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| jammys |
| how do I stop my 5 month old golden retriever from picking up twigs, stones, plasic, paper just about everthing and eating it when I am out walking him? |
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| Froggy |
The old...'keep Britain litter free' game.
Is he on or off leash when he does this, on leash there is a quick fix althout it depends on what kind of collar you have on him, Ive occasionally added a halti with either a choke chain or a semi choker (the martingale type), with the halti you have control of his head, with most dogs it takes a couple of times to wear it before they 'get used to it', I attach the leash to both, (I used to just use a halti but Ive had a couple of dogs manage to get out of them, and if you couple them you have to be careful that it doesnt get twisted with the other collar). If hes off leash it will take a little longer, teach him to 'drop it', quickest way to do this is very small treats (fingernail sized pieces of chicken....I know hes having a problem with diarhea now so that needs to be taken into account with whatever food your using). I'd start in the house or a confined area, like your back yard, somewhere were he cant just grab something and take off with it. Give him one of his toys, offer him the treat and say 'drop', if he doesnt drop the toy keep after him but use a lot of motivation, put the treat right in front of his nose and repeat 'drop' as soon as he drops the toy give him the treat and a lot of praise....like 'good drop' more emphasis on 'drop' than 'good'. Do this about 10+ times a day, by day three, as long as he is dropping the toy every time give him the treat only every other time for a day or 2, gradually decreasing the frequency of the treats but still give him the praise. Ive seen many dogs dropping things 100% of the time after a week with no food treats in exchange in a reasonably confined area. Vary the toys so he gets the idea that its not one specific thing he associates it with.
I wouldnt do this if, for example your out on a big field with him or somewhere that you cant catch him, what will happen is you could spend a week working on this at home, he gets away with it on the field and hes learnt in one easy lesson that he doesnt always have to do what you ask him to.
I think at the age he is now would also be a great time to maybe get him signed up for obedience school. After the diarrhea has been taken care of though, obedience training, different dogs around, new people etc can be both exciting and a little stressful which can both make diarrhea worse, its not uncommon for dogs to have at least a little loose stool after the first session. |
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| jammys |
you are the font of all knowledge froggy as you can probably tell by now this is my first dog.
he does it both in the house and outside but only when he is off the lead I am not using a choker just a normal collar and lead but I dont have problems when he is on it. I will start on what you suggested straight away. the thing is though with his ball and toys he will bring it to you and drop it so that you will throw it again its just thing that he wants to physically eat.
you will be pleased to know that his stools are better now still not 100% normal but he is gettin there,
thanks again
Jim |
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