4yr old cocker behaviour problems

[joewiltshire]

Good morning all,

I have a 4 year old English Cocker Spaniel who has a problem! He's start becoming obsessed with chewing sticks (not unusual I guess!), and if he finds one on a walk and is off the lead I end up having to chase him around the field for ages!!! He also has a fondness for eating chunks of old foam rubber balls and bits of broken up tennis balls (which once resulted in two operations to remove bits from his intestines).

He is a lovely, good natured dog and has been trained to a reasonable level, however, he has moments of outright rebellion, albeit not aggresive, just disobedient. All of these episodes happen on walks and never in the house.

Any hints or tips will be gratefully received.

Joe

 

[Rileytess]

my lurcher also loves to find and chew sticks but more in the garden than on walks as we have a substitute tennis ball and squeaker handy. try not to chase him when he has the stick otherwise he will think your joining in the game! the "leave it" command also works well with us most of the time! try a few toys to see if he finds those more interesting or you could play interesting games on you walk such as "hide and seek" perhaps just to keep his mind of the sticks. he sounds very playful and sweet but i understand if you are worried because of those operations!

 

[MikeAnnand]

I had a lovely Border Collie " Jasper " who liked to chew all manner of things when he was out and about on a walk, it can be dangerous for the dog as you found out, 2 operations you say. Well unless they install a zipper on him this may be a cure for you, Jasper was ball crazy so I took him on his walks with a strong rubber ball to play with, he kept it in his mouth and this stopped him wanting anything else. He was ball possessive so if he dropped it whilst sniffing around I would go to pick it up and sure enough he would run over and grab it and walk off, this worked a treat for me, it may work for you too.