BehavioRx Case of the Month
for January 2002

Eating non-foods - Pica

Some dogs (especially puppies) like to take things into their mouths. Interestingly, so do most human babies! However, it can be dangerous if those things are then eaten. Both solids and soft materials can have fatal effects. The indigestible solids may puncture or become impacted in the dog's digestive tract. The soft materials can also plug up the digestive tract. And these materials usually can't be detected by Xray.

The clients were in their early twenties, had a three-year-old daughter, and decided to get a puppy for the child as a Christmas present. Unfortunately, the 8 week-old puppy they chose was highly oral. As soon as they let her loose in the living room 3 days before Christmas, she ran to the gifts under the tree and started grabbing the ribbons on gift boxes, pulling on them and chewing. The clients then obeyed their first instinct and did one of the worst things they could have done... they ran over, said "No!" and started to pull the ribbons from the pup's mouth. "Sparkle" obeyed her instincts, too. She clamped her jaws and pulled right back. The battle was joined! The client phoned on the day after Christmas, after having to rush Sparkle to the veterinarian, where the bloated pup underwent an exam and enema, which successfully dislodged what was probably a paper wad. The veterinarian referred the couple to us, and we were pleased to find them totally
committed to solving the problem.

Both parents understood that Sparkle wasn't abnormal, and that they had inadvertently made the problem worse than it might have been, had they simply distracted the puppy and introduced a toy with more chew-appeal than the gifts and their ribbons.

When asked what they had taught Sparkle during the first week in the way of coming to them, or sitting, they said she had learned to run away when they tried to catch her with some no-no in her mouth. (It least they had kept their sense of humor through the ordeal!)

Sparkle was now a healthy looking 9 week-old female Golden Retriever with plenty of energy. However, she was having two more bowel movements per day
than meals. In order to get the proper bio-rhythms going, her daily ration was divided into 5, rather than 3, meals per day. This helped keep food on her tummy all day and established a routine in which she would evacuate the previous day's morning meal on the morning of the second day. And so one through the day. As pups mature with this feeding arrangement, they will cut out a bowel movement at about 4-5 months of age, at which time one meal is also cut out. This continues through the growth-spurt stage to about 8-10 months, when most dogs settle down to two BMs and two meals, which is great for Pica sufferers, since it keeps food on the tummy all day and evening, making for a more relaxed animal.

Sparkle was put on the Learn-To-Earn Praise and Pets program and was taught to sit whenever she sought the owners' attention or other positive goals, such as going out through doors. She had her "Sit" down perfectly in two days!

The house was Puppy-Proofed, using the BehavioRx Instructions for Pica and Chewing, which involved applying safe repellents and other safeguards. A puppy play pen was used when she had to be left alone at home or was unsupervised.

In order to distract her from taboo articles the Bio-Sonic Beanbags were used, followed by instant praise and introduction of, or direction to, an attractive chew toy.

Sparkle was also taught to come from strong distractions to a code word, by using the BehavioRx Bio-Sonic system.

After 10 days the clients reported that Sparkle was a real delight to have around the house. She no longer spent time "looking for trouble," as the clients put it. Instead, she enjoyed her play sessions (fetching her favorite toys) and slept a goodly part of every day and all night. The clients were advised that the program would have to continue for six weeks, and may need refreshing as new experiences were encountered.

Previous Cases

December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
December 2000
November 2000
October 2000
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
October 1999
September 1999
August 1999
July 1999
June 1999
May 1999
April 1999
March 1999
February 1999
January 1999
December 1998
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998
August 1998
July 1998
June 1998
May 1998
April 1998
March 1998
February 1998
January 1998
December 1997
November 1997
October 1997
September 1997
August 1997
July 1997
June 1997
May 1997
April 1997
March 1997
February 1997
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
October 1996

Return to Case of the Month

Return to the BehavioRx Home Page