[k949]

my family an i have raised teddy jr. ever since his mother gave birth to him. hes pure bread healthy but with one flaw that his father has also. hes adicted to rocks and hard round rubber balls. i fear that his teath my wither away from the constant chewing of every rock he comes in contact with
. does anyone know how to stop this behavior and if its posible to convert him to sticks an twigs?



ps. hes a german shepard like his daddy

[sheltieluver]

While eating rocks/balls can cause internal blockages, I would not try to convert him to twigs/sticks. Some dogs eat these items for various reasons - including hunger, curiosity, boredom, nutrient deficiency or digestive disturbances. I would first try to eliminate him from getting to the areas where these items are located. Also, you may want to have him examined by a vet to rule out any health problems.

[alundy]

I would think if you have some really smelly, tasty, chew items around the backyard he would prefer those instead of rocks. Try buying a marrow bone from a butcher or pet shop, and see if he is happy chewing on that instead.

[Curbside Prophet]

I've seen conversions from rocks to "appropriate chews" (not sure if sticks qualify as appropriate), but it takes a concentrated effort on your part provide plenty of exercise, mental stimulation, and social stimulation while applying NILF. In conjunction with this, you'll need to block the rock chewing, and redirect your dog to chew on something more appropriate. In essence, what I'm saying is, you need to be your dog's leader and control his daily routine by setting some boundaries and giving him activity that are mutually beneficial to you and your dog. How old is the dog?

[Cheetah]

Sticks are no more safe than rocks. A co-worker of mine owes over $5,000 in vet bills now because, while she wasn't watching her sheltie pup, he swallowed a rock and had to have surgery. You'd think she would have learned to watch him closer after that, but no. Once again he swallowed something while not being supervised. This time it was a stick that was about 5 inches long. He swallowed it whole!

My puppy tried to eat both when he was younger, so I started just leashing him in the yard so I could correct him any time he went after a rock or stick. They're just too dangerous, and if the puppy is properly corrected each and every time it goes after a rock or stick, it will eventually lose interest/grow out of it. Have a good toy handy to distract him from the rock/stick.

EDIT: I forgot to add that somebody suggested to ME when I was having this same problem that maybe I could leave some old marrow bones and hooves in the back yard and that maybe he'd take more of an interest in those.

[tirluc]

i agree wholeheartedly w/ the above....DO NOT REDIRECT TO STICKS....i almost lost one of my BC's b/c of chewing on/fetching sticks.....one must have jabbed her in the back of her mouth on the roof and she had a big hole there for about 2 wks.....there was no indication from her that anything was wrong til the infection was so bad it almost took her from me....PLEASE, stay away from sticks, as well as rocks......REDIRECT elswhere as suggested above.....