Our not so sane Collie, Oscar, seems determined to eat all the pebble dash off our house. When i'm out the back with him he''ll pick and bit at the pebble dash untl he gets a bit off, then crush it and swallow. He doesn't seem to be having any adverse effects on him and he's certainly not unhealthy in any aspects. Is he going for the minerals or the salt in the dash or is it just because he's mental?

His diet is complete and varied, his stools are always solid and healthy.

Does anybody elses dogs do this or just my oddball?

__________________
0.1 Albino Cali King, 0.1 MBK, 1.1 Lavender corns
1.0 Bairds Rat Snake, Mulligan
The wee man, Oscar, Border Collie
1.0 Huachuca Mountain King (L.p. Woodini)

Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one.
A cold pint– and another one!

no and i would try to stop him dear as it wont do him no good in the long run lol

__________________
1.2 hypo crawl cays
1.1 salmon boas
1 stb mack

I would think he's doing it for a reason, not because he's mental . Maybe there is some mineral in it that his body is telling him he needs. I would try and stop it though, stones can cause impaction and require veterinary treatment to remove.

__________________
*** Sugar Lumps: UK Sugar Glider Forum ***


*** New shop opening 30th August in Dunstable - WRIGGLIES ***

Just another collie with an odd fixation. You really need to stop it as concrete contains some nasty chemicals and the pebbles will wear down his teeth and could cause an impactiation.
You need to direct him away from the pebble dash. It sounds like he is bored. Have you tried buying a kong and filling it with peanut butter, kibble, cottage cheese etc to give him something else to think about. Lean soemthing up against where he is nibbling or smear some vick vaporub over it to deter him but above all, give him something else to do. Collies are far too intelligent for their own good and if you don't stimulate them mentally, they find their own mental stimulations which usually ands up being something bad.

__________________
My facebook
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo

Yeah agree with all the above mine went through a stage of trying to eat the paint off the window sills outside i have put garden chairs in front of it so that they cant get to it

They also try to eat the moss off the walls so this could be what yours is doing but ya really do need to try and stop it as it may not seem like its doing him harm but it definately will do in he long run

try a kong like fenwoman said also get some meaty bones from your butchers tell them they are for a dog

much better in the long run for him than pebble dash

collies are like huskies and get bored very quickly and easily they need constant stimulation

giving him a bone or kong will do that and it also provides them with a form of exercise

__________________



Love and respect goes out to...........Snake pliskin, pliskins chains, LoveMySnakes J-Dee ,Finchy , sam69, Webby06_2007, Scaley, FooFoo & Ditta, tick, RONST3R, Diablo & Faith,Sinni, xPrincessx, Shell195 , Pouchie, Grumpymouth, HABU, Purejurrasic

Cheers for the replies. He had a kong which he destroyed, bought him another one and he pays no attention to it. I get him bones from the butchers, he also has chew toys, frizbees, denta stix amongst numerous other toys and stuff. He's walked twice a day, gets to run for about a half hour everyday. He also spends the most of the day with the wife and kid when i'm at work. Then i come home and get him out on his big walk.

I don't think it's boredom or frustration thats causing the pebble dash eating, as if that was the case he would have my back room and kitchen destroyed plus he gets plenty of interaction and and training from me and the wife.

Whenever i kept dogs for hunting. Out of the patterdales, lurchers, jack russells, wheatons and springers the only ones to eat pebble dash were the lurchers.

He's for the vets next week for his yearly check up so i'll ask her what it might be.

I guessed from your replies that you maybe thought i found this rather amusing and wasn't that bothered about. Well don't worry i am worried about it but its not like he's eating handfuls (or pawfuls rather) of pebbledash every day. I check each of stools, which are healthy and his appetite is still spot on

__________________
0.1 Albino Cali King, 0.1 MBK, 1.1 Lavender corns
1.0 Bairds Rat Snake, Mulligan
The wee man, Oscar, Border Collie
1.0 Huachuca Mountain King (L.p. Woodini)

Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one.
A cold pint– and another one!

If he is only getting to run for half an hour a day then he isnt using up all his energy my border collie gets 2 1 hour walks a day and nearly all them 2 hours are off lead chasing a ball or one of the other dogs (still isnt enough for her really)

So i think you may find it is a form of frustration as he isnt burning enough energy off

__________________



Love and respect goes out to...........Snake pliskin, pliskins chains, LoveMySnakes J-Dee ,Finchy , sam69, Webby06_2007, Scaley, FooFoo & Ditta, tick, RONST3R, Diablo & Faith,Sinni, xPrincessx, Shell195 , Pouchie, Grumpymouth, HABU, Purejurrasic

collies were bred to work and when you take that away from them then.........they have no purpose which leads them to being bored and not getting out of life what they should be and become destructive and making their own form of fun

If you have a dog that was bred for working purpose then yes its gonna be harder work as you need to keep the dog occupied like longer run times with a ball or frizbee maybe even agility too which im looking into for mine collie

They need constant stimulation which means something to do all the time constant attention on the exercise front being in the house with someone most the day isnt stimulation its company

Collies are very energetic dogs and require alot of exercise in order for them to burn off their energy

__________________



Love and respect goes out to...........Snake pliskin, pliskins chains, LoveMySnakes J-Dee ,Finchy , sam69, Webby06_2007, Scaley, FooFoo & Ditta, tick, RONST3R, Diablo & Faith,Sinni, xPrincessx, Shell195 , Pouchie, Grumpymouth, HABU, Purejurrasic

Don't take this the wrong way but i think you are misinterpreting what i'm saying. I know exactly what a Collie requires, especially one that has come off a working farm. He's not a house dog and thats not what we tried to turn him into. Unfortunately, in the area i live it's near impossble to let him off the lead during the day, which is why i take him out about ten at night and let him run mad until he's knackered. On a saturday and sunday i take the dog down to the local forest park, which takes you a good three to four hours to walk round, for this he is off the lead chasing frizbee or birds. During the week he gets two hour long walks every day sometimes more, circumstances permitting. So i don't think he's under-exercised, thus resulting in frustration.

As for the pebble dash scenario, its not something he constantly does. He'll go around sniffing at the walls and then when he seems to find a particular bit, he'll pick it off and crush it and swallow. He only does this every couple of days. I honestly don't think its born from frustration, i think he's going for a particular bit of dash, god knows why though. I have seen the destruction a bored Collie can cause and its not pretty.

__________________
0.1 Albino Cali King, 0.1 MBK, 1.1 Lavender corns
1.0 Bairds Rat Snake, Mulligan
The wee man, Oscar, Border Collie
1.0 Huachuca Mountain King (L.p. Woodini)

Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one.
A cold pint– and another one!

If he destroyed his kong you'll get another free as they come with a lifetime guarantee. I am surprised to hear it though as it was the one toy my old giant schnauzer bitch never managed to destroy. Did you try filling it with stuff? The other small point is that these dogs were bred to cover miles and miles and miles every day. Really hard physical exersize. I doubt whetehr the half hour is enough. People don't always comprehend that collies are not like other dogs. Simply half an hour a day, then being around with your wife and child during the day is nowhere near the physical and mental stmulation he needs. Just being with a human during the day is not stimulating. I personally don't feel that collies make very good pet dogs in the average home, this is borne out by the amount which get handed in to rescue kennels daily. People underestimate them and their needs.
Out of interest, what do you feed him including treats, per day. I might be able to offer some insight if I knew that.

__________________
My facebook
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo