# Pica



## Connie Doan (Nov 14, 2007)

I absolutely love my 7 mos. old GSD female, working lines with outgoing, very active, happy disposition. She is a real gem for training and born to track.

The only problem I have is with the extreme pica. She tries to eat litterally everything off the ground. It doesn't matter what, stick, stones, cigarette butts, rubber, paper, leaves....It is such a frustration. Also I have had to reinforce her kennel, change everything wood to metal. And she even tore and actually ate some of the aluminium siding in her kennel. That was scary. She chewed it up into little bits which she passed over a few days. So scary! She tears and eats things no dog I have every had would even think to. I sure hope she grows out of this and doesn't ruin her teeth or kill herself before that. I have to be so vigilant and even when I think I have everything in her kennel safe, from reconstruction, she still eats things that amaze me. I had one of those hard thick and heavy rubber horse stall matts in there because I don't want her to be solely on concrete, but she ate off a large chunk on the corner and was pooping rubber for about 3 days. I took it out of course. 

By the way she gets tons of exercise, runs in a large field and chases a ball there for about 45 minutes morning and evening, not counting the work at the club. Does anyone have any new sage advice who has had this problem in such extreme?


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## Ted White (May 2, 2006)

Holy cow. Never heard of such an extreme thing. some consider it a nutritional deficiency when it happens in humans


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## marcy bukkit (Oct 4, 2007)

Ted White said:


> Holy cow. Never heard of such an extreme thing. some consider it a nutritional deficiency when it happens in humans


My older mal was like that when he was a pup. I was very happy to make it through the first year of his life with no major vet bills. He did outgrow it.


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## Ted White (May 2, 2006)

Nothing was ever determined nutritionally? All pup behavior?


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## marcy bukkit (Oct 4, 2007)

Ted White said:


> Nothing was ever determined nutritionally? All pup behavior?


With him? Yup. He just thought *everything* was a toy. Broken glass, aluminum cans, a rusted nail, barbed wire


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## Natalie Heath (Apr 18, 2008)

I assume that you've had the pup to the vet to rule out any medical causes...

Alika wasn't as bad as that but she ate some interesting things as a puppy. I dropped a thumb tack once and down the hatch it went before I even got a chance to start uttering the word "out". And, for some reason she loved eating mud. The orange street hockey balls made finding her poop pretty easy! Shoes were a definite favourite, as were remotes. And she chewed through several telephone cords as well. She is 5 and just this past Christmas she chewed up my cell phone. Last year it was $300 speedlight for my camera. It kinda still works :???:

Eklypse only ever ate dog poop. And while disgusting at least it hasn't cost me any money! Oh, I take it back, I've forgotten about the two wallets that she stole out of my purse. And then there was my driver's license and bank card. How embarrassing to see "Dog ate card" written in the section: Reason for issuing temporary license :???:

If it is behavioural, about all you can do is try and keep her safe, pray a lot and teach her a solid "out" command.

Natalie


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## Connie Doan (Nov 14, 2007)

She was just to the vet for rabies shot and had a checkup. Vet said she's healthy as a horse. He also helped us through the aluminium siding incident. She gets a nutritionally high grade kibble (Chicken Soup) and I also add salmon oil and apple cider vinegar to it. I used to make raw for both my dogs, but that got to be just too time consuming.


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## Connie Doan (Nov 14, 2007)

She was just to the vet for rabies shot and had a checkup. Vet said she's healthy as a horse. He also helped us through the aluminium siding incident. She gets a nutritionally high grade kibble (Chicken Soup) and I also add salmon oil and apple cider vinegar to it. I used to make raw for both my dogs, but that got to be just too time consuming. She had this problem from 8 weeks old.


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## Ted White (May 2, 2006)

What is the cider vinegar for?


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## Connie Doan (Nov 14, 2007)

Ted White said:


> What is the cider vinegar for?


It has vitamins, minerals and enzymes. It promotes pH balance, is good for itchy skin, runny eyes and smelly ears. Prevents and aids in overcoming systemic yeast infection and is good for preventing hot spots. 

It's good for people too.


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

Are you in contact with the breeder? Do any of the littermates have similar issues?


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## Connie Doan (Nov 14, 2007)

I am close to two puppy owners and they do not have the same problem. The rest are far away. But my girl is a little (to put it mildly) crazier than theirs.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

My bitch Jinxie was that dog, so basically, I kept her in the crate after vet bills started to take their toll. She loved to search for things, so I made that the deal, and punished (in varying degrees) picking up anything else. E-collar worked real well, as I didn't want the dog on a long line.

Then, one day, she stopped. I know it helped while she was doing it, as looking for things really got her mind worn out. Or maybe she was tired from the hundreds of small zaps for trying to eat everything along the way to the toy. She did have a big neck come to think about it. No wonder the Russian olympic teams won so much back in the day.


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## Connie Doan (Nov 14, 2007)

I have not used the ecollar on her yet, but I am very sorely tempted. It might be the solution I need. She is not soft or particularly sensitive, so ecollar is probably not a bad choice. I need to spend a couple of days with her out in the backyard by herself and hide with ecollar controller. Jeff, is this what you did? I sure do not want her to injure herself or die from an intestinal accident. The solution would be I guess, the least of all evils.


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