Puppy (staffy) Licking/chew Metal Objects

[Benny&Kelly]

Hi All,

Probably overconcerned parent here, but just been noticing that Baz (our Staffy boy - 11weeks) has developped a bit of a fetish for metal objects and is licking them all over the backyard. Now I know that babies/young kids seem to put anything in their mouths, and assume that this is not disimilar for Staffy pups (as they definitely think they are human).

Should I be concerned? It doesn't go on for long, more inquisitive I think??

Cheers

Ben

[Bjelkier]

My Sammie did that to the metal stool legs in the kitchen I have no idea why he was doing it, maybe it felt good on his sore gums as he was teething badly at the time. I would try to distract him from it, with toys, encourage playing with this he is allowed too, you could spray a bitter spray on the objects to see if that stops him, as it will damage his teeth if he continues to do it but there is a good chance he will grow out of it.

Edited August 8, 2008 by Leena

[je33ie]

Hi B&K,

Geordie's been chewing my OH's weight bars... she looooves them but I'd prefer her not to do it! I bought her one of those really tough black chew toys (I think they're made of recycled tyres) and gave that to her instead this afternoon, and she completely forgot about the metal bar. Maybe you could try something like that?

As awesome as it would be to teach a dog to lift weights, I think I have more important things to teach her

[BigDaz]

I have two Staffy's that are 9 months old, they lick everything and anything, if its within tongue reach its licked. I dont concern myslef too much about it but do try to deter them, especially when its my new LCD TV they take a licking to.

The only thing I would suggest is removing anything that can be swallowed, we had to fence off half the backyard as they kept finding something to chew on.

[poochmad]

Hi. Our pup also likes all things metal. I'm not that concerned about it and remove anything that can be swallowed.

[LoremIpsum]

When you think about it, metal must be quite pleasing to lick. It's smooth. And cold. And tastes... metallic.

He may just be enjoying the sensation.

[Nekhbet]

what is his diet like at the moment and how many times a day is he fed

[Benny&Kelly]

Baz is fed twice a day, on mix of dry and chicken mince (spoilt, wife bought him the premium pet mince by mistake looks like pure breast :rolleyes: )

Diet should be fine, he's not completely fixed on the metal objects, just a like & a chew here and there. As I said probably just being overprotective.

[Nekhbet]

which dry? Sometimes dogs have mineral imbalances which create fixations on certain objects.

I would put stop chew spray on metal objects before this becomes an expensive habit - if he starts swallowing things then he can cause a lot of damage to himself or end up with $1000+ surgery to have it removed.

Make sure he has enough things to chew on instead and rotate them daily to keep them interesting.

[disorder]

Be careful it doesn't become an obsession for him. I'd nip it in the butt straight away and not let him do it..

My old Bully used to do the same, but it was to the point of obsession, she was very OCD and it would become near impossible to break the behaviour and get her attention while she was doing it.