leave it" and giving a leash correction is not actually teaching anything. You want the dog to develop self-control through his own accord, not just because he has a leash on and could get a hard pop. A solid "leave it" requires lots of time to learn and you need to go through all the steps thoroughly of this command...in a nut shell:

Step 1: Hold food in closed fist, present to dog, wait for dog to pull nose away, mark and reward with the food
Step 2: In addition to pulling his nose away, now require him tomato eye contact before he gets the food
Step 3: Present food in open hand. Close your hand around food if he goes for it and give verbal correction. Mark and reward when he pulls nose away and looks at you
Step 4: Work on lowering open hand to floor
Step 5: Food on floor with your hand close enough to cup over it if he tries to go for it
Step 6: Food on floor and work on walking away from the food
Step 7: Tossing food gently on floor
Step 8: Set up a leave it obstacle course to practice the skill when the dog is in motion and encountering surprises on the ground.
Step 9: Throw a burger at your dogs face and watch them leave it! (joking, kind of)

So yes, this command takes time and patience. A 9 week old puppy has zero self-restraint. You can practice this command with all manner of food rewards (high and low value) as well as with rocks and anything else that he seems to love to get his mouth on.

For going potty - always have him on a leash. Take him to a designated spot (perhaps one that you have covered over with some mulch or some other substrate) and wait him out. It may take a while for him to learn to go in his spot, but be patient and he will learn. When he does go, give lots of praise and his favorite treat.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the posts everyone! Sorry for going MIA. It's been busy around here and I haven't really had much to update until now.

Our landscaping is mostly done... finally! It is helping some of our problem. Much less dirt and rock for him to get into. He's actually doing much better in regards to eating rocks. We've been doing "leave it" and "drop it" from day one and it FINALLY appears to be sinking in. The commands work 85% of the time. When it doesn't, he goes back into the crate for a bit and we try again a few minutes later.

We still have issues with him eating everything else, but it's a work in progress. He loves grass, weeds, and leaves. Even though I use it as a teaching moment, I don't worry about his safety.
 
#10 ·
He may use rock eating as a game because he gets a lot of attention for it. I agree with a special no-rock zone for pottying and have him forget about rocks. So for the next several months, don't take him anywhere where you can expect rocks. He is still young and will have other things on his mind soon.
 
#12 ·
I had a pup that was supplementing her diet with rocks......I kind of took Scarfish's approach.....knew it was a passing phase .....minded the pup's roaming about...removed many a rock from the pup's mouth...a bit of vocal displeasure ( on my behalf ).....however...I probably started some "leave it" commands to the pup when I knew I could beat her to the punch .....probably incorporated some positive redirection ...didn't make a ticker tape parade out of it however........

SuperG
 
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