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orangepiece · 08-12-2009, 07:14 AM

I started out crate training my pup. And now I want to be more comfortable having her just run free. But I always freak out because she eats EVERYTHinG. I mean...she will find stuff to eat and I am so afraid that she will eat something harmful. No matter how much I clean up she seems to always find something. Also she seems to get soooo bored when I let her free. She only seems to want to sniff around and look for snacks on the floor. What can I do to make me more comfortable with my izzy running freely and what can I do to keep her from sniffing for snacks

and just chill out?

Also Ive taught her to scratch the door each time she goes out to potty. However...Im not sure if she will do this if she's running free in the house or if she will just find a spot....hmmm?

loveshay · 08-12-2009, 07:26 AM

Shay is the same way(5 months old)...reminds me of an ant eater..lol..always looking for something on the floor...You think everything is picked up, but somehow he finds something..lol..

I still kennel Shay at night,and when I leave the house, he has run of our kitchen all day, when I am home! and we open up kitchen to living room to play, but I dont know when I will be able to just let him run free, I would be terrified he would eat something, I didnt see, and it would hurt him.
Good luck!!!!

orangepiece · 08-12-2009, 07:53 AM

yeah I know, scary. Izzy ate a scrunchie once. I freaked out but luckly it didnt hurt her and she passed it. However...she loves paper. And she will get bored and go searching in the different bedrooms for things to eat. I dont really know what to do, I envy people who just seem to have no care in the world and doesnt follow there yorkie around while she runs free. Maybe Im just paranoid? hmm...well

RoxyLuv · 08-12-2009, 08:43 AM

Sounds like normal puppyhood. You don't say how old yours is, but we have a babygate at the hallway preventing her from going to the rest of the house. If you want to restrict her without baby gates, you can always shut doors to rooms not being used. Roxy gradually earned privileges. We can now leave the house for a few hours without her being crated. Everything is in tact when we get home. Sigh of relief. We started with just running quick errands & built up to a few hours. She's doing really well now at 9 mo. Huge sigh of relief!!! Soon I will move the babygate further down the hall to give her access to a couple more rooms. Just not going to give her the whole house at once.

In the beginning I stayed strong with 'leave it', 'drop it', 'ah ah', ocassional time-outs, etc. Would sidetrack a lot of unwanted behavior with toys. OMG, it was constant it seemed. However, I have survived the hardest of puppyhood so it's not nearly as much work now. But I'm sure she got some new challenges up her sleeve for us. : )

Have a variety of toys, start teaching some easy sit, down, go for walks, etc & treat/praise a lot will help with boredom. Be creative in starting up some play w/toys, etc. Continue keeping things puppyproofed at all times. Buy new toys as you can, & hide a few old ones for awhile. The floor sniffing will probably continue her whole life. Ya never know when there might be a little tidbit of food. It all takes time. Hang in there! It will get better.

JKTex · 08-12-2009, 10:11 AM

Our male has always been very good, never really tried to eat things or tear things up at all. Out new female is all puppy all the way! We've had to watch her every move. She'll eat bugs, mulch, leaves etc. In the backyard she's like a goat! Sometimes we can't tell a toad's "poop" from hers.

So far we've kept hr form getting anything harmful but did have a scare. She loves to drag wood chips or much in to the house and chew it up. She sneaks it in so we have to watch her close.

About 2 weeks ago she sneaked a piece in that we didn't catch but we know to watch her. Within a minute or 2 I noticed her mouth was partly open and I heard a strange breath or similar noise. I got to her to find a piece of wood wedged in the roof of her mouth between her teeth with a piece kind of splintered off out one side of her mouth. I was able to quickly get it dislodged and out but WOW, what a scare.

If I wasn't so diligent about checking as she comes back in, I'm not sure what would have happened. Luckily she's starting to show less interest in chewing and dragging things in.

loveshay · 08-12-2009, 11:56 AM

LOL I am paranoid too....but would just not forgive myself if something happened that could of been avoided, that why I have things partioned off too, and as he gets older and is a lil more trustworthy, add more area.. Our kitchen is huge so he has alot of room to run around, and I work from home and I have laptop at kitchen desk, so I am constantly watching....and thats with what I think is a prefectlly safe area..lol

Like you I cannot wait till I can let him all over. But for now this is the safest place for him.

eauxbehv · 08-12-2009, 12:03 PM

I too have a 5 month old who eats EVERYTHING and a 5 year old who does nothing but sleep all day. The 5 year old can run free in and out the doggy door where the puppy no way because she wants to eat things outside and bring stuff in the house. Due to a life style change this week I caged the puppy in the kitchen and let the 5 yr old do his thing. I would love to leave the puppy gated in my familyroom/kitchen but she is puppy pad trained and my 5 yr old isn't. He would be stuck holding himself for about 10 hrs a day..ekkk sound like a long time....WHAT TO DO?

BLADE · 08-12-2009, 02:42 PM

Kimbo is 3.5 months old and I always say I should have named him Roomba after that vacuum cleaner that automatically runs all over your floors and picks stuff up. He leaves the floors spotless!! Consequently, he only has access to the living room at this time. I'm considering opening up the kitchen soon, but the rest of the house will have to wait. My sons are still young and cannot be trusted to keep everything off the ground. Baby Roomba would have a field day in their rooms!!

loveshay · 08-12-2009, 06:58 PM

Hahahahaa so glad to hear I am not alone with my lil ant eater..lol..

You give me hope hearing your 5 yr old runs the house...I cannot wait! I don't like haviing to put him in his kennel, anytime I leave the house, we bought a large kennel, and since Shay is a lil shy of 2 pounds, he does have alot of room in there...He is also puppy pad trained..

I have to say it was a rough go everyday, since I got him, always seemed like something was going wrong! well last week I started giving him a lil canned food mixed in with his dry (same brand as dry) and my goodness he is like a new puppy have not had one bad day all week! he has energy is happy and loveable...we even learned to sit yesterday!!!!! whohoooooo!!!!!!! I am so proud!

manina · 08-13-2009, 05:18 AM

Try bones and toys to keep him busy , I had the something after a while she stop putting everything in her mouth, but not before she eat a frog lol and I had to rush to the vet , just so the vet could tell her she was a pig Lol !
I agree do the gate thing for a while , and when not at home , they'r like baby's everything in the mouth, they grow out of it.
enjoy your furbaby !
bark@ulater!!!
manina,miley

,max

orangepiece · 08-19-2009, 01:05 PM

LOL, she is like a baby. Izzabella is One years old...and I have even considered getting some spray that the vet offers thats supposed to leave a yucky taste in her mouth and deter her from eating stuff. She tries to eat string, paper...even the other day I caught her tasting a piece of glass on the floor at my sisters!! I havent mastered the drop it leave it...but it would help if she didnt run from me when she knows she has something thats bad. So I have to chase her just to get it out of her mouth and then if she can she'll swallow it quickly so I never get it.

RoxyLuv · 08-19-2009, 02:55 PM

That's when I first try to side track her with a favorite toy. Roxy would always drop whatever she had & run for the toy. She did eventually wise up to that little trick though. It does still work sometimes as I'm not having to do it nearly as often.

I don't have a good back up plan at this point if that fails especially with something like glass. Recently Roxy grabbed DHs cell phone which she normally doesn't bother. A big 'no no' item. As soon as it was in her mouth she took off at full speed through the doggie door. DH was so pi**ed. I fumbled around for my sandals to follow her & couldn't get them straighted out to get them on. When I finally made it to the door, here she comes in her door without the phone. I looked out & she had left it at the bottom of the steps. She looked puzzled like she couldn't figure out why we didn't play her game. The next day she pulled the same thing with another 'no no' item. Couldn't find my sandals this time. When I finally found them & got them on she had already brought the item back inside & layed it on the floor by my chair. Same puzzled look! Oddly enough she hasn't tried to play that game again... yet.

orangepiece · 08-19-2009, 05:31 PM

lol. Yeah I think they think its fun...but its not as fun for us as it is for them.

08-12-2009, 07:14 AM	#1
orangepiece Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: michigan michigan Posts: 42	YOUR free.... I started out crate training my pup. And now I want to be more comfortable having her just run free. But I always freak out because she eats EVERYTHinG. I mean...she will find stuff to eat and I am so afraid that she will eat something harmful. No matter how much I clean up she seems to always find something. Also she seems to get soooo bored when I let her free. She only seems to want to sniff around and look for snacks on the floor. What can I do to make me more comfortable with my izzy running freely and what can I do to keep her from sniffing for snacks and just chill out? Also Ive taught her to scratch the door each time she goes out to potty. However...Im not sure if she will do this if she's running free in the house or if she will just find a spot....hmmm?

08-12-2009, 08:43 AM	#4
RoxyLuv Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Michigan Posts: 982 Blog Entries: 1	Sounds like normal puppyhood. You don't say how old yours is, but we have a babygate at the hallway preventing her from going to the rest of the house. If you want to restrict her without baby gates, you can always shut doors to rooms not being used. Roxy gradually earned privileges. We can now leave the house for a few hours without her being crated. Everything is in tact when we get home. Sigh of relief. We started with just running quick errands & built up to a few hours. She's doing really well now at 9 mo. Huge sigh of relief!!! Soon I will move the babygate further down the hall to give her access to a couple more rooms. Just not going to give her the whole house at once. In the beginning I stayed strong with 'leave it', 'drop it', 'ah ah', ocassional time-outs, etc. Would sidetrack a lot of unwanted behavior with toys. OMG, it was constant it seemed. However, I have survived the hardest of puppyhood so it's not nearly as much work now. But I'm sure she got some new challenges up her sleeve for us. : ) Have a variety of toys, start teaching some easy sit, down, go for walks, etc & treat/praise a lot will help with boredom. Be creative in starting up some play w/toys, etc. Continue keeping things puppyproofed at all times. Buy new toys as you can, & hide a few old ones for awhile. The floor sniffing will probably continue her whole life. Ya never know when there might be a little tidbit of food. It all takes time. Hang in there! It will get better. __________________ June ~ Roxy LUV LUV

08-12-2009, 10:11 AM	#5
JKTex Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Flower Mound, Texas Posts: 37	Our male has always been very good, never really tried to eat things or tear things up at all. Out new female is all puppy all the way! We've had to watch her every move. She'll eat bugs, mulch, leaves etc. In the backyard she's like a goat! Sometimes we can't tell a toad's "poop" from hers. So far we've kept hr form getting anything harmful but did have a scare. She loves to drag wood chips or much in to the house and chew it up. She sneaks it in so we have to watch her close. About 2 weeks ago she sneaked a piece in that we didn't catch but we know to watch her. Within a minute or 2 I noticed her mouth was partly open and I heard a strange breath or similar noise. I got to her to find a piece of wood wedged in the roof of her mouth between her teeth with a piece kind of splintered off out one side of her mouth. I was able to quickly get it dislodged and out but WOW, what a scare. If I wasn't so diligent about checking as she comes back in, I'm not sure what would have happened. Luckily she's starting to show less interest in chewing and dragging things in. Last edited by JKTex; 08-12-2009 at 10:14 AM.

08-12-2009, 12:03 PM	#7
eauxbehv Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Sacramento Posts: 173	I too have a 5 month old who eats EVERYTHING and a 5 year old who does nothing but sleep all day. The 5 year old can run free in and out the doggy door where the puppy no way because she wants to eat things outside and bring stuff in the house. Due to a life style change this week I caged the puppy in the kitchen and let the 5 yr old do his thing. I would love to leave the puppy gated in my familyroom/kitchen but she is puppy pad trained and my 5 yr old isn't. He would be stuck holding himself for about 10 hrs a day..ekkk sound like a long time....WHAT TO DO? __________________ Mommie to Sebastian Cindi Lu Lu RIP my Lil' Sweet Pea Feb 27, '05-Apr 13, '09

08-13-2009, 05:18 AM	#10
manina Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Orlando/IL Posts: 1,223	Toys Try bones and toys to keep him busy , I had the something after a while she stop putting everything in her mouth, but not before she eat a frog lol and I had to rush to the vet , just so the vet could tell her she was a pig Lol ! I agree do the gate thing for a while , and when not at home , they'r like baby's everything in the mouth, they grow out of it. enjoy your furbaby ! bark@ulater!!! manina,miley,max

08-12-2009, 07:26 AM	#2
loveshay YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: TN Posts: 556	Shay is the same way(5 months old)...reminds me of an ant eater..lol..always looking for something on the floor...You think everything is picked up, but somehow he finds something..lol.. I still kennel Shay at night,and when I leave the house, he has run of our kitchen all day, when I am home! and we open up kitchen to living room to play, but I dont know when I will be able to just let him run free, I would be terrified he would eat something, I didnt see, and it would hurt him. Good luck!!!!

08-12-2009, 07:53 AM	#3
orangepiece Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: michigan michigan Posts: 42	yeah I know, scary. Izzy ate a scrunchie once. I freaked out but luckly it didnt hurt her and she passed it. However...she loves paper. And she will get bored and go searching in the different bedrooms for things to eat. I dont really know what to do, I envy people who just seem to have no care in the world and doesnt follow there yorkie around while she runs free. Maybe Im just paranoid? hmm...well

08-12-2009, 11:56 AM	#6
loveshay YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: TN Posts: 556	LOL I am paranoid too....but would just not forgive myself if something happened that could of been avoided, that why I have things partioned off too, and as he gets older and is a lil more trustworthy, add more area.. Our kitchen is huge so he has alot of room to run around, and I work from home and I have laptop at kitchen desk, so I am constantly watching....and thats with what I think is a prefectlly safe area..lol Like you I cannot wait till I can let him all over. But for now this is the safest place for him.

08-12-2009, 02:42 PM	#8
BLADE YT Addict Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 251	Kimbo is 3.5 months old and I always say I should have named him Roomba after that vacuum cleaner that automatically runs all over your floors and picks stuff up. He leaves the floors spotless!! Consequently, he only has access to the living room at this time. I'm considering opening up the kitchen soon, but the rest of the house will have to wait. My sons are still young and cannot be trusted to keep everything off the ground. Baby Roomba would have a field day in their rooms!!

08-12-2009, 06:58 PM	#9
loveshay YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: TN Posts: 556	Hahahahaa so glad to hear I am not alone with my lil ant eater..lol.. You give me hope hearing your 5 yr old runs the house...I cannot wait! I don't like haviing to put him in his kennel, anytime I leave the house, we bought a large kennel, and since Shay is a lil shy of 2 pounds, he does have alot of room in there...He is also puppy pad trained.. I have to say it was a rough go everyday, since I got him, always seemed like something was going wrong! well last week I started giving him a lil canned food mixed in with his dry (same brand as dry) and my goodness he is like a new puppy have not had one bad day all week! he has energy is happy and loveable...we even learned to sit yesterday!!!!! whohoooooo!!!!!!! I am so proud!

08-19-2009, 01:05 PM	#11
orangepiece Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: michigan michigan Posts: 42	LOL, she is like a baby. Izzabella is One years old...and I have even considered getting some spray that the vet offers thats supposed to leave a yucky taste in her mouth and deter her from eating stuff. She tries to eat string, paper...even the other day I caught her tasting a piece of glass on the floor at my sisters!! I havent mastered the drop it leave it...but it would help if she didnt run from me when she knows she has something thats bad. So I have to chase her just to get it out of her mouth and then if she can she'll swallow it quickly so I never get it.

08-19-2009, 02:55 PM	#12
RoxyLuv Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Michigan Posts: 982 Blog Entries: 1	That's when I first try to side track her with a favorite toy. Roxy would always drop whatever she had & run for the toy. She did eventually wise up to that little trick though. It does still work sometimes as I'm not having to do it nearly as often. I don't have a good back up plan at this point if that fails especially with something like glass. Recently Roxy grabbed DHs cell phone which she normally doesn't bother. A big 'no no' item. As soon as it was in her mouth she took off at full speed through the doggie door. DH was so pied. I fumbled around for my sandals to follow her & couldn't get them straighted out to get them on. When I finally made it to the door, here she comes in her door without the phone. I looked out & she had left it at the bottom of the steps. She looked puzzled like she couldn't figure out why we didn't play her game. The next day she pulled the same thing with another 'no no' item. Couldn't find my sandals this time. When I finally found them & got them on she had already brought the item back inside & layed it on the floor by my chair. Same puzzled look! Oddly enough she hasn't tried to play that game again... yet. __________________ June ~ Roxy LUV LUV**

08-19-2009, 05:31 PM	#13
orangepiece Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: michigan michigan Posts: 42	lol. Yeah I think they think its fun...but its not as fun for us as it is for them.