My sister got this rescue puppy (a mutt, seems to be mixed between somehting like terrier/dachund/chihuahua but not fully sure) a few weeks ago and to say shes come out of her shell would be an understatement. She's great at most things, house trained really quick and walks on lead well but the only thing we cannot fix is her love for rocks. It doesnt matter how tired she is, how recently we went on a walk/run she will go in the back garden, pick up a rock and run around with it in her mouth. Not even treats can entice her to stop (shes not very treat motivated anyway). Obviously this is scary as its a choking hazard but im unsure how to stop this behaviour. I dont want to chase her as she thinks that's a game (and theres no way id catch her anyway) I've tried taking her out with her leash on so she cant go near the rocks, but then she just sits there and won't pee, or will thrash about and run in circles trying to get to the rocks and I fear continuing with that route will give her a negative connotation with the leash and harness which we only recently were able to make her comfortable with. We tried spraying the rocks with that stuff that is supposed to stop dogs chewing but she doesnt seem to care about it. I've tried taking out another toy that she loves and trying to get her to play with that instead, but she quickly gets bored of it and goes back to the rocks. I would get rid of them completely but we rent and cannot remove them. I am also trying to teach her "leave it" which shes good at inside, but as soon as shes out in the yard she is just fixated on the rocks and will not listen to anything, no commands and very very rarely treats or other toys. We are taking her obedience training as soon as we are able to, but it will be maybe 1 or 2 weeks until we can start that, so for now, how can I get her to stop this??
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