Hi, I have two problems, which whilst not that serious are a bit of a pain.
My 10 month old cocker spaniel is a real terror for picking up stones and
chewing/eating them. We've just had the garden patioed over so you'd think
this would help but he still manages to dig them out - I'm worried he'll do some
damage to his teeth or choke. Have tried to stop it with a 'leave' command and
then treat reward but I suspect he might have sussed that if he picks up a
stone I'll give him a treat to get him to drop it!!!

Also toys - everything I get seems to last about 2 minutes except for solid rubber
kongs - he loves squeaky balls but bites holes in them in seconds then eats the
plastic similarly with soft toys - obviously it's good that he plays with toys and
I'd hate to stop his fun/learning but nothing lasts and it's costing me a fortune!! Does anyone have any suggestions.

Thanks a lot
Molly

The STONE problem could be very serious if he is swollowing them they might not pass through.
Also they could cause damage to the intestine.
We have in the past had to have a dog opperated on to remove a STONE that was causing a blockedge
Apart from spraying some stones with tobbasco or simmilar I can't offer any other ways to discourage him from picking up stones.

My gsd was the same, she would eat stones and chew tarmac strange dog!! but i would try and stop it if you can, maybe fill a kong with food, but stuff it in really well so it isnt that easy to get out, also my cocker is the same with toys, the plastic ones dont last long at all and she usually swollows the bits to if she can that is why all plastic toys are now banned, it is usually things like nylabones or hard rubbery toys that are given to her, good luck anyway.

The pedigree petfood toys are really robust. They do a rubber bone with a squeaker at one end that is border collie proof and a variety of other toys that my two love.

http://www.pet-express.co.uk/docs/dogtoys/rubberdogtoy.html