Hi there,

Our Maltese terrier, 6 months old, just about eats everything.

It's driving me insane. We live at a beach and so I take him for a walk
every morning and every evening, but along the way he'll stop and pick up
nearly every piece of rubbish or cigarette butt or worse.... When he is in
the house he does the same, we've been puppy trained as our house has to be
kept very neat now, nothing can be less than coffee table height otherwise
he'll get to it. I've even found him in the kitty litter tray chewing on
their remains.

Yesterday I found him with a tube of super glue dribbling out of his mouth
(my son is an avid warhammer hobbyist).

We've taken him to puppy training school, learnt a lot, he is very well
behaved in all other respects, follows commands and comes when he is off
leash etc. we even taught him a command to leave food and treats unless he
receives the command, but this only works if you can see the object that you
want him to leave.

I give him plenty of toys, and he eats a well balanced diet of biscuits,
meat and bones to chew on.

I just don't know how to stop him from picking up everything in his mouth.
I do try and stop him however half the time I'm not quick enough to see what
it is that he is going to pick up, I'll just become aware that he's chewing
on something else... And I don't like having to put my fingers in his mouth
to pry it out every couple of minutes.

My fear is that he will scoop up something that may harm him, the super glue
was a warning signal there.

Any ideas folks?

Kulander.

"K..........." wrote in message
s.com...
Hi there,

Our Maltese terrier, 6 months old, just about eats everything.

It's driving me insane. We live at a beach and so I take him for a walk
every morning and every evening, but along the way he'll stop and pick up
nearly every piece of rubbish or cigarette butt or worse.... When he is
in
the house he does the same, we've been puppy trained as our house has to
be
kept very neat now, nothing can be less than coffee table height otherwise
he'll get to it. I've even found him in the kitty litter tray chewing on
their remains.


In the short run, continue with very careful management - a year ago a dog
was lost to glue on this forum and it was a heartbreaking daily account -
but long term you want to be teaching him 'leave' and retrieve / trade.

Leave can be taught with distraction and reward - basically, when you see
him about to do something you don't want him to do, wait till he does it,
make a noise (training disks or a few coins in a cup - important that this
is appropriate for the dog - you aren't trying to scare the living daylights
out of him, just grab his attention) and as he looks away, click & treat.you
can then work on sliding the distraction noise in to the leave command.

Trade- we worked on this as part of our obedience retrieve but it proves
useful for all sorts of things - using an object such as a dumbbell (not one
of his toys) encourage him to sniff it. When he does, click & treat. once
he's got that, stop clicking & treating till he picks it up (you may need a
lot of patience, Maltese's aren't too popular in the UK, I've never met one
and don't have a clue as to their drive, but guestimate that they are fairly
mellow if a little on the noisy side, given that they are a 'lap dog' - my
weim picked it all up b4 I did!)... once he's picked it up, click - wanting
his treat, he'll drop it - so you have the rudimentary of a trade.

Work on it slowly and b4 you know it, you'll have him giving you all sorts
of goodies ( ...put the cats litter tray on a high shelf - cats can jump
higher than little dogs. Problem solved )

Diana

"K..........." wrote in message
s.com...
Hi there,

Our Maltese terrier, 6 months old, just about eats everything.

It's driving me insane. We live at a beach and so I take him for a walk
every morning and every evening, but along the way he'll stop and pick up
nearly every piece of rubbish or cigarette butt or worse.... When he is
in
the house he does the same, we've been puppy trained as our house has to
be
kept very neat now, nothing can be less than coffee table height otherwise
he'll get to it. I've even found him in the kitty litter tray chewing on
their remains.


In the short run, continue with very careful management - a year ago a dog
was lost to glue on this forum and it was a heartbreaking daily account -
but long term you want to be teaching him 'leave' and retrieve / trade.

Leave can be taught with distraction and reward - basically, when you see
him about to do something you don't want him to do, wait till he does it,
make a noise (training disks or a few coins in a cup - important that this
is appropriate for the dog - you aren't trying to scare the living daylights
out of him, just grab his attention) and as he looks away, click & treat.you
can then work on sliding the distraction noise in to the leave command.

Trade- we worked on this as part of our obedience retrieve but it proves
useful for all sorts of things - using an object such as a dumbbell (not one
of his toys) encourage him to sniff it. When he does, click & treat. once
he's got that, stop clicking & treating till he picks it up (you may need a
lot of patience, Maltese's aren't too popular in the UK, I've never met one
and don't have a clue as to their drive, but guestimate that they are fairly
mellow if a little on the noisy side, given that they are a 'lap dog' - my
weim picked it all up b4 I did!)... once he's picked it up, click - wanting
his treat, he'll drop it - so you have the rudimentary of a trade.

Work on it slowly and b4 you know it, you'll have him giving you all sorts
of goodies ( ...put the cats litter tray on a high shelf - cats can jump
higher than little dogs. Problem solved )

Diana

"K..........." wrote in message
s.com...
Hi there,

Our Maltese terrier, 6 months old, just about eats everything.

It's driving me insane. We live at a beach and so I take him for a walk
every morning and every evening, but along the way he'll stop and pick up
nearly every piece of rubbish or cigarette butt or worse.... When he is
in
the house he does the same, we've been puppy trained as our house has to
be
kept very neat now, nothing can be less than coffee table height otherwise
he'll get to it. I've even found him in the kitty litter tray chewing on
their remains.


In the short run, continue with very careful management - a year ago a dog
was lost to glue on this forum and it was a heartbreaking daily account -
but long term you want to be teaching him 'leave' and retrieve / trade.

Leave can be taught with distraction and reward - basically, when you see
him about to do something you don't want him to do, wait till he does it,
make a noise (training disks or a few coins in a cup - important that this
is appropriate for the dog - you aren't trying to scare the living daylights
out of him, just grab his attention) and as he looks away, click & treat.you
can then work on sliding the distraction noise in to the leave command.

Trade- we worked on this as part of our obedience retrieve but it proves
useful for all sorts of things - using an object such as a dumbbell (not one
of his toys) encourage him to sniff it. When he does, click & treat. once
he's got that, stop clicking & treating till he picks it up (you may need a
lot of patience, Maltese's aren't too popular in the UK, I've never met one
and don't have a clue as to their drive, but guestimate that they are fairly
mellow if a little on the noisy side, given that they are a 'lap dog' - my
weim picked it all up b4 I did!)... once he's picked it up, click - wanting
his treat, he'll drop it - so you have the rudimentary of a trade.

Work on it slowly and b4 you know it, you'll have him giving you all sorts
of goodies ( ...put the cats litter tray on a high shelf - cats can jump
higher than little dogs. Problem solved )

Diana

"K..........." wrote in message
s.com...
Hi there,

Our Maltese terrier, 6 months old, just about eats everything.

It's driving me insane. We live at a beach and so I take him for a walk
every morning and every evening, but along the way he'll stop and pick up
nearly every piece of rubbish or cigarette butt or worse.... When he is
in
the house he does the same, we've been puppy trained as our house has to
be
kept very neat now, nothing can be less than coffee table height otherwise
he'll get to it. I've even found him in the kitty litter tray chewing on
their remains.


In the short run, continue with very careful management - a year ago a dog
was lost to glue on this forum and it was a heartbreaking daily account -
but long term you want to be teaching him 'leave' and retrieve / trade.

Leave can be taught with distraction and reward - basically, when you see
him about to do something you don't want him to do, wait till he does it,
make a noise (training disks or a few coins in a cup - important that this
is appropriate for the dog - you aren't trying to scare the living daylights
out of him, just grab his attention) and as he looks away, click & treat.you
can then work on sliding the distraction noise in to the leave command.

Trade- we worked on this as part of our obedience retrieve but it proves
useful for all sorts of things - using an object such as a dumbbell (not one
of his toys) encourage him to sniff it. When he does, click & treat. once
he's got that, stop clicking & treating till he picks it up (you may need a
lot of patience, Maltese's aren't too popular in the UK, I've never met one
and don't have a clue as to their drive, but guestimate that they are fairly
mellow if a little on the noisy side, given that they are a 'lap dog' - my
weim picked it all up b4 I did!)... once he's picked it up, click - wanting
his treat, he'll drop it - so you have the rudimentary of a trade.

Work on it slowly and b4 you know it, you'll have him giving you all sorts
of goodies ( ...put the cats litter tray on a high shelf - cats can jump
higher than little dogs. Problem solved )

Diana

"K..........." wrote in message
s.com...
Hi there,

Our Maltese terrier, 6 months old, just about eats everything.

It's driving me insane. We live at a beach and so I take him for a walk
every morning and every evening, but along the way he'll stop and pick up
nearly every piece of rubbish or cigarette butt or worse.... When he is
in
the house he does the same, we've been puppy trained as our house has to
be
kept very neat now, nothing can be less than coffee table height otherwise
he'll get to it. I've even found him in the kitty litter tray chewing on
their remains.


In the short run, continue with very careful management - a year ago a dog
was lost to glue on this forum and it was a heartbreaking daily account -
but long term you want to be teaching him 'leave' and retrieve / trade.

Leave can be taught with distraction and reward - basically, when you see
him about to do something you don't want him to do, wait till he does it,
make a noise (training disks or a few coins in a cup - important that this
is appropriate for the dog - you aren't trying to scare the living daylights
out of him, just grab his attention) and as he looks away, click & treat.you
can then work on sliding the distraction noise in to the leave command.

Trade- we worked on this as part of our obedience retrieve but it proves
useful for all sorts of things - using an object such as a dumbbell (not one
of his toys) encourage him to sniff it. When he does, click & treat. once
he's got that, stop clicking & treating till he picks it up (you may need a
lot of patience, Maltese's aren't too popular in the UK, I've never met one
and don't have a clue as to their drive, but guestimate that they are fairly
mellow if a little on the noisy side, given that they are a 'lap dog' - my
weim picked it all up b4 I did!)... once he's picked it up, click - wanting
his treat, he'll drop it - so you have the rudimentary of a trade.

Work on it slowly and b4 you know it, you'll have him giving you all sorts
of goodies ( ...put the cats litter tray on a high shelf - cats can jump
higher than little dogs. Problem solved )

Diana

Thanks Diana,

He's already responding to the clicking, it's something that just occurred
naturally. I'll just try and transfer the same pattern.

I'll let you know what happens.

Kulander.

"Diana" wrote in message
...

"K..........." wrote in message
s.com...
Hi there,

Our Maltese terrier, 6 months old, just about eats everything.

It's driving me insane. We live at a beach and so I take him for a walk
every morning and every evening, but along the way he'll stop and pick
up
nearly every piece of rubbish or cigarette butt or worse.... When he is
in
the house he does the same, we've been puppy trained as our house has to
be
kept very neat now, nothing can be less than coffee table height
otherwise
he'll get to it. I've even found him in the kitty litter tray chewing
on
their remains.


In the short run, continue with very careful management - a year ago a dog
was lost to glue on this forum and it was a heartbreaking daily account -
but long term you want to be teaching him 'leave' and retrieve / trade.

Leave can be taught with distraction and reward - basically, when you see
him about to do something you don't want him to do, wait till he does it,
make a noise (training disks or a few coins in a cup - important that this
is appropriate for the dog - you aren't trying to scare the living
daylights
out of him, just grab his attention) and as he looks away, click &
treat.you
can then work on sliding the distraction noise in to the leave command.

Trade- we worked on this as part of our obedience retrieve but it proves
useful for all sorts of things - using an object such as a dumbbell (not
one
of his toys) encourage him to sniff it. When he does, click & treat. once
he's got that, stop clicking & treating till he picks it up (you may need
a
lot of patience, Maltese's aren't too popular in the UK, I've never met
one
and don't have a clue as to their drive, but guestimate that they are
fairly
mellow if a little on the noisy side, given that they are a 'lap dog' - my
weim picked it all up b4 I did!)... once he's picked it up, click -
wanting
his treat, he'll drop it - so you have the rudimentary of a trade.

Work on it slowly and b4 you know it, you'll have him giving you all sorts
of goodies ( ...put the cats litter tray on a high shelf - cats can jump
higher than little dogs. Problem solved )

Diana

Thanks Diana,

He's already responding to the clicking, it's something that just occurred
naturally. I'll just try and transfer the same pattern.

I'll let you know what happens.

Kulander.

"Diana" wrote in message
...

"K..........." wrote in message
s.com...
Hi there,

Our Maltese terrier, 6 months old, just about eats everything.

It's driving me insane. We live at a beach and so I take him for a walk
every morning and every evening, but along the way he'll stop and pick
up
nearly every piece of rubbish or cigarette butt or worse.... When he is
in
the house he does the same, we've been puppy trained as our house has to
be
kept very neat now, nothing can be less than coffee table height
otherwise
he'll get to it. I've even found him in the kitty litter tray chewing
on
their remains.


In the short run, continue with very careful management - a year ago a dog
was lost to glue on this forum and it was a heartbreaking daily account -
but long term you want to be teaching him 'leave' and retrieve / trade.

Leave can be taught with distraction and reward - basically, when you see
him about to do something you don't want him to do, wait till he does it,
make a noise (training disks or a few coins in a cup - important that this
is appropriate for the dog - you aren't trying to scare the living
daylights
out of him, just grab his attention) and as he looks away, click &
treat.you
can then work on sliding the distraction noise in to the leave command.

Trade- we worked on this as part of our obedience retrieve but it proves
useful for all sorts of things - using an object such as a dumbbell (not
one
of his toys) encourage him to sniff it. When he does, click & treat. once
he's got that, stop clicking & treating till he picks it up (you may need
a
lot of patience, Maltese's aren't too popular in the UK, I've never met
one
and don't have a clue as to their drive, but guestimate that they are
fairly
mellow if a little on the noisy side, given that they are a 'lap dog' - my
weim picked it all up b4 I did!)... once he's picked it up, click -
wanting
his treat, he'll drop it - so you have the rudimentary of a trade.

Work on it slowly and b4 you know it, you'll have him giving you all sorts
of goodies ( ...put the cats litter tray on a high shelf - cats can jump
higher than little dogs. Problem solved )

Diana

Thanks Diana,

He's already responding to the clicking, it's something that just occurred
naturally. I'll just try and transfer the same pattern.

I'll let you know what happens.

Kulander.

"Diana" wrote in message
...

"K..........." wrote in message
s.com...
Hi there,

Our Maltese terrier, 6 months old, just about eats everything.

It's driving me insane. We live at a beach and so I take him for a walk
every morning and every evening, but along the way he'll stop and pick
up
nearly every piece of rubbish or cigarette butt or worse.... When he is
in
the house he does the same, we've been puppy trained as our house has to
be
kept very neat now, nothing can be less than coffee table height
otherwise
he'll get to it. I've even found him in the kitty litter tray chewing
on
their remains.


In the short run, continue with very careful management - a year ago a dog
was lost to glue on this forum and it was a heartbreaking daily account -
but long term you want to be teaching him 'leave' and retrieve / trade.

Leave can be taught with distraction and reward - basically, when you see
him about to do something you don't want him to do, wait till he does it,
make a noise (training disks or a few coins in a cup - important that this
is appropriate for the dog - you aren't trying to scare the living
daylights
out of him, just grab his attention) and as he looks away, click &
treat.you
can then work on sliding the distraction noise in to the leave command.

Trade- we worked on this as part of our obedience retrieve but it proves
useful for all sorts of things - using an object such as a dumbbell (not
one
of his toys) encourage him to sniff it. When he does, click & treat. once
he's got that, stop clicking & treating till he picks it up (you may need
a
lot of patience, Maltese's aren't too popular in the UK, I've never met
one
and don't have a clue as to their drive, but guestimate that they are
fairly
mellow if a little on the noisy side, given that they are a 'lap dog' - my
weim picked it all up b4 I did!)... once he's picked it up, click -
wanting
his treat, he'll drop it - so you have the rudimentary of a trade.

Work on it slowly and b4 you know it, you'll have him giving you all sorts
of goodies ( ...put the cats litter tray on a high shelf - cats can jump
higher than little dogs. Problem solved )

Diana

Thanks Diana,

He's already responding to the clicking, it's something that just occurred
naturally. I'll just try and transfer the same pattern.

I'll let you know what happens.

Kulander.

"Diana" wrote in message
...

"K..........." wrote in message
s.com...
Hi there,

Our Maltese terrier, 6 months old, just about eats everything.

It's driving me insane. We live at a beach and so I take him for a walk
every morning and every evening, but along the way he'll stop and pick
up
nearly every piece of rubbish or cigarette butt or worse.... When he is
in
the house he does the same, we've been puppy trained as our house has to
be
kept very neat now, nothing can be less than coffee table height
otherwise
he'll get to it. I've even found him in the kitty litter tray chewing
on
their remains.


In the short run, continue with very careful management - a year ago a dog
was lost to glue on this forum and it was a heartbreaking daily account -
but long term you want to be teaching him 'leave' and retrieve / trade.

Leave can be taught with distraction and reward - basically, when you see
him about to do something you don't want him to do, wait till he does it,
make a noise (training disks or a few coins in a cup - important that this
is appropriate for the dog - you aren't trying to scare the living
daylights
out of him, just grab his attention) and as he looks away, click &
treat.you
can then work on sliding the distraction noise in to the leave command.

Trade- we worked on this as part of our obedience retrieve but it proves
useful for all sorts of things - using an object such as a dumbbell (not
one
of his toys) encourage him to sniff it. When he does, click & treat. once
he's got that, stop clicking & treating till he picks it up (you may need
a
lot of patience, Maltese's aren't too popular in the UK, I've never met
one
and don't have a clue as to their drive, but guestimate that they are
fairly
mellow if a little on the noisy side, given that they are a 'lap dog' - my
weim picked it all up b4 I did!)... once he's picked it up, click -
wanting
his treat, he'll drop it - so you have the rudimentary of a trade.

Work on it slowly and b4 you know it, you'll have him giving you all sorts
of goodies ( ...put the cats litter tray on a high shelf - cats can jump
higher than little dogs. Problem solved )

Diana