How do I explain to Bubba that he is not a vacuum? lol

[Lyn]

Bubba will eat anything that he finds in the house on the floor and other non edible junk that blows into our yard.

I've pulled numerous things out of his mouth, like pen caps, elastic bands, fuzzies, plastic, rocks, chunks of mud, sticks, leaves, string, my sons small toy cars, erasers, bird seed that my birds fling out onto the floor ect.. the list goes on.

I was hoping he would grow out of this 'hoovering' habit as he got older. But he's almost 10 months old now and he's still doing it just as frequently. 'Leave it' works on occasion. But he figures if I'm not looking he can eat it. He gives me to look as if to say. "I don't have anything mom" Yet he's standing there chewing away. LOL I vacuum and sweep quite a few times during the day yet he still finds things.

I've never had a pup that was this bad for eating things. I even tested him with a pen cap (I had him on leash and I was right there to make sure he did even touch it).. But I left it on the kitchen floor and he persisted in getting this pen cap. He would leave when I told him to, but as soon as I looked away he would try and sneak back over to it.  After 20 minutes I just picked it up. I was hoping he would just give up and walk away. But noooooo.

Now with Christmas coming and us putting the tree up with tinsel and decorations. I'm really worried about him ending up with a blockage 

Can anyone give me any suggestions?

[jules]

I would suggest passing on the tinsel this year for Bubbas sake.You could always put one of the child gates around it.Keeps pets and kids away

[declanssexymama]

This reminds me of yesterday:  I sat on the floor with the newspaper sale papers strewn all over.  My 11-month old son, Declan, was crawling around on them, and between him and Crede, I spent about half the time taking various pieces of paper out of their mouths. 

Read an ad...hear Crede rip off piece of paper...grab chewed up gob of paper out of baby's mouth...read an ad...grab slobbery wad of paper out of Crede's mouth...read ad...chase down baby who's crawling around with ad in his mouth...force open Crede's mouth to find out where entire Target circular went...haha, just kidding on that last one!!!

[Lyn]

I would pass on the tinsel, but we have a fake tree it's all still stuck on it from last year. LOL I tried to get most of it off before putting the tree away. But it's on there pretty good. We let my son decorate the tree and he went a little tinsel happy.

I may just have to find another spot for the tree.. He's not allowed in the bathroom... Think the tree would look good in there?  LMAO

declanssexymam a, LOL I can just visualize that. You know I think newspapers are the only thing Bubba does not eat. He prefers small bite sized objects. If he has to rip it, it's too much work and not worth his time. 

[Good Hope]

For us lazy Southerners, we rather enjoy having the dogs "vaccuum" all the edible things off the floor. 

On the other hand, we don't have quite such a big problem with Sapphire.  If we tell her to leave it, she has to guard it very closely, but she won't eat it (except food when we aren't looking and she has waited a few minutes).  Maybe she thinks it will walk away! 

Declansmama, you should have seen what my sister and Sapphire would do!  It was hilarious.  We have a basket with newspapers and magazines, and for some time Catherine (the baby in the picture with Sapphire) was fascinated with it.  Every 10 minutes she was crawling over there, with the puppy accompanying.  Then, the newspaper ripping session began!    Catherine grabbed a newpaper; Sapphire watched and then grabbed a newspaper.  Catherine rrriiipppped the newspaper; Sapphire paused and then rrriiipppped her newspaper.  Then, after dispatching a few other sheets of newspaper in like manner, they started on the magazines!  By then, however, we had found the corner where the culprits were hiding and promptly removed them from the crime scene.  (I'm only dramatizing this a little...but Sapphire really did copy the baby's newspaper ripping.  )  It really was funny!

Sofia

P.S. With regard to Christmas trees, we had to move all the decorations up to the upper branches, out of puppy's and baby's reach.  There are only lights on the lower ones.  Although it looks a bit odd, it keeps everyone safe and happy.  So, I would concentrate on removing the tinsel from the lower branches, if possible.

[doglover]

You guys are cracking me up. Sounds like it is here, except I have my 3 1/2 year old who is either trying to get them to stop and telling me not to put them in time out at the same time, or he is jioning them showing them how to do it. Some times it's hard to keep a straight face.

[shangrila]

Did you teach 'take it' along with 'leave it'? Zoey will only eat things she knows are hers of things we tell her to take, and I attribute it to the 'take it' command. She knows if I don't say 'take it' about something, it is not hers and she should leave it alone.

There is one other thing I would try. I would plant traps. I would spray some scraps with bitter apple or tabasco, and leave them on the floor on purpose. Maybe a few bad tastes would turn him off of vacuuming