How to stop my dog eating sticks?

[crispian22]

Sam,my 18 month old chocolate lab has a habit of eating sticks,I don't mean chewing them,I mean biting sizeable chunks off and eating it.Obviously my concern is it can't be doing him any good,sometimes he'll throw a load of wood pieces up,and yes I do feed him!
I try to divert his attention with treats but he just go's straight back to whatever stick he had and starts munching again.
any advice with what to do with him?

[Pothole]

Where does he get them from? Muzzle in those circumstances? (if it's actually doing him any harm)

[Vaggingquick]

Don't worry too much, our lab did this when she was a puppy, now at 5 she just likes to carry around the biggest one she can find.
Yes they cough a sick bits up , but I think it's a learning curve.

[AdiT]

crispian22 said:

Sam,my 18 month old chocolate lab has a habit of eating sticks,I don't mean chewing them,I mean biting sizeable chunks off and eating it.Obviously my concern is it can't be doing him any good,sometimes he'll throw a load of wood pieces up,and yes I do feed him!
I try to divert his attention with treats but he just go's straight back to whatever stick he had and starts munching again.
any advice with what to do with him?

Don't know the cure (aren't all Lab's just waste disposal units on legs?) but I'd beware of rewarding the behavior. Dogs don't always see things the same way we do; "He's going for a stick so I'll distract him with a treat" is probably seen by him as "If I go for this stick I'll get a treat".

[crispian22]

Its only when he's off the lead,he seems quite noticeably to go into 'hunting' mode,he'll grab hold of any size stick/small tree and seems like a dog possessed as he destroys them.
I've only had him for 3 months,I re homed him,he's an absolutely cracking dog,very obedient and very well natured,I just wonder if previous keeper gave him a bad time with a stick?

[therealpigdog]

This might seem a little obvious, but I've been there and got the t-shirt. The key to getting a teflon dog:

• If the dog has the stick already, then get him to bring it to you (labs want to retrieve, so should come naturally). Praise him when he gives it to you - imho giving a treat isn't an issue. You are rewarding him for giving you the stick, not for picking it up. Discard stick somewhere he can't reach it.

• Teach him 'Leave it' - have the dog on a lead and walk past some tasty sticks. When the dog goes to pick them up give him a firm 'Leave it' command (perhaps with a gentle tug on the lead). If he ignores the stick, reward him. If he picks it up, then a firm 'No' and then 'Drop/Dead/Give' with a reward for complying.

• Don't use sticks as toys. Obvious really, but if you play fetch with a stick, then the dog will associate sticks as being his play things. Keep games of fetch to balls/dummies/frisbies etc.

• The dog could be chewing sticks because it is bored - offer an alternative such as stag bars/kongs.

As with all dog training, consistency is the key - every time he picks up a stick (or shows interest in picking up a stick) the reaction should be the same, whoever is walking him/playing/supervising etc.

Not sure whether it is true or not, but I've heard horror stories about dogs chewing sticks and getting splinters. I suspect it is exaggerated, but we don't take the chance - besides, play time is when we say it is, not when the dog finds a stick.

[AdiT]

"...and walk past some tasty sticks..."

So that'd be ones covered in horse/dog/cow/fox/cat/goose st then... but thats another issue.

[DocArbathnot]

I had this problem with my 6 month old pup.

Okay while out because of all the distractions, but goes for them in the garden.

I got some garden chew toys and a kong frisby. So far managed to keep sticks in the background and distracted him with toys.

[otolith]

Could be worse, my dad used to have a dog which ate rocks.

[crispian22]

He's got more toy's/chew's/rope's and ball's than our local pet shop!He get's an hour walk with me in the morning,then his sitter take's him out at lunch,then i have an hour with him in the evening.He's good as gold at home,hasn't chewed or eaten anything he shouldn't have,it's almost like his personality change's when im out with him off the lead.He'll retrieve and drop ball's and other stuff just not these blasted stick's/tree's he grab's,i think he see's them as some sort of tasty prize!

[therealpigdog]

Does anyone throw sticks for him? Check that the sitter isn't encouraging this behaviour.

If he drops toys etc to your hand but not sticks, then you need to work at rewarding him for giving them to you. It could be that he has (in his eyes) been told off for giving you a stick, so prefers to keep his distance when he has one.

The time for telling off is just before or as he picks it up. Once it is in his mouth you need to be encouraging and rewarding the release.


Of course we can't really offer any advise without pictures

[grand cherokee]

i've had Labs for years - the wood eating is a phase they all seem to go through

no harm - they will eventually grow out of it

some seem to prefer different woods - some like old woodland trees others go mad when doing DIY and try and eat the offcuts as they come off the saw!

[crispian22]

therealpigdog said:

Does anyone throw sticks for him? Check that the sitter isn't encouraging this behaviour.

If he drops toys etc to your hand but not sticks, then you need to work at rewarding him for giving them to you. It could be that he has (in his eyes) been told off for giving you a stick, so prefers to keep his distance when he has one.

The time for telling off is just before or as he picks it up. Once it is in his mouth you need to be encouraging and rewarding the release.


Of course we can't really offer any advise without pictures

The offending beastie!

[Karyn]

So the issue is that he eats them once he has them?

Or he doesn't drop them when he has them?

Or he obsessively hunts them out and is deaf while he does it? (And then he eats them.)

Confused!



There's a few different tactics... if he has a stick, "work" him with it ('drop', 'fetch', 'leave', 'wait' etc.), with praise and reward. Make the excitement about the interaction and work, rather than just possession of a stick.

Or you could have a stick embargo for a while. ('Drop' and 'leave', every time. Das Stick ist verboten.) <- this might make them more attractive, though.

[grand cherokee]

crispian22 said:

The offending beastie!

butter would not melt in his mouth - lol!

wood/sticks have a fascination to every Lab i've ever known - if not eating it they are dragging half a tree home!

when smoking was allowed in pubs my friends Lab was obsessed with picking up used matches that had fallen on the floor - never ate them but carried them back to 'mum and dad'!

its all connected to the desire to carry things - my bh is coming up to 14 yrs old but if anyone comes into the house she has to pick up something before she greets them

and yes she has more toys than a shop - her favourites being Roland the Rat/Big Hedgehog/Little Hedgehog/Guber the Bear/Ball - and at last count about 20 'bones' - yes 20 and if i remove a single one she knows it has gone missing and hunts the house from top to bottom until she finds it!!

the 'boneyard' is under a corner table - she chooses the specific bone she wants - some are 'comfort' bones others a chewing/gnawing bones - big difference to her!

[7 Sevens]

My 4 month old Golden Retriever is doing his best to eat all the wood chipping in the garden. Thankfully he's moved on from the pea shingle but loves the bark. I'm hoping it will stop but then he does have about 10 cubic metres to get through!

I can't stop him from going into the garden so hoping its a phase.

[Sexual Chocolate]

My choc lab has a bit of stick fetish. He doesn't eat them but he does take great pleasure in destroying them. Sticks and labs seem to be best of friends. Most of the labs I know usually have a stick pile outside of their houses. At the last count mine had about 6 different sticks in the reserve pile with a select few sticks placed by his favourite stick destroying spot.

[crispian22]

Karyn said:

So the issue is that he eats them once he has them?

Or he doesn't drop them when he has them?

Or he obsessively hunts them out and is deaf while he does it? (And then he eats them.)

Confused!

All of the above! lol
Usually he's very good at bringing/dropping his toy's,but with stick's i've got no chance,he just give's me the "you'll have to rip it from my dead,lifeless body" look,not in anyway nasty,he just bugger's off up the field with them!
He's got into a habit on our usuall walk of diving into the stream in the same place and dragging out whatever wood made stuff he can get his chop's around,i'll try a different route in the morning and see what happens.