Dogs That Eat To Much Leather!

[mikekratz]

Hey everyone. Just curious if anyone elses dogs are obsessed with eating leather. I have a big hound dog and black lab that take scraps every time they get the chance. How bad is it? does anyone else chase there dogs out like I do?

[fivewayswelshcobs]

No dogs allowed in my workshop for that very reason, we had a terrier that moved faster than me but also liked bringing in sticks or apples in for me to throw for her, more often then not I fell over those everytime I turned around so she was banished and so have all the more recent dogs. Plus it is safer as mice like the tallow on the bridle or harness leather and they get poisoned in my workshop.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

And that is yet another reason why I don't have and don't want a dog.

[JREESER1]

From the day we got our Holy Terrier, no leather anything allowed. No chews. no pigs' ears, no slippers and no other leather anything. In 2 years not one incident, knock on wood. I made sure every instant what she was chewing and allowed only hard nylon dog toys, never cloth or soft squeaky toys of any kind and by the end of the first 6weeks not one piece of chewed leather. Like kids you got to be aware, and know what they are doing.

jr

[chiefjason]

My dog only chews on scrap leather. He occasionally pics a piece up off the floor and chews it. I did catch him with my gun belt in his mouth early on. I picked him up and flung him out of the room. That might have something to do with his dislike of finished leather goods. But he's not chewed on any leather scraps in a long time. And he hangs out in the shop occasionally.

[bruce johnson]

It is not good. I am not a huge fan of rawhide either for the questionable sourcing, but it will somewhat breakdown in the stomach and gut. Leather can behave differently. Being softer the dogs are more prone to chew less and will swallow bigger pieces. After leather is tanned, it tends to form really hard balls that don't digest. I have seen for sure cases where a dog chewed part of a leather leash and TWO months later I got to remove it from the stomach. Have removed leather from the intestines several times. Unless you have a burning desire to share your cash with my colleagues, I would stick to dog treats and separate the dogs from the leather scraps.

Bruce Johnson, DVM

[rdf1967]

Yes lol. I dye leather in basement. I mold kydex in garage. My cowboy sewing machine is in bedroom. I buil about 20 holsters a month plus my custom orders so i am not big at all. Scrap pieces tend to fall and i do my best. Bit any that is missed my daschound pug mix is always finding what i dont. Not much of a bother to me. He thinks he is doing me a favour but he isnot happy when i take it from him. I love dogs so i manage lol. I am sure when i have a dedicated shop thing will be different and there will be some off limit places but for now i will just let him "help" me lol. Bottom line is it is in their nature

Rdf1967

[Trox]

I am aware of this problem and have several customers that have leather eating dogs. Myself, I take care of training my dog not to touch anything in my workshop. The floor in the rest of my home belong to the dogs, but not the kitchen and my workshop belongs 100% to me (and the people). I have also trained them to let go of stuff and not touching food, crap laying around outside etc. (I have a bigger problem such things with my new dog, always hungry she is. And there are people laying out poison here that have killed three dogs lately). The dogs sleep under my work table when I work, never a problem. For customers with leather eating dogs. It helps not to dress the leather with honey smelling oils etc, not using vegtan and rawhide in their gear.

I use some Italian chromtan leather making dog equipment for such dogs, for dogs that eat their leather gear. They normally don't won't to bite in their chromtan leach and collars. There are dogs that have learn them self a habit of eating leather that bite even their chromtan gear. These dogs has to be of learned not to touch their gear. There are many methods of doing this, first rewarding methods. (the owners has to take care their leather gear are not left in their car cage too etc.)

There is an last way out method with electric current (mild shocks electric collar), same as they use when training them not to run after sheeps, deers and other unwanted issues. That is a method I guarantee will work on unwanted issues. Used by professionals the right way, that is. I have heard a story about it been used the wrong way: They wanted to off learn a dog that was chasing sheeps, and gave the electric shock at the wrong timing. They gave it when the dog was taking a dump, the dog did not ever want to do his toilet again. I don't know if that's a true story. However, my new young dog just loved horses. Just from the start she loved them and wanted to say hello to every horse we met. One day she tried to pass under the electric fence surrounding the horses. She had to check out the fence first and she bite in it of course. That's what dogs do when they checking out stuff, I heard her scream in pain . I guess that must have hurt . Now she is terrified of horses, will not pass them on the road. I have to train her to be around them again, very slowly. Good planning before using any such of-learning electric tools on dogs is recomemnded. Good luck

[ariannacraig]

A new leather leash arrived today from Amazon. My husband left the package on the kitchen counter top. I came home two hours later. The leash is gone. Only the metal part left. I suspect my 80 poundfemale GSD ate it and I pumped 8cc 3% h2o2 into her. So far, 15 min passed, no vomit. She pooped twice, solid, small amount each time. What should I do?

Edited October 5, 2024 by Northmount
removed quote w/ spam link, member's PW compromised

[chuck123wapati]

6 minutes ago, ariannacraig said:

A new leather leash arrived today from Amazon. My husband left the package on the kitchen counter top. I came home two hours later. The leash is gone. Only the metal part left. I suspect my 80 poundfemale GSD ate it and I pumped 8cc 3% h2o2 into her. So far, 15 min passed, no vomit. She pooped twice, solid, small amount each time. What should I do?

Buy a new leash put it up out of reach and leave her bee if she didn't eat any metal parts she will crap it out.

[kgg]

2 hours ago, ariannacraig said:

I suspect my 80 poundfemale GSD ate it and I pumped 8cc 3% h2o2 into her. So far, 15 min passed, no vomit. She pooped twice, solid, small amount each time. What should I do?

Call your vet. The dog probably will require surgery depending on what an Xray shows. One of my guys had to this type of surgery.

kgg

[TonyV]

If there ain't no dogs in heaven then I ain't going.  

To control what dogs chew on there has to be a balance of training and owner vigilance.  Any dog can be trained to not chew on objects that aren't good for them, and the key is to give them something better instead.  Discipline and reward.  Then, keep an eye on them, because any dog will try to get away with it when you're not vigilant about his activities and keeping things out of reach.

My 12 y.o. WPG is rock solid about not chewing on shoes, belts etc.,  but if I leave a piece of rawhide where he can get it, he' will find it and the blame is 100% on me.

He's not allowed rawhide, soft toys, cooked bones or brittle plastic toys.  He gets all the dental chews, durable rubber toys and balls he can handle.  At 12 years old, he has never had any dental problems.

Useful commands to teach are;   Leave it!  Give!  Drop!    Then give them some praise and a safe alternative.   But keep your leather out of reach (placed high, behind closed doors or in a container) and both your dog and your materials will be safe.

Edited June 29, 2024 by TonyV

[Sheilajeanne]

11 hours ago, kgg said:

Call your vet. The dog probably will require surgery depending on what an Xray shows. One of my guys had to this type of surgery.

kgg

Nope, not necessarily. The dog in the picture ate half of a nylon leash, plus an entire nylon collar, and never suffered any ill effects. I didn't even know she'd eaten the collar until I couldn't find it when I needed it 3 days later! I did find the plastic buckle on the floor, but assumed that maybe my cat had knocked it off my leatherworking bench, as I use these buckles for collars, etc.

Do NOT underestimate a dog's digestive system... 

The photos show a black Kong (the most durable Kong) on Day 1, then the same toy a few days later.

The dog in question lived to 14.5 years, and was rarely ill a day in her life.

[kgg]

16 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Do NOT underestimate a dog's digestive system.

I have seen too many client dogs over the years that died a horrible death as a result of them ingesting stuff like hand towels, ladies stockings, socks, human incontinence pads, pet incontinence pads, rubber toys, rope, rocks. Some dogs can expel some items with no problems while others can't and by the time you figure out that they can't it's sadly already to late.

Just my experience,

kgg 

Edited June 30, 2024 by kgg

[SUP]

My dog insists on only eating what I eat, so I have to eat what is healthy for her! Healthy for me too, so its fine. She does not eat leather because i don't nibble on it. LOL. I tried giving her dog food that the vet says is good for her while I have my meals but she looks at it and comes and sits looking at me. 

[Mablung]

32 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

Nope, not necessarily. The dog in the picture ate half of a nylon leash, plus an entire nylon collar, and never suffered any ill effects. I didn't even know she'd eaten the collar until I couldn't find it when I needed it 3 days later! I did find the plastic buckle on the floor, but assumed that maybe my cat had knocked it off my leatherworking bench, as I use these buckles for collars, etc.

Do NOT underestimate a dog's digestive system... 

The photos show a black Kong (the most durable Kong) on Day 1, then the same toy a few days later.

The dog in question lived to 14.5 years, and was rarely ill a day in her life.

What a beautiful dog! I love GSDs. I have a Husky/GSD mix that looks much more like a GSD, and she’s wonderful. Fortunately, not as capable of destroying things as your dog. 

[chuck123wapati]

dogs have been chewing up and eating leather as long as leather has been made. once in a while I'm sure it doesn't go well. kind of like the person that chokes on a piece of chicken and dies, one in a million. Now man made stuff like Kgg is talking is a different story altogether I had a black lab that couldn't pass a bunch of foam from a seat cushion she ate and needed help, she about died. i have four dogs none eat leather one used to bite the leashes in half to get loose, they all eat wood and will shred 4" logs just from nervous energy. except for my Beagle she shreds small sticks lol. One thing i have learned from my wood chewers is carrots  will suffice for the nervous habit and is very safe for them to chew up.  My dogs love carrots lol go through a bag a week. I love dogs! 

[Mablung]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

dogs have been chewing up and eating leather as long as leather has been made. once in a while I'm sure it doesn't go well. kind of like the person that chokes on a piece of chicken and dies, one in a million. Now man made stuff like Kgg is talking is a different story altogether I had a black lab that couldn't pass a bunch of foam from a seat cushion she ate and needed help, she about died. i have four dogs none eat leather one used to bite the leashes in half to get loose, they all eat wood and will shred 4" logs just from nervous energy. except for my Beagle she shreds small sticks lol. One thing i have learned from my wood chewers is carrots  will suffice for the nervous habit and is very safe for them to chew up.  My dogs love carrots lol go through a bag a week. I love dogs! 

I may need to try giving my dog carrots. Never thought of that. It’d be better for her gut than the amount of rawhide she goes through otherwise. 

[chuck123wapati]

44 minutes ago, Mablung said:

I may need to try giving my dog carrots. Never thought of that. It’d be better for her gut than the amount of rawhide she goes through otherwise. 

a lot better for her.

[bruce johnson]

I have tried to stay out of this but its been a long week and new one starts tomorrow. I can't sit on my hands. After 40 years of practice I couldn't tell you how many dogs I have done surgery on for foreign bodies. Been there, done that, have the souvenir scrub shirt.  Leash and collar eaters are right up there. About 20 years ago a well meaning crafter in our area made some dog chew toys with latigo and vegtan scraps left over from her leash and collar business. After the third surgery in a week, I asked one of the owners to maybe let whoever was selling those chewies at the weekly Farmer's Market to rethink her profit from the scrap bin idea. Interesting aside - she called to yell at me the next Monday after Farmer's Market on Saturday. She tried to tell me I didn't know anything about leather - natural product, digests easily, just a protein, yada yada,  and they sell it in every pet store (yeah rawhide and my dogs don't get that either). I let her have her spiel until she ran out of air, and then explained the tanning process. Then I mentioned I had repaired her son's saddle the year before, How's he doing?  Oooops, she knew who I was then and I did have a little knowledge. We ended on better terms when I suggested making key tags and zipper pulls instead of dog treats. 

Leather may pass depending on size but usually doesn't breakdown to any appreciable degree. It has already been treated to preserve it with acid in tannery vats,  does anyone think that stomach acid will break it down? If anything it makes it harder. Rawhide is different (hence the name raw hide) and although it may swell. it can have some degree of digestion and tends to not get as hard. Still that is a slow process in itself with rawhide and not fast enough if it gets past the stomach. 

 

[kgg]

5 hours ago, bruce johnson said:

After 40 years of practice I couldn't tell you how many dogs I have done surgery on for foreign bodies. Been there, done that, have the souvenir scrub shirt.  Leash and collar eaters are right up there.

Great Info.

kgg

[chuck123wapati]

6 hours ago, bruce johnson said:

I have tried to stay out of this but its been a long week and new one starts tomorrow. I can't sit on my hands. After 40 years of practice I couldn't tell you how many dogs I have done surgery on for foreign bodies. Been there, done that, have the souvenir scrub shirt.  Leash and collar eaters are right up there. About 20 years ago a well meaning crafter in our area made some dog chew toys with latigo and vegtan scraps left over from her leash and collar business. After the third surgery in a week, I asked one of the owners to maybe let whoever was selling those chewies at the weekly Farmer's Market to rethink her profit from the scrap bin idea. Interesting aside - she called to yell at me the next Monday after Farmer's Market on Saturday. She tried to tell me I didn't know anything about leather - natural product, digests easily, just a protein, yada yada,  and they sell it in every pet store (yeah rawhide and my dogs don't get that either). I let her have her spiel until she ran out of air, and then explained the tanning process. Then I mentioned I had repaired her son's saddle the year before, How's he doing?  Oooops, she knew who I was then and I did have a little knowledge. We ended on better terms when I suggested making key tags and zipper pulls instead of dog treats. 

Leather may pass depending on size but usually doesn't breakdown to any appreciable degree. It has already been treated to preserve it with acid in tannery vats,  does anyone think that stomach acid will break it down? If anything it makes it harder. Rawhide is different (hence the name raw hide) and although it may swell. it can have some degree of digestion and tends to not get as hard. Still that is a slow process in itself with rawhide and not fast enough if it gets past the stomach. 

 

Glad you added to the conversation. you probably wouldn't be surprised at how many dog turds I find with my metal detector, seriously tin foil and candy wrappers shoe lace eyes etc., and such it amazing what they will eat if no one watches.

 

[Sheilajeanne]

4 hours ago, kgg said:

Great Info.

kgg

Yeah, rawhide is responsible for a lot of dogs needing surgery. Do not give my dogs rawhide chews - only shank bones that are too big and hard for them to swallow! 

I know a lot of dogs die due to eating things they shouldn't, and have always been careful what I give them, but you can never be TOO careful! I never would have dreamed Star would eat a nylon leash or collar! And it was very hard to find toys she wouldn't destroy after just a couple of weeks, if not days! I was just really lucky she had a cast iron gut!

I'm glad to know most dogs can chew on wood with no bad effects. I actually gave Star branches to play with when keeping her in toys became too expensive! 

You see that orange toy in the photo? That's a Bad Cuz. It's like a big ball with feet, ears and a squeaker. A REALLY annoying squeaker...  She went through a number of them during her time on this planet. I'd remove the feet from it before giving it to her, as I knew she'd chew them off. The ears were too tiny to bother with. First, she'd go after the squeaker. It might last a couple of weeks before she pulled it out. Fortunately, she never swallowed it. Then, she'd start working on the squeaker hole. The main advantage of the Cuz toys is they are made of REALLY thick rubber. It would take her awhile, but eventually, she'd rip the squeaker hole open, and tear off a piece. If I noticed this about to happen, I'd chuck the toy in the garbage. But there were several times when I noticed her chewing something, and realized it was a chunk she'd ripped out of the toy. I'd head towards her to grab it out of her mouth, and I swear...she'd wait until I was a couple of feet away, then swallow it!  I'd find it in her poop a day or two later... 

Here's that same Bad Cuz just before I tossed it a few months later:  You can see the cracks starting around the squeaker hole!

 

Edited July 1, 2024 by Sheilajeanne

[Sheilajeanne]

During my riding days, there was a dog at the stable that was as fond of carrots as the horses were! I used to save one for her!  

Photos: YUM!! A new toy to destroy

Second photo: same toy, about a week later. The brand name was Tire Biter. The rubber was reinforced with threads. I guess the only thing that would have saved it was if they'd reinforced it with steel bands, like they do with car and truck tires!