Picking Things off the Floor!! (Everything!)

[SeoGuy]

Hi all,

I have a 4 1/2 month old bullmastiff who is constantly picking up everything off the floor when i take him outside. From stones, to small sticks and obviously any type of food that is lying on the floor he would smell it from miles away. When i take him of the leash The only thing he aims to do is search for food on the floor or something to eat. The bad thing is, whenever he does pick something off the floor and when i do approach him, he runs away from me like crazy! This is very frustrating for me, as i cannot be chasing him every time he picks something off the floor, besides its disgusting sticking my fingers in his mouth and taking out whatever he is eating. I am not entirely sure if he thinks its a game when i approach him and he runs from me! Is there a way i can get him to obbey me and drop whatver he has on command even if it is food? I mean, i do feed him well twice a day but he can go on eating forever. Also, he sometimes refuses to go up/down the stairs especially when other family members take him for a walk.

Let me know if there is something i can do.

Thanks

[bigdoglover]

I would start with treats. If he sees you have a treat, he will a) come to you, and b) drop what is in his mouth to have something better. You can use this to teach him the "drop it" command. Tell him the command while he is looking at you with the treat, and as soon as he does, give the treat and lots of praise!

I'm sure others on here will have more suggestions, or explain this better. Hope this helps!

[SeoGuy]

I tried that. It works with things like Sticks.. stones and such. When it comes to a some old food he finds on the floor or god knows what, i always have treats handy, but what he tends to do is quickly chew up what he already has in his mouth or just swallow it whole and then expect me to give him the treat.

[Mom2Many]

Time to teach the leave it command. Put your pup on leash in your house and put a yummy treat on the floor, when the pup goes for the treat give a small jerk on the leash and say No, Leave It. If the pup continues trying for the treat continue with the correction, giving leash a bit harder of a tug. If the pup leaves the treat or turns to look at you praise, and give a different treat then the one on the floor, also perferbly a yummy one. Contiune practicing this three to four times a day for short intervals. Mix up what you put on the floor for the command as well. Once you are 100% sure your dog knows what is expected of him when you give that command then allow him more freedom on the leash outdoors, until then keep him on a tighter leash so he isn't able to get ahold of things.
Also, I wouldn't chase him when he has something, he most likely see's it as a fun game of chase me. I would give the command and then try to trade him for something he really enjoys or turn around and run the other way trying to get him to chase you. Eventually he will figure out that if he brings you what he finds when you ask him to that he will get a yummy treat in return.

With the steps, a lot of large breed puppies have difficulty navigating steps, they grow so quickly that their brains hardly have time to figure out what the bodies new dimensions are. You will need to slowly build his confidence in steps. Start small, two or three steps, praise, treat...once that is no big deal go to four, five, six steps, etc. Eventually you will have a pro on your hands. Try luring him up the stairs with a good treat, since you say he loves to snack he should be pretty easy to train. Food motivated dogs are great!

[bigdoglover]

See, I knew someone could explain it better than me!! Thanx Mom2Many!!

[rmci]

The "leave it" and "drop" commands are excellent!
Keep in mind that he's only a puppy, and puppies put everything in their mouths. It's how they test things out.
Also, if you chase your puppy to get an item away from him, he'll only think it's a game and continue to do so everytime.
I taught Baxter the drop command using his favorite toys then worked our way up to food.

[TribalRats]

Great advice Mom2Many! Let us know how it goes SeoGuy.

[Kade]

I feel like I'm saying this everywhere, but do be careful. Though it is natural for puppies to try to eat everything, that doesn't mean it's necessarily okay or healthy. Winston got into something a couple of weeks ago that made him very sick, and since then, we only take him outdoors on a leash so we can make sure he's not getting into anything that could harm him.

The chasing does make it a game -- when we want Winston to drop something, we haul out the Holy Grail of dog treats, the bully stick.

But keep a close eye out for any symptoms of upset tummy, etc., that might need vet attention, while your little one is young enough to eat everything!

[SeoGuy]

Yeah, thanks for all the great suggestions everybody! The reason i got so worried is that he had suffered from diarrhea after having eaten something nasty.
I will try the ''drop'' and ''leave it'' command inside my home first for a few weeks before i try and let him of the lead again.

Thanks guys and girls!!

Take care.