puppy eating muck and everything .

jo06555

Hi my puppy won't stop trying to eat every little thing she finds on the grass on our walks she even trys picking up other dog poo , I keep pulling her away and even bringing chicken pieces to swap with her when she does manage to pick up grass or mud , is this normal and what's the best way to stop it ???

Sigma Force

Our youngest dog did the same any little bit of dirt he could find, you only realise how much rubbish people chuck on the ground when you've got a small pup. Teaching the pup the 'leave it' command should help keep distracting the pup with the chicken pieces or maybe try a teeny bit of sausage or cheese something new every now and then to get the pups attention.
All you can really do is look ahead as you walk. She'll grow out of it in the end.

Vince32

Well it's sounds like you haven't done any leash training, which isn't surprising, since most people don't even know what it is on their first dog, but it's one of the founding blocks on which your owner/dog relationship is built.

So how do you start? In your front hallway with no distractions, and a handful of treats.

Feed the first 2-3 treats as freebies, to get the pup interested in getting some more, then with the treats in plain sight, held at hip level, walk the length of the hallway, with any luck your pup will follow you, looking for more of those tasty treats.
Each time it follows you the full length of the hallway give her a treat, and in a high tone, good boy/girl and a bit of a pet on the chest or back.

It will take a few days to get it "built in" to the dogs behaviour, so always take some nice treats everywhere the dog goes with you.

Once you have it following you with no distractions around, you can build on this when your walking, on leash. The idea is too keep the dog within 2-3 feet of you in the heel position. Keep the treats in view of the dog, and give one or two for good behaviour "heeling" every 10 yards or so, making it a sort of game it keeps winning, give it tons of praise for winning the game, and increase the distance between treats.

After 2-3 weeks, you might be able to risk an off-leash walk, away from roads and other distractions. But for right now, keep it on leash and just don't let it near any nasty materials on the ground, say "leave it" or "go by" as you pass, and as long as what you have is more interesting than the trash and poop on the ground it should be fairly easy to get it to stop.

I myself have a 20 week old Husky, and while she doesn't pick up trash and weird stuff anymore... she absolutely must investigate everything and everyone she passes while fun and charming at first, it's gotten to the point where I am seeking formal obedience training myself.

FYI Dogs can only explore and understand the world with their nose and mouth, they will taste, smell anything new, it is to be expected they will be inquisitive, and it's expected the handler will know and guide the animal as to what's good and what's bad.

Stay on the leash, until it learns right from wrong.

Shanao

Vince32 wrote: »

After 2-3 weeks, you might be able to risk an off-leash walk, away from roads and other distractions. But for right now, keep it on leash and just don't let it near any nasty materials on the ground, say "leave it" or "go by" as you pass, and as long as what you have is more interesting than the trash and poop on the ground it should be fairly easy to get it to stop.

She should definitely never be left off lead, I'm surprised someone else with a spitz breed would be advocating leaving the dog off lead when they are notorious for running off?? they have an incredibly high prey drive so forget about them coming back once they start running.

On the training OP, it doesn't sound like leash training at all but simply like an akita being an akita. They like to mouth things and explore everything with their mouth. And I mean EVERYTHING!! My guy used to try to eat chewing gum, cigarette butts, empty packages, basically whatever he could pick up and the leave it command worked brilliantly with him. I found frankfurters the best for this as they're fairly smelly and he would happily give up anything for a frankfurter. Just remember to put them in a freezer lock bag or your pockets will be stinking of frankfurters.

Though i started with franks, I moved on to apple pieces not long after. Boy is he obsessed with apples!! Try and find her absolutely most favourite treat and use that. You've probably discovered by now that trying to repeat things with her eventually leads to her getting bored and wandering off- such is the akita way unfortunately

Vince32

There is no way I could divine from the OP what breed it was, perhaps I missed something on another thread. Definitely not off-leash if that's the case.

Regarding leash training, I consider it a must have' for any breed of dog, but others will undoubtedly have other opinions. Everything shano posted is 100% accurate, but I still think leash training and moving forward to other commands like leave it, or go by is gradual enough for puppy to learn at a steady pace. In the end the decision is yours on how you want to progress.

Again, sorry about missing the akita / spritz part, only dare to go off leash if your in a fully enclosed area.

ISDW

Vince32 wrote: »

There is no way I could divine from the OP what breed it was, perhaps I missed something on another thread. Definitely not off-leash if that's the case.

Regarding leash training, I consider it a must have' for any breed of dog, but others will undoubtedly have other opinions. Everything shano posted is 100% accurate, but I still think leash training and moving forward to other commands like leave it, or go by is gradual enough for puppy to learn at a steady pace. In the end the decision is yours on how you want to progress.

Again, sorry about missing the akita / spritz part, only dare to go off leash if your in a fully enclosed area.

Well, legally, if an Akita, not allowed off lead at all in any public areas, enclosed or not:(

Shanao

Vince32 wrote: »

There is no way I could divine from the OP what breed it was, perhaps I missed something on another thread. Definitely not off-leash if that's the case.

Sorry, thought i had read akita in the first post :P Its a lovely inu pup the OP has

jo06555

Thank u for all replies I have tried some leash training with the chicken and she tips along with me looking up at me with the odd jump up to get the treat I will try some Frankfurters next time for a change and the leave it command I was doing leave it for fetch when I wanted her to release ball and she swapped ball for treat so hopefully I can get her to leave the muck behind for some nice big Frankfurters now

jo06555

Vince32 wrote: »

There is no way I could divine from the OP what breed it was, perhaps I missed something on another thread. Definitely not off-leash if that's the case.

Regarding leash training, I consider it a must have' for any breed of dog, but others will undoubtedly have other opinions. Everything shano posted is 100% accurate, but I still think leash training and moving forward to other commands like leave it, or go by is gradual enough for puppy to learn at a steady pace. In the end the decision is yours on how you want to progress.

Again, sorry about missing the akita / spritz part, only dare to go off leash if your in a fully enclosed area.

Should I keep her wanting the treats for all the walk just giving her one every so often? I just worry will she get bored as when I tried it she was getting distracted a lot after 10 mins ..

tk123

Just give her one every so often - you can phase them out over time.

jo06555

tk123 wrote: »

Just give her one every so often - you can phase them out over time.

Yep our 20 min walk today worked a treat she walked along side me with ease and only went to eat grass once which i swapped for treat and she happily obliged I'm really beggining to understand how clever akitas are now ,she is picking things up so quick apart from the nipping but as long as we keep acting like hurt pups I'm sure she will grow out of it too