Why is my puppy obsessed with eating the bushes in the garden?

9 week old Rocky is mostly well behaved, almost totally house trained (excusing the odd over excited accident) and a pleasure to be around. He has learnt to sit on cue, getting there with stay and sleeps through the night.

However, when he gives the signal he needs the loo, we let him out, he dashes out into the garden where he purposfully looks around...... but then.... he dives head first into the two only bushes we have (the rest is paved) and rips off a leaf/branch and muches away to his hearts content.

When we try and take the leaves etc out of his mouth, he reluctantly gives them up (no growling) but has nipped our hands a few times and dives straight back in for more!

What's going on? Any help would be greatly appreciated, the poor fella seems to forget to go to the loo, we get fed up of pulling him out of the bushes and he wees 2/3 mins after coming back in!

Erm, my first answer would be "because he's a puppy!"

Puppies are like babies, and tend to stuff things into their mouths. Obviously the bushes taste nice! Max and Murphy steal apples and pears from the low hanging branches in the garden

What you can do is put Rocky on a long lead/line so that when he goes outside you can direct him away from the bushes so he does his toilet.

Make sure you are giving him a consistent command EVERY time he goes out (toilet, wee-wees, be clean etc) and don't forget to reward him with a titbit when he has 'performed'.

In practical terms, can you put up a chicken-wire guard (or an old fireguard??) round the bushes to stop the nibbling?

Thanks for your reply, will try the line idea, maybe put his lead on him??

I know there are lots of plants which are poisonus, the bushes are rasperry and a grape vine, will these do any harm?

He is prob just going thro a puppy phase. My pup used to do this but when she started going out for walks she soon stopped.

Think yourself lucky, coz when my little girl was 10 weeks old she'd pick up the big limestone chippings and run off with one in her mouth!!! I used treats to swap for her stones, so you could try that with the leaves yours has in his mouth perhaps? You're lucky he hasn't thought it a game yet when you try and prize them off him, coz mine did, so I had to resort to ignoring the fact that she had one in her mouth, I'd go and stand somewhere near her pretending to do something else, with a toy in my hand, and get it off her that way, coz they're so inquisitive, they cannot ignore you and that toy! If you start making it a big deal, then he will start thinking it's a game, it'll get repetitive, like it's doing now, and you'll be forever at it like I was with the stone chippings!

Is there any way you can cordon off that particular part of the garden for the time being? Either that or put him on a long lead or something when you take him out there. Don't whatever you do start tying him up out there of course (out of reach of those bushes) coz he'll get into no end of trouble with a long line wrapped around him!

Good luck, it won't last long (well, another 3 months I suppose! Lol!)

He is still very young but nonetheless you can start to teach the "Drop it" and "Leave it" command. Here are some guidelines on how to teach them:

Drop it: The first thing that needs to be done is allow your dog to get something in his/her mouth. The next step is to get an item that will be more enticing than whatever your pooch has currently; a piece of ham usually works great. Get your dog's attention with what you have in your hand, and encourage him to trade it for the item he has in his mouth. Have your hand a couple inches under your dog's muzzle so that you can catch the item he/she has when they drop it. Say "Drop" and as soon as your pooch drops the toy say "Good Boy", take the toy away, and give your dog the treat you were trading the item for.

Leave it: Put a tasty treat on your hand and hold it open for your pup, say "Leave it" and then just have the pooch wait. If there is any attempt to take it, close your fist and say "No", if he successfully lets it be without making a grab for it then give it to him. After a while you might want to put the treat on the floor near him and try the same exercise, all this does is increase the temptation but also reinforces the command.

I, too, was going to suggest that you put a fence around those particular plants. If one of them are grape vines, they (as well as the fruit) may be potentially poisonous for your dog.