# Eating the floor..



## jjv3189 (Dec 13, 2010)

Baxter, 9 month old chi/peke, has just picked up the habit of chewing/trying to eat the hardwood floor. Why is he doing this  He is otherwise healthy, eating/drinking. This could be unrelated, IDK, but..We started to switch him to raw diet, which went fine for a week(?), then out of no where he had these scary bright yellow/mucusy bloody poos, which scared the life out of me..and vet told me to get him off the raw asap..so we went back to his kibble and poops were normal again..I still want to feed a rmb diet maybe 1-2 times a week for the dental benefits..but not quite sure I want to make the 100% switch yet.. Do you think this is a behavior problem, or health issue? I have tried to look it up and read it could be boredom..I guess that's possible but he's never done this before


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

It could be boredom or maybe a OCD tendency that has just started? Hopefully someone will chime in soon that may be able to help with that question. There is a RAW diet section that you can post the RAW questions in.


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## Amandarose531 (Aug 9, 2010)

I was watching a show the other day "My dog ate what?" and one of the dogs was obsessively licking the floor and such, they said she may have been just nauseated and that's one way they deal with it.

I'd just ask the vet.


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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

Is she trying to eat the floor where you feed the Raw food? Or just any part of the floor? Sounds like upset stomach. Be careful she doesn't have ecoli or salmonella? You have to transition slowly with raw. I would hold off on the raw til she's back to her normal self than maybe try again. What are feeding her when you're not feeding raw?

You could always try Ziwi Peak as this has freeze dried raw and might be easier on stomach. Then start adding a little raw meat at a time.


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## 2Cheese (Feb 21, 2010)

When Bailey was 9 mos...he suddenly started chewing on the legs of my china hutch:foxes15: After doing some research...I found that puppies go thru a 2nd chewing phase between 8-10 mos. What I did to curb this behavior was to give him other things to chew on....like bully sticks. I also put vaseline on the corners of my hutch and then sprinkled it with chili powder until his behavior stopped. It worked :hello1:


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

I believe the raw diet switch and the chewing of the floor is unrelated. Sounds like boredom to me. You can get some bitter spray to use on the floor or cover up the area he is chewing with a piece of furniture or a rug so he can't get to it. I would get some chews for him... mainly bully sticks, perhaps an antler if he's a vigorous chewer. A kong stuffed with something he likes would be good as well. He's at a difficult age, like a teenager, and will be regressing in some areas (such as housetraining) and also may have some behavior challenges... not listening to you, defiance, etc. Be firm and consistent and he will get through it fine.

As for his mucousy poops, you sometimes see that when beginning raw. It's nothing to panic over. Vets will all tell you to get off the raw diet. I'm not surprised your vet told you to stop the raw diet as they have about 2 hours of nutrition in school and it's all sponsored by the dog food companies, mainly Science Diet. But you have to do what you are comfortable with. If feeding kibble makes you feel better, then that's what you should do. But like I said, I think that his diet and his trying to chew the floor are not related at all.


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## jjv3189 (Dec 13, 2010)

Yeah..it turns out I'm a bad mommy. Someone had put the wrong measuring cup in his kibble vault so we were feeding him 1/4 2x a day instead of 1/3..maybe he was hungry? Or it could be a chewing phase again..  His kibble is blue buffalo small breed puppy. Eating non edible things isn't exactly abnormal for him.. he always acts like he's starving and will eat anything that fits in his mouth..he's just never tried to eat the floor before! And no it's not spots where raw food was, his raw meals were fed in his crate, he would just try to pull up planks that he could get his teeth on and try to chew and eat the wood.
I was thinking about adding some fillers like frozen thawed veggies or oats to his kibble to make him feel full and see if that helps. 

I know that vets don't know much about nutrition, but I wanted to be sure that the poo issue was caused by the raw and not something else before taking him to the vet and having a huge bill. My vet told me it wasn't urgent and that likely it was due to the raw..but you can never be too careful. I am still interested in the raw diet, I especially like the dental benefits. I just don't think I'm as comfortable feeding raw as I thought I would be, I don't want to be worrying all the time about him getting what he needs, or getting sick off it. I will look into the Ziwipeak and prepackaged raws..I'm not completely dropping the raw idea.


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

Some dogs just like to chew. We've had chi's on here who have chewed up the wall and eaten through doors, etc. You aren't alone! I'd make sure he has plenty of appropriate chew toys. Most dogs really like bully sticks. The kong with some peanut butter or ground beef smeared inside might be something he'd like and could work on for awhile to satisfy that urge to chew. 

I'd probably be switching him off puppy food. It's very nutrient dense and high calorie. At 9 months, his growth will be slowing way down and he doesn't need all those calories and fat. Make sure to keep him LEAN for optimum health. 

If you can get ZiwiPeak, it's top notch. The prepackaged raws are fine too, although they contain veggies and fruits. But I'd definitely be moving him off puppy food and onto an adult diet.


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## jjv3189 (Dec 13, 2010)

Brodysmom said:


> Some dogs just like to chew. We've had chi's on here who have chewed up the wall and eaten through doors, etc. You aren't alone! I'd make sure he has plenty of appropriate chew toys. Most dogs really like bully sticks. The kong with some peanut butter or ground beef smeared inside might be something he'd like and could work on for awhile to satisfy that urge to chew.
> 
> I'd probably be switching him off puppy food. It's very nutrient dense and high calorie. At 9 months, his growth will be slowing way down and he doesn't need all those calories and fat. Make sure to keep him LEAN for optimum health.
> 
> If you can get ZiwiPeak, it's top notch. The prepackaged raws are fine too, although they contain veggies and fruits. But I'd definitely be moving him off puppy food and onto an adult diet.


He loves kongs with pb..He also has nylabones..edible and non. Boodah bones..rope toys..and he chews them all. When he was younger he was a bad chewer and would chew anything he got his teeth on..that mostly went away, now he chews just his toys (minus the floor)..but he just tries to eat odd things like tissue paper and really anything small he can fit into his mouth. 
I thought they needed to stay on puppy food until 1 year old? His weight is good. He is lean, you can easily feel his ribs but not see them , and you can see his waistline. People tell me he's skinny and underfed..which makes me mad..this is usually because they're so used to seeing overweight chi's that look like mini blimps. He's active and gets a good amt of exercise, but I guess when his food is running low I'll switch to adult


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## 2Cheese (Feb 21, 2010)

I think its normal to feel uneasy about feeding raw at first. Try this book...its excellent and helped give me the confidence I needed


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## Kristina (Jan 9, 2011)

Try spraying this Nature's Miracle No-Chew Deterrent Spray - Sale - Dog - PetSmart

Quinn started chewing the corners of the baseboard moulding last week. I think he did it twice before i noticed, but he did a real number on it. I picked up Natures Miracle No Chew Repellent and he doesn't dare go near it now. I had to paint the corners before my Fiance noticed! Haha :nshocked2:


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## ExoticChis (Jun 20, 2010)

that no chew deterant spray sounds good


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## Kristina (Jan 9, 2011)

Yeah Angelbaby, it works really well actually. 
When i first noticed i nearly fainted!
I cut a lemon in half and squeezed on the corners, 
well would you believe that Quinn AND Truly AND Noah all loved the taste of the lemon! Now i had all 3 of them doing it, oh my! 
I hid the corners with random items, my work bag and a large water jug so my Fiance wouldn't notice Haha. Then i went out to Petsmart and picked up a bottle of the repellent. I tasted it before i bought it, i needed know that it really tasted awful before i bought it, since the lemon was no help! LOL
Anyway, it works really well and i haven't seen Quinn, Truly or Noah near it in a few days, thank goodness!


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## LovesMyPups (Apr 18, 2010)

LOL what did it taste like?! :lol:


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## Kristina (Jan 9, 2011)

It tasted like "insert swear word here"!
Very bitter LOL


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