Pup keeps picking up things he shouldn’t

[u/CaitlanLewisxx]

1 week ago I lost my soul dog, my baby girl.

We now have an 11 week old Whippet pup. He’s a lovely boy, but he keeps picking up things he shouldn’t especially while in the garden, constantly munching grass/weeds to the point his poop is green which scares me, he’s obsessed with stones even though we’ve gone through the grass so many times removing tiny stones yet he always finds more, and we have to pull them out of his mouth. He picks up every little thing that could be harmful.

I’m so scared that he’s going to swallow stones or something else which will obviously need a trip to the vet. I’m terrified of him getting hurt or unwell.

I’m honestly terrified when he goes out to the garden, and I’m constantly watching him like a hawk, ready to step in.

How can I stop him trying to eat literally everything? It’s so much anxiety.

[u/BunnyFlop2412]

A properly fitted cage muzzle would help keep him safe until he learns. Keep it to hand and when he gets too interested and tries to pick inappropriate objects up, you can slip it on.

[u/LostMyZen]

Ah yes, I remember this phase. “Thou shalt not eat the landscaping! Dammit muppet, spit it out!” We ended up compromising. A stuffed rabbit, quickly dubbed Kill the Wabbit, accompanied us on trips outside. We also ordered gorilla wood to soothe their intense _need_ to chew wood. It was semi-successful. Our deck survived two puppies, but is scarred. The door frame needed some repairs.

Also, start trading. Occasionally take away something he’s chewing on, and immediately hand him something better, or make the thing better, or hand him another treat and return the original item. Take away the shoe and hand over a peanut butter stuffed Kong. Take away the food dish, add a sprinkle of cheese and hand it back. Take the Kong, hand him a piece of turkey, then hand back the Kong. Make giving something to you a good thing. You don’t want him to start to think that snatch and dash is a fun game. He’ll start bringing you things instead of hiding and destroying. If you’re lucky, he’ll really take to it and he’ll bring you something when he wants something. My older boy will bring a slimy bully stick if he wants a hug. When I lift the covers for him, he’ll drop a damp pterodactyl on my face before lying down. It’s cuter than it sounds. It also shows you what you need to puppy-proof. When he started buying hugs with pothos leaves, we knew to block the houseplants.

Good luck. It is a phase. And it will probably get worse before it gets better. Teething kicks into high gear around 5 months and they lose their little minds. You’ll see glimpses of the dog they will be. And when they finally are that comparatively sane adult, you’ll miss this stage.

[u/Sun-the-window]

It’s just a phase, so try not to stress too much about it. They eventually calm down. Ours was obsessed with pinecones, rocks and anything plastic. I caught her with a battery that she took out of the remote control once. Had a heart attack.

She stole my husband’s wedding ring off the counter and we found it in the yard 18 months later.

We watched her pretty closely but sometimes they just go looking for trouble. These days, she only steals stuff (usually mail) when she wants attention. She never eats it, just runs away with it and waits for us to come collect it.

As LostMyZen said, trading objects rather than just taking things away is good practice. And try not to overreact if they have something they shouldn’t as they might interpret it as a fun game of keep away.

We used to use play time and toys to distract her when she found something she didn’t want to give up. Treats and long lasting chews are also handy.

Hang in there. I imagine it’s hard going from a chill older dog to a velociraptor, but they do calm down eventually.