Hello - we welcomed a lovely (now) 15 week old, black cocker into our home about 6 weeks ago. Generally things are going really well with basic training, forming a bond, and settling in. Of course there have been many challenges, feelings of being overwhelmed with our first dog, and expected puppy mischief, but on the whole good! A behaviour we are struggling with is that she is OBSESSED with searching for and then eating snails (and slugs, but snails seem to be higher value). This is to the point that she will sit by the back door and whine to be let out just to start the snail hunt.
I've spoken to people who say their pup did similar and grew out of it. But I'm wondering if there are any tips to ensure that this behaviour stops - obviously she shouldn't be eating snails for several reasons.
We now put her on lead in the garden when the risk of snails being about is high (raining or recently rained), and try to remove as many as we can from the garden. But she can always sniff ones out that we miss, and gets to them and eats them lightening fast.
General leave and drop training is progressing but no where near solid, especially for high value stuff like snails!
Many thanks
