Pica in puppies12/6/2023 The Lab needs to find an alternative way to keep himself occupied by chewing things like wood or rocks. Where a Lab does not get adequate daily exercise and mental stimulation, lacks interactive toys, or has little social interaction. Lack of physical engagement and boredom.GI diseases, anemia, malnutrition, and other diseases can cause sudden hunger pangs like diabetes. For example, a dog may eat dirt to find iron if absent in their diet. This can make your Lab look for unconventional ways to supplement their inadequate diet. Let’s make a quick explanation of each of these causes of pica in Labradors. Or, they might suffer anxiety, have been weaned early, are teething, have OCD, or are exhibiting typical puppy neurosensory exploration. They might also have medical conditions, lack physical engagement, and are bored. Labradors eat non-food items because they have nutritional deficiencies. A study focusing on canine behavior problems found that pica was the 3rd most prevalent undesirable dog behavior after barking inside the house and barking at visitors. Fortunately, with time, patience and plenty of play this behavior can go away.Eating non-food items, generally known as pica, is common in Labradors and other dogs. You are correct that this behavior can make him sick I have had to perform gastrotomies on dogs that have ingested rocks too big to pass through. If he needs extra encouragement, then spraying the rock with bitter apple or a similar noxious but non-toxic product can also help discourage the behavior during this period. He will gradually lose interest in the rock. If he makes a beeline for the rock, make sure he knows this is not acceptable behavior, but reward and praise him whenever he picks up a favorite toy instead. To do this, add a rock to the grassy area that is too large to pick up or swallow but still has sides where he can mouth it. Simple environmental enrichment can sometimes make them forget all about their old habits.Īfter a couple weeks, we need to see if it will be safe to allow him to have access to places where rocks are available. Now the fun part! Take a variety of toys and simply play with him so he learns there are alternatives to rocks. You can then use the grassy area as a safe training zone to help change his motivation. Fencing off a small grassy area and combing the area with a garden rake should eliminate most if not all of the rocks. The first order of business is a step you have already started working on which is to limit his access to rocks. Since a puppy uses his mouth as an instrument to explore his world, if the only thing he had to chew on were rocks then that might explain his compulsion for them. Prior to his adoption, he may have been confined to a barren yard with little environmental stimulation. If he gets a clean bill of health then we need to focus on changing his behavior and his motivation for rock-eating. A checkup with your regular veterinarian is in order to make sure he does not have an underlying disorder such as anemia, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency or a portosystemic shunt that may be causing the compulsive rock eating. However, the fact that he also has terrible diarrhea concerns me. Your little guy’s rock eating is called “ pica” and is usually a behavioral problem. Any other suggestions?Ĭongratulations on your recent family addition it sounds to me as though he has found a loving home. We have him on a multiple vitamin with iron. I “googled” this behavior and it was suggested that he might have a vitamin deficiency. I’m afraid this behavior could really make him sick. I want him to be able to run and play – but he makes a bee-line for the rocks and starts devouring them. We have to keep him on a leash in our yard to keep him out of the gardening beds (that have rocks). We try to keep him confined to our grassy area when he’s outside, but he still manages to find rocks. In his last stool, I counted 45 rocks (and those were the ones I could see). He doesn’t randomly pick up rocks, he eats them as fast as he can scoop them into his mouth – he seems desperate to eat rocks. He came to us with ticks, terrible diarrhea (which we are managing) and a terrible behavior: compulsive rock eating. He was gotten from a rescue organization that was pretty shabby looking. We have a 7-week-old Rottie/Dobie mix puppy. Provide Exercise, Discipline, Affection.
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