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Rocks and a Rant

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Brownis15:
Atlas is a little monster and has decided he likes rocks. He likes carrying rocks in his mouth, gumming them, and then swallowing them. Yesturday he threw up like 7 small rocks and stared at me. He must have eaten them at daycare. GRRRR. I think the problem is he is so toy motivated he has to have something in his mouth at all times. The problem with raising a narc dog is they cant have any toys unless it is playing with you, and it builds the drive. So when the ball comes out to play he is so happy and hyped he will do anything for it, and this eventually is used to train scent work. He is doing great with the drive, its unbelievable the work ethic already, but in the mean time he wants to play with something so rocks are his natural toy of choice.
 
I know what I have to do to break this habit and I hate it. I have to use aversive training to make him never want to put a rock in his mouth again. I usually use loud noises for this kind of thing but because he will be a K-9 he has to not be afraid of noises, esp loud ones. (we go to the shooting range every weekend to get him used to gun fire) So I have to use a shock collar or a citranella spray collar. I know it will only take one or two zaps to make him never want to touch a rock again but I hate doing it. On the other hand, it will be a lot less painful than having surgery for an obstructed intestine. I plan on putting it on him, leaving him in the backyard and watching from the window and shocking him the second he picks one up. He has been coming inside from the backyard with rocks and dropping them at our feet to play. So hopefully this will stop him.
 
I also went to the doctor yesturday to find out why for the past month I have been nauseous. I had a bunch of blood in my urine and they think (or are hoping) I must have had a UTI at some point but didnt have any signs, which spread to my kidneys and now to my upper GI tract. Great. I have lost 11 pounds in a month, cos I dont want to eat. The lab work they did comes back tomorrow to make sure it isnt a liver problem or thyroid. And then hopefully they will get me on some meds... please hope for something simple and inexpensive!!
 
Thanks for listening to my rocks rant!

bigdogs@5501:
Wow - poor pupper- just wants to play- and now this. My fingers are crossed on the blood work.

Brownis15:
mine too, thanks

Gracie Belle:
Well good luck with the rock training though I'm sure you'll have that under control in no time.  As for you, I'm sending lots of positive healthy vibes your way.  Feel better fast.

mama23+pyrs2:
Gosh, a lot goes into training a narc dog indeed. Good luck! Poor Atlas. :( I hope you get to feeling better! I hope it's something simple yes and they can get you fixed. Letting UTI's go are nooooooo good. I'm surprised you aren't sicker if it has spread that far.

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