Dont Eat That!

[Bjelkier]

I have recently brought home a beautiful little Samoyed puppy who is currently about 10 weeks old. I have noticed that when he has something in his mouth that he really shouldn't be eating, and my partner or I try to take it from him he gets very nasty, runs away and tries to hide with it, growls at us and even snapps sometimes.

Its only with things he shouldnt have, we can easily take the toys and play with them, he dosn't care. I have tried giving him something else that he can have but he still dosn't want to have anything to do with it.

I have had dogs before and never had this problem. I really don't want this to get any worse as he grows up.

Has anyone else had this problem? I really don't know what to do with him!

[Luke W]

I have recently brought home a beautiful little Samoyed puppy who is currently about 10 weeks old. I have noticed that when he has something in his mouth that he really shouldn't be eating, and my partner or I try to take it from him he gets very nasty, runs away and tries to hide with it, growls at us and even snapps sometimes.

Its only with things he shouldnt have, we can easily take the toys and play with them, he dosn't care. I have tried giving him something else that he can have but he still dosn't want to have anything to do with it.

I have had dogs before and never had this problem. I really don't want this to get any worse as he grows up.

Has anyone else had this problem? I really don't know what to do with him!

My guess (and I'm a novice) is that it's only those things he won't let you get because he treats it like a game and wants you to chase him.

My only suggestion (and this is what I'm doing with my 10 week old pup)...

Let him have it. If it's on the floor, consider it his. Never chase him for it. When he settles down, quitely walk up to him, without him realising why you are approaching him. Don't call him, don't talk to him, just quitely remove it from his mouth.

What ever you do, don't YOU do anything that he might consider 'fun' this includes getting excited/anxious over what he's got, yelling, growling, chasing, playing tug, etc etc.

Apart from that - keep everything out of his reach!

I'm all ears for better approaches, my pup is just starting tyo go through this stage too. I try to keep everything ut of his reach. That means no socks on the floor

[poodlefan]

My guess is you've got yourself a resource guarder. If that's the case, chasing and cornering him to take something off him will heighten his aggression because you're triggering him to defend his prize.

If you search DOL on 'resource guarding' you'll find a lot of information on this common issue. As Luke W suggests, preventing him getting things you don't want him to have is important.

Teaching "give" and "take" may help. I'd also be trying to exchange his prize for a really tasty treat? Ticking the "whats in it for me" box with a resource guarder is usually a low conflict way of removing things from them.

Are there any children in the house?

Edited May 14, 2008 by poodlefan

[Jigsaw]

I try and offer something of higher value to my pup - a treat, biscuit, dry cat food or sometimes find one of her toys and pretend to play with it! Most of the time it works. If it doesn't if I go to walk inside the house she usually drops it pretty quick to come in with me.

Edit - I also like to use a word like "phoey"! Sounds stupid but it helps this primate!!

Edited May 14, 2008 by Jigsaw

[tashnchief]

Like Poodlefan and Jigsaw have suggested teach him give or drop in exchange for a treat. Act like that treat is the most awesome thing in the world and ignore the fact that he has something else, Samoyed's are very curious by nature and the curiousity will kill him, I can guarantee he will have to come and investigate what you have.

We have a Samoyed and he is trouble with a capital T!!!!! You have your work cut out for you!

Our Sammy is the worlds biggest sticky beak he has to know what you have, what you are doing or where you are at all times! It's very cute but sometimes it drives me nuts.

We have other dogs too and if I bent down to say check a foot on one of the other dogs our Sammy would have to stick his nose in a get a good look too or if you are holding something in your hand and he thinks it might be something he is interested in then he won't leave you alone until you show him!

Please teach him 'Give' or 'Drop' so he does not eat what he should not have. Although he was never actually seen to be eating them our sammy ate 2 fifty cents pieces which resulted in $1500 dollars of surgery to have them removed from his small intestine. Who knows why he ate them probably because he found them and he can do whatever he likes with his treasure!

Although this behaviour can be frustrating and its generally a characteristic of the breed, they are terrific companions and will form very close strong bonds with their owners, enjoy him as they are a fabulous breed even if they do have a bit of a naughty streak!!!!LOL

[DeerhoundLover]

I agree with Poodlefan, and you cannot let this become a habit because there may come a time when he has something really dangerous in his mouth and you need to be able to get it from him with no delay (eg a box of rat poison, packet of cigarettes, sharp knife, someone's cat etc). And you may not have anything 'better' to offer him at that time so you need to be able to take stuff from him without any additional incentive.

I would just practice taking stuff away from him a lot, start with something he doesn't much mind about and progress to his favourite stuff. If you constantly take stuff away and praise him and then give it back he should get the idea I think.

[persephone]

I agree with the others...

find something irresistible..cheese, a small piece of salami, a small piece of roast meat or dried liver treats...

show him the treat... use an inviting voice..NOT a worried or 'scolding' voice..and do NOT attempt to take his 'treasure'.

offer him the trea..make sure he can smell/see it..say "do you want this?"..when he goes to take it, and drops the 'treasure' ..IMMEDIATELY say "swap" or gimme. or something..casually pick up the "treasure' and PUT IT IMMEDIATELY out of sight. praise him..and go back to whatever you were doing.

All our pups get this treatment, and most will drop ANYTHING when told to 'swap' :rolleyes:..bones, dangerous items, hankies, tissues .... chasing pups is not my favourite thing...I would much rather they gave things to me!!

[Bjelkier]

My guess is you've got yourself a resource guarder. If that's the case, chasing and cornering him to take something off him will heighten his aggression because you're triggering him to defend his prize.

If you search DOL on 'resource guarding' you'll find a lot of information on this common issue. As Luke W suggests, preventing him getting things you don't want him to have is important.

Teaching "give" and "take" may help. I'd also be trying to exchange his prize for a really tasty treat? Ticking the "whats in it for me" box with a resource guarder is usually a low conflict way of removing things from them.

Are there any children in the house?

No, no children in the house.

Edited May 15, 2008 by Leena

[pennyw74]

Izzy loves serviettes, cork coasters, bark from the garden. She knows when she has something she's not supposed to have. I ask her..."What have you got?" She looks at me, stands up and gets ready to run.

Puppies are funny.

[Luke W]

Mine has just discovered mushrooms growing in the garden bed.

I've removed them all but he still had one in his mouth for a few seconds - but he didn't swallow. I'm trying not to be too paranoid.

I'm lucky he comes reasonably readily and was willing to give up the mushroom for a treat.

[jr_inoz]

My puppy has decided that chewing concrete is a good idea - she actually sits on the ground, finds an edge or a join and then chews away (she's 8 weeks old)

[poodlefan]

My puppy has decided that chewing concrete is a good idea - she actually sits on the ground, finds an edge or a join and then chews away (she's 8 weeks old)

I'd recommend you discourage this.. dogs can really ruin their teeth if this habit becomes compulsive. A bitter spray on edges may help.

Does she have access to lots of chewable toys?

[Poo d'état]

Enzo is so easily distracted that he'll give it up for anything i offer to swap with him. On the few occasions that he doesn't, i wait close by till he's off guard and steal it back.

I'd recommend you discourage this.. dogs can really ruin their teeth if this habit becomes compulsive. A bitter spray on edges may help.

Can anyone suggest any stronger alternatives to bitter spray? i've tried that but Enzo just licks it off and keeps on chewing

[pennyw74]

My puppy has decided that chewing concrete is a good idea - she actually sits on the ground, finds an edge or a join and then chews away (she's 8 weeks old)

Izzy used to scrape her teeth along a concrete pot and some bricks. She has stopped that now but it was a horrible sound. She only did it for a few weeks when she was around 10 weeks old...not anymore.

[jr_inoz]

My puppy has decided that chewing concrete is a good idea - she actually sits on the ground, finds an edge or a join and then chews away (she's 8 weeks old)

I'd recommend you discourage this.. dogs can really ruin their teeth if this habit becomes compulsive. A bitter spray on edges may help.

Does she have access to lots of chewable toys?

she has lots of chewable toys. I have two types of kongs - that she completely ignores - even when they have a treat in them. She also has a ball and rope toy, a ball that she can get a good grip on and a squeaky toy which she loves. Most of the time she will prefer the toys - but sometimes she goes for the concrete. She is outside during the day when i am at work. I think the bitter spray is going to be a good idea.

Discouraging her from chasing and trying to eat milipedes is the next big challenge

[Kissindra]

try teaching the "leave it" command

Start by holding something fairly boring (like a plastic peg) in a fist, let your dog investigate it and as soon as he leaves it alone reward him with lots of praise and a treat. Keep repeating till you dog has the idea and slowly work up with each training sessions using more interesting objects like toys then move onto food items.

We've found this an invaluable command as Boo being a puppy always manages to find stuff he's not supposed to chew and on walks if there is dog poo some owner hasn't bothered to pick up or flowers/plants that can be poisonous or just gross rubbish he'll leave it alone straight away.

[shauna]

Discouraging her from chasing and trying to eat milipedes is the next big challenge

At last someone else who has a dog who loves to eat millipedes, my two love them. I did some research and apparently they have a really bitter and not nice taste which means animals don't like to eat them , my two hunt them, chase them, fight over them and adore crunching them up whilst teasing the other one who didn't win the prize that time

Anyone know if it does them any harm I couldn't find anything to suggest that it would.

[Jigsaw]

My pup eats crickets and cockroaches and worms! Not so much since we've had a lot of rain but before that we had a lot of crickets and she would chase them and crunch them in the dark before I could get there. I guess sometimes you just can't persuade them to let it go no matter what you offer.

[jr_inoz]

Discouraging her from chasing and trying to eat milipedes is the next big challenge

At last someone else who has a dog who loves to eat millipedes, my two love them. I did some research and apparently they have a really bitter and not nice taste which means animals don't like to eat them :D , my two hunt them, chase them, fight over them and adore crunching them up whilst teasing the other one who didn't win the prize that time :D

Anyone know if it does them any harm I couldn't find anything to suggest that it would.

I hope not. I used that spray on the concrete today to try and stop her from chewing that - you know the stuff you can get that dogs dont apparently like to keep them off your garden and stuff. Yeah - she likes that too. (good thing i havent used much of it at all)

Anyone know of anything else that i can use?