Hiya,

I have a 5 month old working cocker and have posted before regarding him picking up and eating all and sundry in the park and when out we are walking.

It seems to have got slightly better as he has got a bit older and now he usually only eats actual foodstuffs and not the crispbags, wrappers etc so we are heading in the right direction with him i guess and i know he is just a puppy and a spaniel at that so he will always be likely to have a tendancy to pick up and eat stuff.

My question is to ask advise about banana skins - he is obsessed with them and of course it is something that people often discard and throw away in bushes because they are biodegradeable.
If he is on the lead it is ok as i can reel him in and scoop it out of his mouth but if he is off the lead he plays 'can't catch me' and frolicks just out of my reach whilst chewing it voraciously and swallows it as soon as he can and then returns to me wagging his tail as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. It doesn't seem to matter if it is a nice fresh skin or an old crispy or slimy one that has been lying about for weeks - he doesn't mind.
He can smell one at a hundred paces. He go's mad for them.

He has had quite a few over the weeks and i haven't noticed any untoward signs after he has eaten one but i am just posting here to check that there aren't any long term problems linked to eating banana skins (and the bananas themselves) that anyone knows about.

Thanks

Mine love Bananas ans they are good for them.  They will eat the white part of the skin leaving some of the outer part if they raid the waste paper bin where my kids are told not to put any edible waste.  Be interested to know if the skins are a problem too.

My springer is a banana skin addict - she manges to mankyiest skins that people have thrown on the ground and eats them. No ill affects as yet.

I have a 'banana thief'. My lad loves them so much that if they are within reach he takes the whole bunch. I had to buy 5 bunches one week as no matter where I put them he found them. He's got quite skillful now as he has learned to peel them.

I've learned to put the shopping immediately away or well out of reach. I came into the kitchen one day after shopping and he had raided the shopping bags for fruit and had a 'fruit salad' going on the kitchen floor. Banana's, cherries, apples, stawberries etc  although he stuck to the banana's as the other containers were sealed.