eating of pebbles/small stones

[Krispilot]

I have a 10 week old puppy, whenever we go for å walk he like to eat small stones. We call them shingle, they are used in driveways, approx 1/2 inch diameter and smaller. I try to get them out of his mouth, tell him no, but I think he has swallowed a couple. Do they pass through his system or can they become stuck and give him constipation?:(

[bulldoggin30]

I would think they will pass but I guess there's always a chance something could happen and one could get stuck. Try to avoid them if possible and maybe he'll grow out of it soon.

[kasia]

might be worth spraying bitter apples on them in the areas he tends to go for first (example, the nearest patch outside the door). the bitter apple worked well in deterring my dog from eating my garden plants. kasia

[French Queen]

Hi Krispilot - All pups put things in their mouths but not all of them eat them, as yours is a pup you should hopefully be able to break the habit. Apart from the obvious internal problems from blockages, it can also damage the teeth. It usually takes a couple of days for items to pass through, although it took seven days for our Jade to pass a piece of material.
A dog that has a complete obstruction passes no stools. It pays to know the symptoms of a blockage especially if your pup has a tendency to swallow things

Our Bindee would try & eat gravel while on our walks, I treat stone eating similar to poo eating. I would deliberately walk her past it as soon as she made any attempt to eat it I would give the command 'leave' in a firm voice & used treats to distract her, I kept repeating this exercise until she learned.

At home it can be harder, if you see him with a stone give the command you use in a firm voice you may be very lucky he might drop it, if he doesn't want to part with it then the worse thing you can do is rush towards him he will either swallow it or run away with it. To him it's his treasure he found it so he is gonna keep it, this treasure must be really important because you want it. Don't make a big deal out of it simply ignore him & walk away & get a small squeaky toy but dont let him see it or keep an empty packet of crisps, I think you call them potato chips in the states, or use any packet that makes a rustling noise & put a few treats in then using the toy/packet call him to you chances are he will drop the stone/item & run to see what you have got, praise him & give a treat keep on talking to him & take him into another room then go back & pick up the stone/item.

I have only had one blockage thank god, I hope I never have to go through that again, my bitch nearly died.

French Queen & the little clowns :)