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How to stop my 8-week-old puppy from chewing and eating rocks?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Australian Shepherd - miniature | Male | neutered | 2 months and 4 days old | 26.6 lbs

Red is 8 weeks. Likes to chew on things. Especially rocks. How can we stop that? Thanks!

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Daniel Fonza, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 28th, 2018

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. I would recommend using bitter apple spray and apply this to the rocks to prevent red from chewing on the rocks. If it is a big enough problem to the point where he is interested in swallowing the Rocks, I would invest in a basket muzzle whenever he is outside going to the bathroom near the Rocks so that he does not swallow the rocks and cause an intestinal obstruction. If you end up resorting to the basket muzzle, you will need to get new sizes of basket muzzles as he outgrows the previous ones. I hope this helps! Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

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    Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 16th, 2019

    I'm sorry but short of using a basket muzzle there is not much you can do. It is not cruel to use a basket muzzle if done the right way. Your only other options are to consult with a professional in-home dog trainer to help you train her to avoid eating rocks OR remove all the rocks from the yard and put down astroturf/artificial grass (that does not need water) . This is not going to be an easy thing to correct. Behavior issues like this are not a quick fix.

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