Hi there.

Alfie is our gorgeous 9 week old Flatcoated retriever.  He is interested in everything and so bright; already learning commands and has learnt very quickly where his food is kept!  His breeder was feeding a raw meat diet, but my husband and I are slowly moving him to purina as the raw meat diet doesn't suit us.  Over the past few days as we have increased the percentage of biscuits to meat (still less than half biscuits) Alfie has started to eat whatever plants and grass he can in the garden.  At first he was chewing the leaves and spitting them out, but as I said the last few days he has been swallowing them quicker than I can get to him to pull them out of his mouth.  Do I need to be worried about this?  Do you guys think it is a phase?

Thankyou so much for your help (in advance)

Rachel and Alf

i'm suprised he's only just started to do this, all three of my dogs love chewing up my loved garden.
Don't know what plants are dangerous but my dogs seem to eat anything they fancy and havn't ever had any bad affects from this.
think your find a lot of people with puppies have the same problem. i'm forever chasing my youngest off the flower beds where she's trying to eat the nice new shoots off the plants.
As for a phase my oldest dog isn't so bothered but both my 1 year old and four year old still try and do it when i'm not watching, they know they shouldn't when i'm in the garden with them.  

My youngest is 16 months old and will still chew the occasional plant - usually my favourite - unless I catch her first ;)    They do stop eventually tho ;)

she's hugely improved from last year when we were calling her Titchmarsh :-D

9 weeks and gorgeous and only just eating your garden and a retriever to boot, you must have a good one. :)

Mine is 10 years plus and still eats the green stuff the only thing I really keep her away from is any part of the daffodil, all the dogs I've ever had all have a liking for fresh young grass shoots I think sometimes it's for pleasure and some times to aide a bit of up chuck. I'm convinced though if you have a lovely rose with beautiful blooms the dog knows this and will pull the heads off, after all it looks like a ball and it's fun :)

Sounds like you have a lovely typical pup. If you need a list of unsuitable plants log on to chihuahua people and there are couple of lists on there,haven't checked but there could be one here somewher too 

>At first he was chewing the leaves and spitting them out, but as I said the last few days he has been swallowing them quicker than I can get to him to pull them out of his mouth. Do I need to be worried about this?

Hi Rachel

Don't worry about the plants as other posters have said it is quite normal and dogs usually know what is safe to eat.

What I think you should worry about is teaching him that when he's got something he shouldn't, you're going to try and get it out of his mouth and the way to avoid you "stealing" his toy/treat/prize is to wolf it down as fast as possible. IME that's often how a lot of dogs end up in surgery having socks, stones, etc removed.

Try not to react when he has anything he shouldn't. If it's a safe plant/grass let him chew it up, if it's something more dangerous try to distract him by doing something more exciting like picking up his dinner bowl or opening a packet of treats. You could also start teaching him a leave command, he's bright so he'll enjoy it. Leave a treat on the floor, leave his toy when he's playing with you, etc.

Thankyou all :)

Hi,

Where did you get your puppy from? Your breeder should be able to advise you on diet, and certainly in our breed it would be very unusual for a breeder not to give advice even if it is only to say which food would be best to change to incase Purina might not be suiting your puppy, if he is eating a lot of grass and plants that might be the reason.

My dogs have always nibbled on grasses and fruits. Nothing wrong with that unless they eat something they shouldn't. For example one of my dogs at a year old ate a fever few plant, unknown to me and it made him very sick. We had to call the vet.

Many breeders will say to you "if you won't eat it why give it to your dogs?" Would you eat the Purina? So whether you are feeding a barf diet (raw diet) or a prepared diet, the same thing applies, would you eat it?

As it is very wet at the moment do make sure you bring his toys in. Don't leave them in the garden incase he accidently eats a tiny slug or snail which might have slithered on to it. These garden pests are a nightmare not just to plants! They carry a particularly nasty worm which can make the dog very ill and if they have been feasting on slug pellets they can also be poisonous. Some pups will actively seek out these slimy garden pests to eat.

Polly
Foxpath Flatcoated Retrievers.

Hi  was just about to put a post on the site myself about dogs eating plants, 2 of my 3 dogs one a choc lab and the other a spaniel are a nightmare with my petunias they are leaving all the other flowers alone except those i was beginning to think that this was abnormal behaviour but now I dont!!!  They too love the lush grass and feast on it whenever they can...

Plants!!!!!!!! what are those, have not seen the like in yrs...just nice big empty spaces where they used to be.

Used to have some lovely well established standard rose bushes... until they got the Boxer treatment...  caught my boy (when he was younger)  running round the garden with one in his mouth..  roots an all LOL!!!

RE- Polly`s post,  might be worth looking at>

my flat coat loves to eat plants, grass, things out of the bin, things that have been dead for a while and anything else he feels may be suitable lol

that a flattie for you. they love horse poo as well.roll in foxes.hover up cows.

I wonder if his previous owners were feeding him greens/veg/fruit? Dogs tend to graze on certain plants and flowers if they or their bodies are craving something??
I would try adding in some some pulverised fruit and veg in with his food,a Tbs would probs be enough,also the addition of some fresh meat might also help :)
Of course it could be what some of the other posters have suggested :) But i would be very curious to see what happens if you were to add greens to his food.

I had to dig all my spuds up because one of the pups was eating them. Now shes eating my honeysuckle??

Awww  Alfie sounds lovely.
My 20 month old Flat Coat eats whatever plants he can. He also eats grass. He also eats poo...his own as well as deer poo, sheep poo,cow poo, horse poo,fox poo...infact any poo he gets a chance to. My 5 and a half year old Flat Coat eats all the above...but also enjoys occassionally eating the other Flat Coats poo. They both enjoy trying to find dead and decaying things to eat as well.
Sometimes it can be a dietary deficiency...but in the case of my dogs it is very much down to them enjoying exploring things with their mouths...

Alfie sounds adorable and is acting like a typical pup...bless him. Just keep an eye incase he eats something he shouldn't (as someone else said slugs and snails are a big no no and there are lists of plants that are dangerous for dogs all over the internet).

Bless him!!!

Hi from another Rachel with flatcoats!

My 2 flatties (5 months and 14 months) love helping in the garden - they prune all the plants (including prickly rosebushes!) and regularly chase each other around the mud, I mean lawn, with branches, twigs, leaves etc in their mouths! They also weed the borders,(ie dig everything up) and aerate the lawn - so helpful :-)

The little pup has soon become accustomed to the same indignity his big brother endures - namely me opening his mouth and shaking stones out! We try to remove all pebbles and stones but they keep digging more up, and I don't like them to have bits of twig but they just go out and prune some more off. To be fair, they are very good at letting me take things off them, but they do tend to hide stuff and sometimes I have to have a really good feel around in their mouths to get it out!

As others have said, they will pretty much eat anything and everything, a trait I thought was confined to labs, didn't realise it was true for flatties but it is! Mine will respond to a firm 'leave it!' if you catch them first, and the older one who picks things up out on walks will now bring them to me in exchange for a treat, so there is hope!

Oh forgot to say they also love to help me muck out the horses, nothing better than fresh horse poo :-D