[YukonsMom]

Our Yukon is 12.5 wks now and has a habit of eating everything in sight in our backyard. We are constantly calling him to us/catching him so we can pull stuff out of his mouth.

He's been so eager to learn and easy to train. He knows sit, down and paw. The problem we have with "come" is that he's unreliable with it especially since we so often are calling him over to take stuff out of his mouth.

My question is- should we choose our battles and let him chew/eat sticks? (and only worry about rocks?)

If he's chewing on something like bark, he won't even come if I have food in my hand. What do you think I should do? Thanks!

 

[jellybuttonss]

OOHH I need help with this too.. Except besides twigs and leaves, my Cali also likes to eat pine cones! YIKES, wouldn't that be painful to pass? *sigh*

 

[Blinkee23]

i have the same problem.. and my girl just turned 2.. she actually swallows the leaves and things she picks up before we can even get to her.. luckily she has never found rocks or anything harmful.. but she has thrown up a few times from it.. I TRY not to worry too much as long as its just leaves or small twigs.. but I'm always afraid she will find something that might cause a blockage.. I have heard pine cones can cause very dangerous intestinal obstructions so I would watch out for those!!

 

[sarah]

I have heard Pine Cones are really dangerous too! It is wise to try and stop your puppy from eating things that may cause blockages or puncture the lining of their stomachs. Things like rocks, pinecones, large bits of stick etc are not good to let your puppy eat. I know it's very hard to stop them.... but a long leash might be useful.

As for a reliable recall....... that takes years. Milly is 1 and we still have the reliable recall battle.... if she's distracted then nothing makes her come.

A good training method for come is place puppy on long lead, have something amazingly wonderful in your hand or pocket (like boiled chicken or something else that your puppy loves and considers of very high value) and call them in a happy loud voice. When they come to you they get this amazing treat and wonderful, amazing, jump-around-and-dance-like-a-crazy-person praise. Repeat repeat repeat...... repeat at different times of the day, catch them unawares, while they're playing with a toy (or your shoe etc)

It's the only way to really instill a reliable recall. They need to think that coming to you is worth more than whatever they may be doing at a time.

**disclaimer ..... trying this at a dog park can sometimes be dangerous. A heavenly treat and several dogs and the word "come" does sometimes end in disaster **

 

[YukonsMom]

OOHH I need help with this too.. Except besides twigs and leaves, my Cali also likes to eat pine cones! YIKES, wouldn't that be painful to pass? *sigh*

I can just imagine frantically gathering pinecones in your arms while pup is running around!

 

[YukonsMom]

.. but I'm always afraid she will find something that might cause a blockage..

It's a fulltime job around here making sure my 3 kids don't leave tiny toys around. Nerf darts, barbie shoes and so on and so on.

 

[YukonsMom]

I have heard Pine Cones are really dangerous too! It is wise to try and stop your puppy from eating things that may cause blockages or puncture the lining of their stomachs. Things like rocks, pinecones, large bits of stick etc are not good to let your puppy eat. I know it's very hard to stop them.... but a long leash might be useful.

As for a reliable recall....... that takes years. Milly is 1 and we still have the reliable recall battle.... if she's distracted then nothing makes her come.

A good training method for come is place puppy on long lead, have something amazingly wonderful in your hand or pocket (like boiled chicken or something else that your puppy loves and considers of very high value) and call them in a happy loud voice. When they come to you they get this amazing treat and wonderful, amazing, jump-around-and-dance-like-a-crazy-person praise. Repeat repeat repeat...... repeat at different times of the day, catch them unawares, while they're playing with a toy (or your shoe etc)

It's the only way to really instill a reliable recall. They need to think that coming to you is worth more than whatever they may be doing at a time.

**disclaimer ..... trying this at a dog park can sometimes be dangerous. A heavenly treat and several dogs and the word "come" does sometimes end in disaster **

I think I'll try the long leash. We've mostly been training from up close in the kitchen. I should mix it up more and try the chicken. He'd love that. I really want to eventually get him to recall very reliably, because we have a cabin in the woods and he'll be off leash when he's older. I don't want to lose him chasing a deer! Thanks.

-and that dog park scene should be in a movie, lol

 

[sarah]

I have heard Pine Cones are really dangerous too! It is wise to try and stop your puppy from eating things that may cause blockages or puncture the lining of their stomachs. Things like rocks, pinecones, large bits of stick etc are not good to let your puppy eat. I know it's very hard to stop them.... but a long leash might be useful.

As for a reliable recall....... that takes years. Milly is 1 and we still have the reliable recall battle.... if she's distracted then nothing makes her come.

A good training method for come is place puppy on long lead, have something amazingly wonderful in your hand or pocket (like boiled chicken or something else that your puppy loves and considers of very high value) and call them in a happy loud voice. When they come to you they get this amazing treat and wonderful, amazing, jump-around-and-dance-like-a-crazy-person praise. Repeat repeat repeat...... repeat at different times of the day, catch them unawares, while they're playing with a toy (or your shoe etc)

It's the only way to really instill a reliable recall. They need to think that coming to you is worth more than whatever they may be doing at a time.

**disclaimer ..... trying this at a dog park can sometimes be dangerous. A heavenly treat and several dogs and the word "come" does sometimes end in disaster **

I think I'll try the long leash. We've mostly been training from up close in the kitchen. I should mix it up more and try the chicken. He'd love that. I really want to eventually get him to recall very reliably, because we have a cabin in the woods and he'll be off leash when he's older. I don't want to lose him chasing a deer! Thanks.

-and that dog park scene should be in a movie, lol

Good Luck! Keep us updated with how you go. I think the key thing to remember is that if you want your pup to come to you majority of the time you have to make it worth it to them. I'm sure that pinecone is just SO tasty and fun, why would they leave it? If they think that coming to you will give them something of higher value than the pinecone AND praise well they will surely come to you. If you give them no reason to come to you then they probably won't. And if you go after them with the pinecone they'll probably run from you with it :laugh: I made a point of never chasing Milly as a pup when she had something she shouldn't - otherwise it turns into a game.

Get them used to a great word. Milly has a few "Bikkie" (for cookie) "Hungry" and "Treat" if I say "Milly want a treat?" and she's at the dog park - she's at my feet in seconds. But then so are about 5 other dogs.. so we use Hungry too. If they are food orientated and know that coming when a food word is said gets them a piece of food - then you're probably going to get reliable recall more often than you wouldn't.

 

[Felix]

If youre dog eated some thing you dont want to, take a small amount of salt, and throw it in his throat, that make them puke, and the 'thing' comes out