Is there any logical reason for this?
The eating of non-food objects (by dogs, cats, or people) is called pica, and it is not all that uncommon, especially the "dog eating rocks" type.
If the puppies are super-young, they are exploring. Their mouths are their hands, so they are eating whatever they find (including poop if you don't watch them!) Our English mastiff used to eat the quikcrete off of the patio (!), but this stopped after a about 2 months.
If they are older now and have not stopped, your friend should look at the behavior in its context to try and stop it. What happens right before the rock eating? Right after? The dogs may want attention, or they may be nervous about something in their environment. Once you figure out what is causing this behavior, you can correct it.
Have your friend teach the dogs other outdoor activities like fetch or swimming (depending on the environment). In addition, the dogs MUST be taught to come when called and to stay. These commands will not only make them stop eating rocks, but could very well save the dogs' lives! (Think about a dog taking off across a busy street or into the woods after a squirrel.)
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December 6th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
It depends how old they are. If they are only a few weeks, I would be worried, but it's most likely they are just exploring.
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December 6th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
cos they r puppies and puppies are daft as brushes! my dog did the same when she was a pup.
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December 6th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
puppies explore by biting stuff so mayb they want to see if ther edible
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December 6th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Swallowing stones and having them in your stomach aids with digestion.
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December 6th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I am not sure but my cocker spaniel has done this from a puppy and still does it now nearly four years later. He just loves them - I usually remove them from his mouth and replace them with a bone but as soon as my back is turned, he is off doing it again.
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December 6th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
no they are just stupid
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owner of a very stupid, sly but cute playful jack russel pup
December 6th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I think he may be trying to collect on his insurance.
Anyway
Puppies love to explore with their mouth…and eat just about anything in the process
Late Entry : to the IDIOT stating his dog is stupid…usually they take up their "master" qualities!!!
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December 6th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Don't know if there's a logical reason, but I would URGE your friend to STOP them from doing so. Even small stoanes can get caught in the gut, and it is a major op to remove them - also, as the vet always has to open through the same area, there is only one or two times that they can perform the procedure. In my petshop, the vast majorith of muzzles sold are to prevent dogs from eating stones, as they are past the stage of being safe to re-operate on.
Not to mention the fact that it'll damge theri teeth.
Good luck, and sorry to get so serious =)
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December 6th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Mine is 9 years old and will try and grab anything that resembles a ball. Never tried to eat stones, but he loves to get on the deck, jump and grab a plum off the tree, bring it inside to see if I'll play fetch. When I don't, he eats it and leaves the pit and goes out for another.
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December 6th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
depending on how bad it is…it could be pica:
http://www.pet-tails.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=327
but I doubt the whole litter would have pica, why not ask the vet?
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December 6th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
The eating of non-food objects (by dogs, cats, or people) is called pica, and it is not all that uncommon, especially the "dog eating rocks" type.
If the puppies are super-young, they are exploring. Their mouths are their hands, so they are eating whatever they find (including poop if you don't watch them!) Our English mastiff used to eat the quikcrete off of the patio (!), but this stopped after a about 2 months.
If they are older now and have not stopped, your friend should look at the behavior in its context to try and stop it. What happens right before the rock eating? Right after? The dogs may want attention, or they may be nervous about something in their environment. Once you figure out what is causing this behavior, you can correct it.
Have your friend teach the dogs other outdoor activities like fetch or swimming (depending on the environment). In addition, the dogs MUST be taught to come when called and to stay. These commands will not only make them stop eating rocks, but could very well save the dogs' lives! (Think about a dog taking off across a busy street or into the woods after a squirrel.)
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December 6th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
i see it a matter of teething since they r puppies . my pup does the same when she is bored of her all kinds of toys and she would wanna bite on something else like a chair ,or a stone . its not weird so dont be worried ! they wont eat them , they would only try to as a matter of playing and teething thats all ,they all do it .
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December 6th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
They have Pica.
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http://health.allrefer.com/health/pica-symptoms.html
December 7th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Hope your mate's got plenty of money! I've got a jack / yorkie cross and he started this habit as a baby, as all good babies do!!!! I know they like a bit of grit but this is taking it too far ha ha. He'd get a stone, no matter what shape it was and play with it as if it was a bloody ball! He'd clang it around his teeth then take it to bed then look for it if we took it away but this particular day he'd picked up a large, smooth black pebble! He kept chucking it up in the air and catching it, great fun thought he! Twit! The silly sod swallowed it but we didn't know, thought he'd lost it on his walk home. Next day he was fine, got to that night and he had a belly ache! The day after that he was in agony and us, not knowing he'd swallowed the bloody stone, took him to the vet in a real panic, couldn't think of what was wrong. Straight into x-ray and there it was, large black pebble lodged in his intestine's! Brilliant, well done son! £198.00 later we had the offending arrticle in a tube and twit face was up and about looking for another one! Brainless. We now keep him well away from gravel pathways ha ha ha. Have a tennis ball instead. Get a few tennis balls for them to play with and keep them away from the stones, believe me its an expensive lesson.
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December 7th, 2008 at 12:53 am
It's just a bad habit I'm afraid. Some dogs chew up sticks, but some orefer stones. My dog does it, and he's broken all his teeth. Try to make them stop when you see them doing it's all you can do I'm afraid.
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