A fairly common problem that dog owners have to solve is pica syndrome: it is the ingestion of things that are not part of a dog's diet. For example, it is not uncommon for a dog to eat socks, shoes, plastic toys.
Pica is a compulsive disorder that not only spoils your objects but can also endanger your dog: these inappropriate objects for food can cause an intestinal obstruction that would be a medical emergency, if try to eat electrical wires you may get an electric shock.
The phenomenon of pica is not fully understood by experts yet, but there are a number of causes that predispose to this behavior, each dog is different and the causes vary according to the animal. Fortunately, pica has solutions: it can be fixed through behavior modification programs, but to solve this problem the first thing is to understand its causes in order to adapt the treatment or the behavior modification program.
In this article on our site we are going to explain why your dog eats everything he finds.
Diseases
Although a he alth problem is not the most common cause of pica disorder, many medical causes can cause the dog to eat odd objects, such as diet deficiencies, or dysphagia of the esophagus which should be the first causes ruled out by the veterinarian through examination.
Other medical problems that may be underlying pica are: gastrointestinal problems in general, pancreatic insufficiencies, stomach pain, diabetes mellitus causing increased appetite, anemia due to iron deficiency. If there is no physiological or pathological cause, there are many behavioral explanations for pica.
He's bored
Physical or mental Boredom or lack of exercise for a long time and even lack of company can be an important explanation for the interest of the dog in eating rare objects. A dog who doesn't have much to do and spends his day bored starts eating or chewing on non-food objects to pass the time and “explore”.
It is important to note that sometimes the dog eats foreign objects for the opposite reason: due to excessive activity and has energy needs that his daily ration does not meet, but this is a rare case. Discover on our site ideas to practice exercise with your dog.
You want to get care
This is a fairly common cause of a dog eating everything in sight: a dog learns very quickly that eating an object that is not food allows him to receive owner's attention.
Although not intentional, the resulting interaction between dog and owner can reinforce this behavior, even scolding the dog can act as a reward in a dog deprived of attention or that usually receives little attention. Here you can discover 8 things that dogs do to attract attention that may also interest you.
Compulsive and repetitive behavior due to stress or anxiety
A dog subjected to a stressful environment, such as violence, or fights between its owners can develop this behavior of eating inappropriate objects as a way relieve your anxiety, it is a compulsive behavior.
You can also do it without anything in the environment causing it, simply if by nature in an anxious and restless dog. Anxiety is a serious problem that needs to be treated properly and as quickly as possible. Find out what to do if my dog is stressed.
Customs from puppyhood
Pica can be maintained into adulthood in dogs that have been encouraged to pick up objects and in their mouths and play with them when they were little ones. Since they did not learn to differentiate between taking an object in their mouth to play and chewing food in an “exploratory ” way, they maintain thislearned behavior of grasping objects in their mouth and they also eat them.
The dog accidentally eats an object
The dog uses his mouth as exploration tool of the world around him: he explores objects, takes them in his mouth to play and sometimes you may inadvertently investigate an object and eat the object or part of it unintentionally. Then it doesn't happen that often and shouldn't lead to pica, but to small isolated incidents.
What to do if my dog eats everything he finds?
- Identifying the cause is the first thing to solve this problem. For example, if our dog is confined most of the time, we should allow him to go out in a larger space to help him stop this behavior.
- Playing and enriching the environment of a bored dog with toys and training exercises that stimulate him mentally is a good option.
- We should avoid giving him attention when he does this misbehavior so as not to reinforce it: do not comfort or scold him, it could make the situation worse
- Giving routine care and spending quality time with our dog at a fixed time each day is more efficient than petting and comforting or even scold the dog when it is eating inappropriate objects.
- We can apply a repellent spray for dogs on objects that usually attract the dog, but that non-toxic so as not to harm our dog's he alth in case it continues to eat the objects.
- We should keep dangerous objects out of the reach of a dog with this problem: strings and strings are especially dangerous for its digestive system.
If your dog chews or eats his fur, he may have an allergy and you should see a vet before starting a behavior modification program
The Last resort to solve your dog's binge eating disorder would be Medication therapyif you suffer from anxiety or stress that makes you suffer.
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