My 6 month old staffie Ruby keeps on eating non food items yet is really fussy about her food! She will only eat Nature Diet or meat I have cooked, other wise turns her nose up.

However she is quite happy to eat (not just chew, but actually eat!) shoes, cuddly toys etc. I am careful to try and keep such things out of her reach, but with 4 kids around its not alays easy and she has been able occassionally to get hold of such things..She will also get in the garden and eat sticks and leaves, she loves digging and eating soil and grass, and even trys to scrape out the moss from between the pavers!

My main concern is that this may be harmful for her, recently she got hold of a cuddly toy and ate some of the stuffing before I caught her and then ended up with fluffy stuffing poking out her behind as she was unable to pass it out normally, which resulted in me having to pull it out! Yuk!!

Im sure this cant be good for her, and as I say I do TRY to prevent her, but short of watching her every second of every day its hard to prevent it at all times. Can anyone give me some suggestions as to what I can do to stop this, and is it normal for a dog to actually eat items like this?

Thanks alot.

Helen :)

hi helen i'm no expert but my pup loves eating anything he can get his grubby little chops round. he isn't fussy about food - will quite literally eat anything he can!

there are sprays in pet shops that make things taste bitter but what i discovered accidentally that was fantastic was eucalyptus oil (or vicks should do the same) i had a bottle in my handbag that spilt everywhere, when archie tried to chew the handle on my bag he took one sniff and turned away - usually that would have been the end of the bag.

the things you say he eats i doubt would cause harm, dogs are scavengers after all and their systems are quite good at dealing with things we couldn't handle, like other dogs' poop. i think perhaps "sharp" things e.g. chicken bones, perhaps sticks could maybe cause damage but i wouldn't worry too much.

i too have had the pleasure of pulling bits of string/fluff etc from bottom when archie can't pass it - yuck! but archie looks so relieved when it's out it's almost cute!

My brothers Dobe once ate what they thought was one of his girls socks. It got stuck and had to be pulled out.

But it wasn't just a sock it was a pair of white girls tights!! They had to pull for quite a while! :-) :-)

Norm

My 9 month old Cairn, Abby, really loves balloons. Everyone in my neighborhood seems to tie balloons around a tree outside of their homes to alert party guests trying to find the right house. Of course, after the party the kids take great pleasure in breaking the balloons. Abby seems to really enjoy eating them afterward. So far they have all passed by themselves.

This afternoon I gave Abby a marrow bone outside. All she did was whimper under she found a suitable place to bury it - then she chewed on a stick.

Stacey