Chewing twigs and dandelions?

BarbV

BarbV

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So its been awhile since I've had a puppy. Callan is obsessed with my garden. He just loves to chew on my blossoming shrubs and plants...and the yellow dandelions are just an invitation to devour. And digging into the pine mulch is just wonderful!

So, while I would rather that he NOT eat my garden....the more important question is how worried should I be about him gnawing on twigs and weeds and grass and mulch?

Its now turned into a game for him to hide behind my shrubs while Indy and I try to chase him out. Bad strategy, I know.....but when he has pine bark mulch in his mouth and chewing it back, I worry about him doing mouth injury.....

Any advice? Should I just chill?
 
I was kind of surprised and worried when Fillion as a baby would grab these clumps of dirt on the golf course and chew/eat them. And any stick was fair game. My agave has been trimmed and it wasnt by me or Koko LOL. So if it's any consolation, Fillion survived despite eating anything he could get a hold of!
 
Hi, I would probably watch what he eats. I'm a first-time sheltie owner so don't take my word on anything (my baby is 18 weeks old right now), but my puppy was house trained until a few weeks ago when he had excessive thirst and urination. He looked like he felt so bad about it.

It's hard to narrow down causes but the differences were:
a new food bag (batch bad?)
food has too much protein?
season changed from snow-covered ground to flowery spring

I put up cheap garden fencing around the plants he could eat but I still have a ton of dandelions. Dandelions are healthy but they overwork the kidneys (extreme diuretic). I removed them from the backyard. He's starting to get better but all the plants do crazy things to him. Twigs are probably fine, unless they have thorns. I don't know how many times I raked and used a leaf blower on the lawn to get rid of acorns/acorn shells.

But if you haven't had any problems, you should be fine for now :)
 
I'm having the same problem with my 9 week old. She's been here a week and I don't know how many times I've had to remove bits of plants and twigs from her mouth when we go out into the yard. I know nothing in the garden is poisonous, but still I worry a bit that she might get a blockage or something. It doesn't matter how many toys I take out there, plant matter is more enticing! I don't remember my older sheltie being such a garden-eater at the same age, or so into everything! Hopefully its just a short-lived phase. Sorry, I can't give advice... but I know how you feel :smile2:
 
Koji's about to be 7 and is having a ball eating shrubbery. Do you think it's a mid-life crisis so he's acting like a little puppy again?

IMHO, I'd worry about the pine mulch. Maybe do some research on what's in that stuff. I know a lot of that stuff can be toxic. Are dandelions toxic? I'm not sure. Ugh. Make sure you have hydrogen peroxide in case you need to make him vomit. And make sure you don't plant anything toxic for puppies to chew.

Sorry I don't have any better advice. Koji has done this all his life, I just have to keep a very keen eye on him.
 
Dickens ate mulch from the very beginning, although I'm not sure he actually ate it, so much as chewed it and spat it out. It never gave him any trouble, though.
 
Zak was the worst about grabbing mulch and chewing on it. He likes to nibble on plants still at 4 so I make sure they are dog safe.
A friend had her sheltie puppy over and she got a piece stuck in her mouth crossways took some digging to get it out. I switched to pine straw.
They think it is a big game to grab it and run!!!!
 
I know dandelions are beneficial to dogs (provided they haven't been treated with pesticides or other chemicals). I buy that as a supplement for my dogs!

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/dandelion-much-more-than-a-weed/

I'd maybe check to see if all the plants (that you've planted) are safe for dogs to munch on and not use any chemicals on them! Maybe consider planting stuff that are good for dogs to eat?

And maybe up the mental stimulation and physical exercise (5 mins per month in age I think the guideline is) so he's less likely to go looking for his own thing to do?
 
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