[canana]

Originally Posted by caribear

I have 4 kids. We haven't had any issues with our dog eating anything that wasn't food. Cat ate some cord and thread a couple weeks ago and had a long surgery and removed half his intestine though. It's hard to keep everything up. When our dogs were puppies, they just chewed things, not eating things. Well my collie ate an entire bowl of Kisses, she was a puppy but was fine. Maybe look into training the dog not to chew on things that aren't toys. I don't know how to do it. We did use trainers with our dogs and it did help with lots of behaviors.

I second this, and agree that training is absolutely necessary, because really we cannot afford to lose our babies because we (the humans) 1. left things for them to ingest, 2. didn't teach them properly that they cannot chew everything. I'm not trying to be harsh, but just wanting to reinforce the importance of the training, which you mentioned that you're working on. Because the consequence of them dying due to our negligence...is just not an option (imho)!

Let's assume for a second... your daughter never learns to pick up after herself, then the next option is to fool-proof your dog. I don't have kids, but I think dogs are easier to train Understanding each pup is different with varying degrees of challenges, I'd like to offer what I've tried which had good results...

Clicker + treats!

1. "Leave it"
Use either her kibble or treats. Put it in your hand in front of her. Without saying anything, if she turns her face away from the kibble/treat and looks at you, click + treat (you can give her the treat in your hand, or give her an even yummier treat from the other hand). If she goes towards your hand, close it and look away from her. Do this several times in silence. Once she seems to know that she needs to look at you to 'ask for permission' rather than impulsively charging towards your hand for food, add in the "Leave It" command. Do this several times.

Next, repeat the above with the treat/kibble on the floor with your hand over it. If she charges towards it, cover it quickly with your hand and look away. If she looks at you for permission and sits like a good girl, click + treat! Again, first do this in silence. Then, add in the "Leave It" command once she 'gets it'.

Next, repeat the above steps with the treat/kibble on the floor without your hand over it - granted she's good with 'leaving it'.

Next, leave the treat/kibble on the floor and stand up, using the "Leave It" command. If you're standing, there might be a tendency for her to try to get it. So, have your foot handy to cover the treat/kibble.

Next, leave the treat/kibble on the floor, use "Leave It" command, and actually walk away. For this, I usually give both the "Stay" and "Leave It" commands.

Obviously do these steps over a few days, maybe a couple weeks, depending on how quickly she picks up on it (no pun intended ). But most importantly, don't increase the challenge until you feel like she's ready. If she fails even once. Go back one step. Key is to prevent failures and have only victories.

2. Practicing "Leave it" with other things.
Put your non edible stuff all over the floor. Put her toys that are hers on the floor. On a longer leash (make sure it's loose so she doesn't know she's attached to you) and let her sniff around. If she goes towards her stuff, click + treat. If she goes towards your stuff, give a firm "leave it" and be prepared to stop her with the leash before she gets close enough to touch it. Repeat this until she only goes to her own belongings. Once she's good at it, take off the loose leash and practice more.

To increase the ante, put your edible stuff on the floor. And repeat. Make sure you have a party each time she successfully "leaves it", regardless with what it is you're using. You can give more "good girls" and more treats with each increased challenging step.

Sorry for the lengthy post and maybe you've already tried this. But I just want to say that I had great success with this. I can actually have both of my furbabies on the couch with my plate of food on the couch and they won't go near it. Don't get me wrong, they want to. But they know they're not supposed to.

Good luck!!