HELP MY DOG HAS ISSUES WITH ROCKS!!!!

Hello all,

I have had Ralphie for 5 months now, he's a rescue dog from the Blue Cross!! When we first got him we noticed that he loved to get hold of a big old rock and carry at home etc...didnt really see a problem with it at first...but in the last three months his obbession with rocks is just ridiculous!! When we take him out for walks all hes interested in is finding a rock and once he finds that rock he lays down and chews on it and wont come when you call him...he will keep the rock in his mouth the whole time and there is no way you can remove it from his mouth lol...when we get him home i leave him outside the door and close the front door...he knows now that when i do this it means drop the rock then come inside because before he would try and bring it into the house...which we dont want, there has been times when hes got past us and tries to run in to the house with the rock and when you approach him to move him back outside his body stiffins right up and his eyes glaze overs and he looks like hes in a weird frenzy..me and my patner have put our hand on his harness to move him back outiside when he still has the rock in his mouth and hes turned to try and nip us becuse he thinks we are tring to take the rock away from him!!....i dont understand why he has this unhealthy obsession with rocks...he is a perfect dog in every way, very well mannered, knows all his commands, fantastic with dogs and children...a true gent but if there is a rock involved then he turns into another dog...anyone have any advice to help thanks

Obsessions like this can be difficult to discourage, my girl has an obsession with her ball. She carries it around like a baby, cries when it rolls under the furniture and cries if one of the other dogs plays with it. Every morning when she wakes up she brings it to us in bed and sleeps with it inches from her face.

You need to teach him that the rock isn't that amazing and there are more rewarding things. I would keep him on the lead and get some of his favourite treats, something really tasty like chicken or sausage. Get rid of some excess energy by keeping him on-lead and going for a jog or doing some heelwork to engage his mind on you. Start off doing some basic commands, sit, stay etc on the lead rewarding him when he does well. Next get someone else to bring a rock within his vision and place it very slowly and calmly on the floor about 3 - 4 meters away. At this point he will probably go a bit loopy trying to get to it, ignore it and him and get your treats out, ask him to sit (the most important thing you can do at this stage is remain perfectly calm and dont look at the rock!). Use a word like 'look' or 'watch' to get his attention and give him a treat as soon as he looks at you. Keep giving commands and rewarding him when he behaves, stay a good distance from the rock.

If you have another toy he likes such as a ball or kong then play some on-lead fetch with it to finish off the session. Then walk away from the rock and end training.

The next time repeat the same thing, keep doing this until he is unreactive with the rock at 3-4 metres away. You can gradually move closer to it (only if he is listening to you though and not obsessing about the rock) until you are gradually creeping closer and he can sit by and work to heel around the rock. Do not pay any attention to the rock as this will show him its something to be interested in. Eventually his obsession should fade and he should start acting more normally around rocks. During this training period dont let anyone encourage him to go near or pick up a rock, whenever he tries to dont shout at him or tell him off. Just turn on your heel and take him away from it distracting him with a treat or another toy!

Hope this helps, its definately no quick fix but if you have patience this should work. Hard to give more advice without seeing how the dog behaves and how high his drive is!

Taz has an absession with rocks which is why the leave command is so important. Walking past a rock he wants i tell him to leave and he will, walk into him forcing him to back away and i claim the rock, When I am throwing rocks for him i always make sure i end the game with the rock being out of sight well actually insight but he knows not to go near it when i tell him to leave.
reinforcing the leave command will be very good, but don't stop him completly from playing with them having a few games with him but you control when and for how long, one way to get him to leave a rock for you is it show him another rock until he think its not the end of the world if i leave a rock cause she will give me another one or a treat ect, so you are controling the situation, Give it some time and he'll do it like a pro.