If dogs are allowed to practice chewing or picking up specific items, they’ll learn to enjoy it and seek out specific objects. RELATED: Why Do Dogs Eat Poop? Causes of Pica BehavioralĪ behavioral cause means dogs have learned to continuously ingest non-food items, such as rocks, sticks, clothes, leaves, grass and anything else they can fit in their mouth. Dogs either learn to enjoy the taste of feces, have medical issue (illness) or become compulsive. Yes, coprophagia (ingesting feces) is considered a pica disorder. Once his tummy feels better, his pica behavior ends. When one of my dogs has a tummy issue, he will literally gobble up grass and leaves until I bring him indoors. Dogs will seek out strange things to chew and ingest. If you’ve ever witnessed it, then you know what I’m talking about. This prevents your dog from learning to enjoy chewing sticks. Then, remove all access to sticks by clearing your yard of them. This is normal, but should be discouraged by replacing sticks with appropriate chews items. When chewing, some pieces are accidentally swallowed while most chards are left behind, which is most common (not pica indicative). Most dogs enjoy chewing wood, and sticks are pretty easy to hold with two paws and find in the backyard. Let’s discuss a common scenario: dogs chewing on sticks. It’s important to redirect him to appropriate chewing items. However, if your dog constantly seeks out strange objects, chews and ingests them, then I would be concerned. ChewingĬhewing of non-food items is not considered a pica disorder. It’s important to distinguish between pica and chewing because they are two totally different things, but can be linked. If it recently happens again, it could be a red “pica” flag. If your puppy accidentally swallows a rock, it could be just that–an accident. Oh, this is the magic question! Before jumping to conclusions, it’s important to note pica disorder is the ingestion (swallowing) of weird things frequently (two or more times). Let’s discuss different causes of and solutions for pica. Do all stick-chewing dogs have a pica disorder? Thankfully, no. Pica disorder is the continual consumption of non-food items, and it can be behavioral (learned) or compulsive. If your dog has ever chewed or eaten strange things, I’m sure you’ve wondered why and if it’s normal. Does Your Dog Eat Strange Things? Pica in Dogs fmsmarta/iStock
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