Is my dog crazy?

[homeinwestIL]

I've been battling the local wildlife trying to grow fruit trees and gardening since moving to the country ten years ago. The deer made growing fruit trees nearly impossible, so I built an 8 foot high fence a couple of years ago that encloses about 3/4 acre of garden/orchard area, and that has been keeping them out. However, it didn't keep out the smaller critters and I lost a lot of apples last year, to possums mostly I believe (at least that's what I saw lots of on pictures from a game cam that I put in one of the apple trees) So when I started seeing the same thing happening this year, I decided I would put my dog (black lab mostly) in the garden to keep them out. She rewarded me after her first night with a dead possum sitting by the gate the next day, but hasn't presented me with any dead animals since. I've stopped losing fruit and vegetables like before, so she seems to have the desired deterrent effect. However, now I've seen the dog picking tomatoes off of my plants and eating them and also eating all of the pears that fall to the ground and the few that she can reach low on the tree. I suspect she's eating fallen apples too. I think I'm feeding her well with dog food. She doesn't eat a lot so I'm still way ahead of where I was, but has anybody else had trouble with a dog eating fruit and vegetables?

 

[Mousefield]

Sounds like the dog is doing its job and has a few snacks as a fringe benefit.

 

[Redgoatea]

Two of my dogs, the labs, follow us around the farm and eat the blackberries off the bushes. Funny thing is dogs are color blind so how they only eat the ripe ones I'm still working out. I guess they could smell different but ???????

 

[CurlyDave]

We used to have an American Eskimo that ate anything. For a while we lived in a house with peaches, plums, apricots, apples and persimmons.

The dog got so fat she couldn't get in the car by herself. The floor of the back seat was too high to jump into.

 

[Skyco]

My ex-FIL had an English bulldog that would eat all his tomatoes unless he fenced them from the dog.

Our lab/golden would decimate our blueberries until we finally gave up on them

Then we noticed one day he was eating persimmons that fell. I wouldn't have cared since we have wild persimmons in abundance- but- then I read where sometimes dogs eat enough persimmons they'll get intestinal blockage from the large seeds in them, so....I've been converting all the persimmon trees to small firewood. We lost a great lab/chow a few years ago at age 7 from intestinal blockage so we are a little touchy about it. Besides the sadness of losing a great dog it cost us thousands in vet fees and was a miserable few weeks for the dog too, she endured 3 surgeries before kidney failure got her...

I've also been killing all our wild grape vines since grapes are poisonous to dogs...the lab/golden was perhaps snacking on them too...and the vines were a general PITA.

 

[arpt209]

I had a hound dog, Redbone/Plott cross who patrolled our corn patch for 'coons & at the end of the journey picked & ate an ear of nearly ripe corn every time. The Golden Retriever would pull bunches of grapes off the vine & carry them to the yard where she shared them with the hound & the English Pointer. At the time I didn't know the grapes weren't good for the dogs so just let them have at them. All 3 dogs lived to be 13 to almost 17 years old before dying from cancer or kidney failure. I no longer have grapes & my Brittany Spaniel could care less about either corn or 'coons.

 

[Freds]

Grapes are funny in that some dogs obviously have a high tolerance to them and others all it takes is one to shut down the kidneys.
Can't blame a dog for eating something that smells good, lol. And sometimes not so good...

 

[Army grunt]

My spits ate black berries .Also a plum looking fruit.I lost her a few years back.Still miss her. Theres a orgination on long island that trains dogs for veterans. I turned in the paperwork a year ago to apply for one, an on 10-12 Ill be getting trained with my new Buddie ,(cant weight)
Army Grunt

 

[jinman]

When I was a kid I had a Collie dog named Baby. She loved to eat cantaloupe and watermelons. When I called her I'd say, "Come to me my melon-collie Baby." :laughing:

 

[clemsonfor]

I was going to say the same thing as a few of you. My wife is a vet asst. and she said tomatoes can make a dogs stomach flip (i think that movie marly and me was about that, i have never seen it though, just what i have been told). That being said when i had a big garden in Anderson we threw rotten or bad split tomatoes down the hill and our dog would eat them up, before the wife worked at vet, and she was and is fine, but we dont pruposefully let her eat them. The grape thing is true as well.

A coworker of mine says her wiemariner will eat the red tomatoes off her plants so they cant grow them.

My dog will eat spoiled cataloups and watermellons that i throw out as well as green beans too.