Moose eats EVERYthing off the floor!

[LBH]

Hi everyone,

My 8 month old yorkie, Moose eats EVERYTHING off the floor, and I mean every single tiny tidbit of anything that is on the floor. I know this is a common problem with yorkies, but I am completely at my wits end with Moose. I sweep/vaccum once a day then go over the floor with a swiffer mop..but Moose walks around with his nose to the floor 24 hours a day, and he inevitably finds fuzz/hair/dust and other tiny things.

I am home with him all day and he gets plenty of playtime and walks twice a day, and usually 30 minutes off of his leash at the park once a day, so he is definitely not bored or un-exercised. But I cannot stop him from sniffing up everything on the floor; his nose never leaves the floor if he is walking. I have been to the vet with him three times in the last 4 months because he has eaten things that have made him sick. It hasn't been two weeks since his last bout of sickness and since yesterday, he is throwing up and having a little diarrhea AGAIN. And AGAIN, its from eating things..this time it was a piece of string and a hairball. Last time it was pine needless..I could go on and on.

I cannot keep paying expensive vet bills for the same diagnosis each time and I get so worried about the little guy when he gets sick like this I have tried everything to stop this behavior short of confining him to a pen. I'm here all day so I really don't want to have him cooped up in a pen all day. I just want him to be a healthy, happy yorkie with his nose off the floor for once! I hate to even mention the word muzzle...has anyone ever had to resort to this to keep them from eating everything? i'm willing to try anything!

[JoeyP]

Yup ..... you have a puppy

That's what they do .... everything is worth exploring smelling chewing and eating
We all have done it
and it's very important for your puppy's sake to Puppy proof your house
Everything dangerous Everything not meant for you Puppy to put in its mouth must come up off the floor

[lucyaboo]

I agree - puppy (child) proof the areas Moose is in he wants to know what it is - lol

[AvyQuinn]

Hiro is the same way!
I always make sure to do a sweep of the floor (and have my husband do the same) when we are going to let him have some free time in the house! I dont trust Hiro as far as I could throw him lol so I always make sure that there isn't anything he can get into.

[romeos mommy]

Romeo did this as a pup and he grew out of it.

[shawnzeppi]

Mr Gatsby (10 months old) usually is not that much of a vacuum cleaner, but today we put masking tape down to mark the extent of furniture we were contemplating and left the house. We got back after an hour or two away and he has it stuck to his muzzle hair and later I find it on both his front paws. But this did not look to be all of it; I am pretty sure he ate some. One hint was his tummy must have been a little upset because he had gaseous emissions that had a hint of masking tape to it or was that my imagination??? Looking forward to his next poop to be sure he's OK.

With regard to the diarrhea, we always keep some prescription medication around and our vet has no issue with us using it occasionally when necessary, it has saved us plenty of emergency trips over the years going back to our first Yorkie.

[JoeyP]

Originally Posted by shawnzeppi

Mr Gatsby (10 months old) usually is not that much of a vacuum cleaner, but today we put masking tape down to mark the extent of furniture we were contemplating and left the house.

Be careful, I KNOW mine would be on that masking tape like a magnet

But all of this eating and chewing needs to be gotten rid of with "leave it" training
As far as furniture goes when you see them using it as a teething implement
Immediately a loud noise ... Leave it! No! a Loud Clap whatever you want
to distract them
Mine, I clap my hands really loud and they immediately know get away
My Own "Clapper"
then you can get into them leaving something they found on the floor .. this is harder
This "drop it" training will take some true "training" sessions to get down
How I do it is
Put them with you in an enclosed space
It ain't gonna work if they can run from you
With one hand give them a toy
say DROP IT
the other hand has the treat
Don't Let Them See it
and reward them when they drop the toy

[Shelby&Seymour]

I think that it is a natural thing for Yorkies to do this........ we'll if we think about it... Look how close to the ground they are!!! I am always very careful about checking the floors for foreign objects... and vaccuming regularly.
I sometimes call them my little "Roomba's" when I see them looking for stuff on the floor!

[shawnzeppi]

I think I have accounted for the missing masking tape that was not on Gatsby's paws or beard - ref my previous post in this thread. It seems to have not effected him in the least, and I would classify it as insoluble fiber.

ALso, I do appreciate the advise on the methods to get your yorkie to drop a bad thing in its mouth on command. I think I have erroneously trained my guys the opposite by getting foreign objects out of their mouths on walks, they seem to have learned to swallow fast or the nasty pack leaders will take this new cool toy/treat away. That would be a very difficult behavior to teach, but it would be nice if you could do it.

[AvyQuinn]

Originally Posted by JoeyP

Leave it! No! a Loud Clap whatever you want
to distract them
With one hand give them a toy
say DROP IT
the other hand has the treat
Don't Let Them See it
and reward them when they drop the toy

Hiro is ok with these two commands and BOY! am I glad I taught him these!
Sometimes he will walk around and grab something when I can't see him, but I usually keep stuff off the floor anyway. Why tempt fate? lol

'Leave it' I found surprisingly easy to teach him, and we're still working on 'drop it'.

My biggest problem now is how to get him to stop chasing after the cats... ><!!! He has selective hearing when it comes to the cats and these commands.

[nycyorkiemom]

Mine, I clap my hands really loud and they immediately know get away
My Own "Clapper"
then you can get into them leaving something they found on the floor .. this is harder
This "drop it" training will take some true "training" sessions to get down
How I do it is
Put them with you in an enclosed space
It ain't gonna work if they can run from you
With one hand give them a toy
say DROP IT
the other hand has the treat
Don't Let Them See it
and reward them when they drop the toy

I've tried this bus mine can smell the treat a mile away and has absolutely no interest in the toy because of it! I've tried getting the treat into my hand ahead of time, but he is so perceptive that he just knows I have it! Argh! Any tips for that?

[nycyorkiemom]

Originally Posted by shawnzeppi

I think I have accounted for the missing masking tape that was not on Gatsby's paws or beard - ref my previous post in this thread. It seems to have not effected him in the least, and I would classify it as insoluble fiber.

ALso, I do appreciate the advise on the methods to get your yorkie to drop a bad thing in its mouth on command. I think I have erroneously trained my guys the opposite by getting foreign objects out of their mouths on walks, they seem to have learned to swallow fast or the nasty pack leaders will take this new cool toy/treat away. That would be a very difficult behavior to teach, but it would be nice if you could do it.

Well, until they are taught the drop it/leave it, it's good to pull things out of their mouths for their safety. I've been doing this a lot because he will create things to chew on...he started pulling up wood from the floor boards !!!! But I also read to be careful to not reach down into their throats because they have small bones you could accidentally hurt (I read this when I looked up how to help a choking dog). They say only grab what you can see. Problem is his mouth is so tiny that I can't really look in and pull something out at the same time...so I just make sure to stay away from the throat area. But anyway, my point was supposed to be that it's okay that you've been doing that, because it is for their safety...until they learn the command I'd keep doing it when neccessary.