Beagle eating stones!

rafared

Hello,
My Foot Beagle is 1 year old. He is a great companion, good temperament, the kids love him, finally house trained (that one took a while) and with the help of a halti collar a pleasure to walk with it.
The only blot on his copybook is that when walking he goes into beagle mode, tail up nose down! (not in inself a problem) but if he finds anything remotely edible down the hatch it goes! He does it so quickly in is almost impossible to catch and makes walking difficult because I spend my time watching him ready to pull him awayfrom anything that he might eat.
I have now found that he has eaten a few small stones because I saw them in his poop! My OH also said he puked one evening on a walk with her and it had 5 or 6 small stones in it. This has me on edge and I wont leave him in the garden for long because I dont want him to harm himself by eating what he shouldnt. I should add that he is on Eukanuba food after trying various other brands without success. On advice from the vet he gets fed once a day, which is morning time and doesnt get any other food bar the odd treat in his kong.
Any help or advice from beagle or other dog owners would be much appreciated.

barbiegirl

Our spaniel/retriever does the same. You can't watch them all the time and it doesn't seem to do her any harm, though of course we correct her when she does it.

tk123

Teach him the leave it command OP - it worked for our retriever. Anything he picks up he drops as soon as we tell him - because he knows he might get a teat!

CreedonsDogDayc

yup, i second the leave it command, here's a great video posted by Dog Training Ireland, http://www.youtube.com/user/DogTrainingIre#p/f/7/NBzxImPVPwQ

but for when your not around, and the dogs out the back maybe you could get him used to wearing a basket muzzle? If you introduce it slowly he shouldnt have a problem with it, and wont be able to pick up most objects!!

Satyr_The_Great

tk123 wrote: »

Teach him the leave it command OP - it worked for our retriever. Anything he picks up he drops as soon as we tell him - because he knows he might get a teat!

thats a good idea. BUT not everyone spends 24/7 with their dogs,, obviously theres times where u cant be and are not with the dog..other than that, it shud work.

rafared

Thanks for the help guys. I will give it a go and see what happens. The little fecker has it gone so quickly that I doubt it will do the trick but no harm in trying.

PaulB91

CreedonsDogDayc wrote: »

yup, i second the leave it command, here's a great video posted by Dog Training Ireland, http://www.youtube.com/user/DogTrainingIre#p/f/7/NBzxImPVPwQ

but for when your not around, and the dogs out the back maybe you could get him used to wearing a basket muzzle? If you introduce it slowly he shouldnt have a problem with it, and wont be able to pick up most objects!!

leaving a dog unsupervised while muzzled is not a good idea

rafared

My OH suggested a muzzle but I dont know if I want to put him in one and then let him loose. That being said I suppose it would prevent him from eating anything that takes his fancy. I think I will try the "leave it" training first and then take it from there. Here's a pic of the little stone eater looking like butter wouldnt melt......