Why do they put everything in their mouths???

[MyLilReese]

Ok here's my dilema, Reese puts everything in her mouth, and sometimes I can't catch her doing it in time, and that scares me that she is going to get hold of something really bad one day. I have yorkie proofed my house. My mom and dad dog sit her during the day, and when I got there to pick her up yesterday she had chewed up some of the particle board flooring, that is exposed because my mom and dad are about to have tile floors out down. Anyways I think this is what made her sick last time, several days ago, she was throwing up and had some gas. I took her to the vet they did blood work, everything was fine. But now after she ate this yesterday she threw up some last night. I guess what I'm trying to say is there anything you can do to keep them protected from harmful things that they may put in their mouths???

[bildio]

I have the same problem with Gus, & I think something he ate as a pup caused the problem he has with frequent urination.

The vet suggested a type of muzzle to prevent this, but I didn't like the suggestion so never tried it.

[mimimomo]

Mine do the same thing...it drives me insane! Teach her the 'drop it' or 'leave it' command. Give her a toy, let her take it in her mouth. Offer her a treat while saying drop it/leave it. When she drops the toy, give her the treat & praise her.
Mimi will listen to me, but Momo is soo naughty. He'll run (& stop when there's distance between us), turn his head, look up at me, chew & gulp whatever he had in his mouth. Grrrr lol.

[Sushi-Mushi]

I have the same problem with Sushi (8months). Last week he ate something and got really sick...he started to vomit, diarrhea, stopped eating and drinking water. Took him to the vet and had xrays, bloodwork done...after a week of antibiotics and stomach medicine he is back to normal but I was scared he wouldn't make it....I caught him eating dried pasta under the dining table yesterday and immediately removed it...I think that's what did it last time since the pieces of dried pasta are like shards of glass...so scary!!!

[Cirlonde]

I have the very same problem! And we've just moved into a new place so there are tiny pieces of tape, Styrofoam and card board everywhere! Chloe finds every piece I miss. She hasn't learned to "drop it" but when I say "What have you got??" she immediately rolls over on her back and looks all innocent. Then I have to go dig around in her mouth until I find it...

She also loves to pick stuff up off the ground outside and carry it around with her. She never eats it...just holds it up proudly and struts. How do can I get on to her when she looks so darned cute!?!
-C

[RoxyLuv]

Cuz they have feet that don't work like hands. It's the best way they have to see how things feel & taste, carry around. They need their feet to walk with. Even skinbabies go through a period of babyhood where everything goes into their mouth. Some of it has to do w/teething, but dogs still don't have hands at any age where they can feel things like we use our hands.

The 'leave it', 'drop it' & substitute toy for object they have works the best for me. I started with that day one & stayed right on it until she understood it without fail. Teaching her that was hard work, but certainly worth it now. Of course, when she's outside, all bets are off. Anything out there is fair game for picking up, chewing, carrying around & bring inside if she can get away with it. Inside the house she is real good now, except for an occasional grab a forbidden object & run just for game of chase. Found if we don't chase her, she brings it right back & drops it. lol

[Maximo]

Max makes me crazy putting everything in his mouth. Like a couple of other posters, I believe some of the motivation is the thrill of being chased for his naughty "contraband," as I call it. Luckily, the contraband often gets stuck in his beard before he can eat it (he has long hair).

[MommaTED]

Yup, I can sweep, mop and use the swiffer vac too and Tucket STILL finds stuff to put in his mouth. It drives me bonkers. Ozzy only grabs my boys' toys that he can carry away but he already responds to "drop it" and hardly ever takes the boys' toys anymore. Tucket is still learning.

[anko]

Sounds like a lot of people here are having the same issue. My puppy Bailey is currently 4 months and also eats various things that he finds around the yard or on the floor. I am always concerned that he will eat something very harmful.

I was hoping that this is something that he will eventually grow out of. What age are your yorkies? Has anyone had their puppy grow out of this bad habit?

[ReesiesDad]

My first thought was 'they put things in their mouth because they don't have fingers to pick it up', but that wouldn't go over very good.

Have you had her gums and teeth checked? They chew on stuff because it feels good. Maybe she has some irritation in her gums, same as a puppy that's teething. Terriers of all kinds have a history of having bad teeth.

[Lovetodream88]

There mouths are really the only thing they have to explore life with they cant grab it and touch it with fingers and hands. I remember when Callie did it as a puppy we would all get into positions around the house trying to catch her that is one thing I do not miss lol. Maybe try some bitter apple spray or it might be called yuck spray that you can find at the pet store.

[violet voon]

My baby has this problem too...but at least she listens when I say "no"
I think there's something (liquids/spray) where you can spray directly onto whatever things you don't want them to bite, the taste is a bit weird and they won't to bite it anymore.

[katy-yorkie]

Buster and Maggie put all kinds of things in their mouth. When they go on walks, they like to eat the worms on the sidewalk, the ones that have dried from the sun. I know, that is so disgusting. I catch them when I can and steer them away or try the "leave it". This part is disgusting if you want to stop reading. I could tell when I got home from work yesterday that Buster had thrown up. I gave him a bath as he smelled really bad, he has never smelled that bad. There was dried stuff in his beard, when I finally got it out, it looked like a worm or something similar that he had thrown up. D I S G U S T I NG....

[MyLilReese]

Thanks for all of your replies, I am going to try the 'drop it' and 'leave it' routine. Hopefully that will work, these furbabies are like 2 year olds for sure, they just want to get into everything. lol. Reese is going on 10mths old, so she is still a puppy, so hopefully we can nip this in the bud.