my dog is a large breed (obviously) and shes really beginning to annoy me,last night she stole my chicken off the work tops.now this insnt unusual cos she will steal anything she can.a biscuite off the coffee table or anything she can reach.can anyone shed some light on a possible reason shes doing this?ive not changed her food so shes not hungry and i feed raw diet,and she'll normally leave some in the bowl so i know shes not hungry.she must like the raw food as ive offered her a good dried food and the raw at the same time she'll always go for the raw food and leaves the drioed.
shes always been a moo for trying to watch me eat or will hang around as long as it goes unnoticed for but its really annoying the oh now hes had it with her stealing.
anything i can do or change id be grateful of some advise thanks.x

Can't offer any advice, but can certainly sympathise.

I've got 2 Dobes, Mother and Daughter, and they are both thieves but in different ways. Lottie will attempt to nick stuff off your plate whilst you are eating and regularly takes advantage of my Mother who isn't as wise to her antics as I am. Also if you are preparing food she'll sneak up behind you and make a lunge for whatever is on the work surface.

Hattie on the other hand actually jumps up on to the work surface (all four feet, from a standing start), so even when you think something is far enough out of reach she can still pinch it!

None of the others are like this (Goldies) and Winnie (Sussex Spaniel) is smaller so can't reach anyway!

BTW they are raw fed as well!

A dog is a natural opportunist and so if there is food for the taking they will go for it ! Sometimes catching them in the act will stop some dogs. My rescue girl is terrible and for the first few weeks was paws up on the work surfaces to see what she could pinch. She is a lot better now but we still have to keep an eye on her.

The best plan of action is avoid leaving food out whilst he is about and whilst food is out during cooking then put him in another room.

I'm afraid that over many years of dog ownership I've learned that, as a species, they are designed to be opportunists; if there's food available they'll eat it!

So rather than trying to make the dog behave in a way that's unnatural to the species and therefore causing stress for all and making everyone miserable, I simply don't leave food where the dogs can get it. If there's food unattended on the worktops then the dogs are out of the kitchen, or else it's my own fault if they take it.

If she's likely to snatch food from plates, then have her in another room while you eat. Prevention is by far the best solution IMO.

<If there's food unattended on the worktops then the dogs are out of the kitchen, or else it's my own fault if they take it.>

Couldn't agree more, but I've lost count of the number of times I've told my elderly Mum NOT to leave things unattended!

T-Bone when she was younger use to drink out of my coffee and I never new till one day I caught her- always wondered why I had dribble of coffee on the cup and the coffee table-  eeeeeeeeeew and the worst thing is that she is a poo eater "yuck" She was clever enough to have a lap and be gone before I got back coffee must have been especially good that day- still eeeeeeeeeeeeeew!

Funny now we can pretty much leave anything at my dogs reach and they don't touch it- I worked alot of the leave it command and they only get it if I say so- in that am proud of em.... I can put treats/people food at their feet and say leave it.

Hi Tamara

My pup used to do it but I caught him on each occasion, banged something loudly to startle him, and he's never done it since. 

I have heard of people leaving 'traps' for dogs that do this i.e. cover item in something horrid tasting like mustard, and let them take it, they apparently learn 'stolen' things don't taste good.  Never tried it myself though.

I tend to agree with other posters and try not to leave anything about that will tempt them. 

My sisters Dalmatian used to walk on the worktops too and snaffle everything! (the worst was a whole turkey on Xmas day, but she knew what he was like so it was her own fault!)

Dogs are opportunistic scavengers by very nature and will repeat rewarding experiences.

In their minds any food unattended is fair game, finders keepers.

The only real solution is to never leave anything within reach, if they never find a reward fro counter surfing they will cease to do it.  In practise this never happens, so the lovely dears continue to cruise for anything left out for them! ;)

> Dalmatian used to walk on the worktops too and snaffle everything! (the worst was a whole turkey on Xmas day, but she knew

At least mine only opens the fridge....... OH and I have been having an on going tiff about who is not shutting the fridge properly.
Son caught them red pawed one cat and one dallie fridge raiding. We have had to put childrens locks on now!!!

I lost a whole plate of spag bol the other day, as I was grating the cheese on one work top, Logan decided to help himself...I went hungry that night =[

I'v just learnt to not ever leave things on the sides now.....even my tea towels have to be hidden in a drawer at night, I guess you can try the distraction but mine sleep in kitchen at night so nothings to stop them doing it then.

I have one that reverses on to your plate, to sit down. i think he had done this a few times to the o.h and realised he got the bounty. admittedly he only does this with him as i can read his body language far better than he can

I can leave Will and Phoebe in a kitchen full of food and they never ever steal a thing... flipping puppy would have the sugar out your tea if she could. Nightmare!

They do it because they can - I always say to people its like leaving something in a room with a toddler....they will take it if they can reach it.  The dog can reach the worktops so they will take it.

I have to admit most of ours are pretty good and they are large breeds but I can't guarantee they won't steal something.  My sisters 9 month old Leo pup is already 29 inches at the shoulder so can and will very easily take what she wants.  The last hiding place on top of the fridge freezer is now not out of her reach lol!

It's a bit like leaving sweets within a toddler's reach and expecting them to not touch it. :)

I'm having to learn these tricks too, as my breed are not traditionally thieves but my youngster is a Dobermann in disguise, I think. Discipline in not leaving things out is the only answer really.

Still giggle at the thought of my sister's poor face ... "but, but, but - dogs don't EAT doughnuts!".

M.

Over the years, most of my RRs have been counter-surfers. My attitude is always that it's my fault for leaving it in reach. However, I did think that things would be safe on the TOP of the wall units until I caught Tanzi standing ON the counter on her back legs, reaching onto the top of the wall units to reach something that was obviously irresistible :) Her grandfather was a terrible thief and his grandfather used to try to open the microwave (where I thought things might be safe!) I should have known ...

>I have heard of people leaving 'traps' for dogs that do this i.e. cover item in something horrid tasting like mustard, and let them take it

we tried this, Alfie was edging closer and closer to the remains of our indian takeaway there was half a lamb vindaloo and some naan bread we thought "ha, this will teach him  a nasty lesson" so we let him have it and he polished off the whole lot, licked his lips and looked around for more   Its actually made him worse, he loves curry so much that he sits and watches us eating drooling which he never does usually when we are eating.

Another favourite of his is doner kebab with extra hot chilli sauce !!

On the plus side though, people always comment on how unbelievably tidy my kitchen is....not a thing in sight.

I smile and nod....knowing the mess that lurks behind the cupboard doors and drawers ;]

Hannah the Greek is a terrible thief too.  All my other doggies are small so never had the problem.  However she is up on her back legs at the drop of a hat to see what she can pinch!  Still no doubt in Crete on the beach that was the only way to get by ......

I have very quickly learned not to leave food out where she can get it!

Snowflake

I would agree to the 'leave nothing to temptation' method! Khan likes to pretend sleep on the kitchen floor, eyes closed and a little snore etc. but the minute I have left the room he can't wait to raid the bin, empty the wash up bowl and snaffle anything else before I get back!
Last night I cooked some fish for his dinner and left it cooling on the table next to where I was cooking, (table quite old and wobbles!) I was perched on the table and had no idea that Khan had jumped on to the table behind me, swiped a piece of very hot fish and escaped out to the garden. I only knew when I saw steam coming out of his mouth from a distance!
He also knows when I want him to leave the kitchen as he races around the table so I can't get him or if I do have hold of his collar he falls to the floor!! Never does this anywhere else!
Usually he is quite well behaved as I often have a small pile if cheese to reward him for good sitting!!

Yep all my dogs habve been counter surfers !!! the worksurace is only deep enough to stop them in one place,
They get the whole lot of the plate and don't even seem to move the plate

I even turn the (rolltop) breadbin round the other way so that my lot can't snaffle the bread!

I think I have been so lucky with my lot, they never touch a thing. I can take my meal into the lounge on a tray and leave it on my chair to go and get something from the kitchen knowing it is safe, they never counter-surf and I leave tripe out in the dog room to thaw, chicken wings etc.. and as they are a large breed they could get at it if they wanted but never have done.....However, little Miss Chablis is another matter, already at 11 weeks she is jumping up at the work tops and surfing the joint!! We are working very very hard on the OFF and LEAVE IT commands so we shall have to see how things go. At the moment I have become ultra carefull and tidy but she is a little small yet to reach much!!!
Aileen

Daughter skinned 4 rollmop herring fillets, turned and took 1 step put skin in bin, turned back................2 fillets on plate and Rott sat licking her chops :-)
Chris

> On the plus side though, people always comment on how unbelievably tidy my kitchen is....not a thing in sight.
>
> I smile and nod

You mean I am not the only one! Mine are very good at washing the floor  tiles too...

I've always put my dogs behind a stair gate when i first got them when we ate, that is if they wouldn't leave me alone.
Then basic training ie i would teach the dog words like LEAVE, STAY, WAIT and BED so that i could tell them what i wanted them to do while the family ate. now all my dogs even the youngest will go and lie down while we eat, sometimes i have to remind them but their pretty good. one of my dogs is a boxer and if they learn that they get food off you then they are terrible dribblers.
As for leaving things on the work tops their pretty good about not touching things but i wouldn't leave anything tempting around if i'm not in the room  it's just asking for trouble. 

Several years ago I was babysitting for a friend.
I was in the garden playing with the children, something caught my eye causing me to glance up. From where i was standing I could see directly in to her neighbours kitchen.
On the kitchen work surface stood her young boxer dog, he was emptying the food cupboards. He was shaking cornflakes, rice all sorts over the place. There was nothing I could do.
When the neighbour got home the dog had ripped the leather sofa, empited all the food cupboards, ransacked her bedroom and shredded loo rolls.

He had jumped two stair gates to get to the kitchen and one to get upstairs.......She had been out about an hour!!!!!
Of course he was forgiven LOL

OH MY GOD :-o  and i thought it was just naughty dogs who steal.!!!  shes not just stealing from worktops she'll have anything away like a cake in my sons hand or the cat food in her bowl,while shes eating it.ive started a new training program with her now and im enforcing it on all the dogs so she dont feel like shes being punished.not worked yet but rome wasnt built in a day was it.:-)

i belive cant so many dogs do it,i dont feel so bad now,i honestly thought i was doing something wrong.(other than tempting her)
only thing is i cant help but feel like i shouldnt have to lock the dog away from the kids while theyre eating or tell the kids they cant go out in the garden with a bisuite cos of the dog.i think THATS the most annoying thing,not that shes took it just that she thinks she can do as SHE pleases!!!well she flamin cant!!

it will stop....

I have exactly the same problem, my Sasha is very well trained, but the minute your back is turned she steals something. The worst was a couple of weeks ago, I'd collected 12 large goose eggs, and left them on a shelf in the pantry, I nipped out for 20 minutes and came back to 12 empty shells!! You can image what the after effects were, egg yolk coloured runny poo, and no food for 24 hours. After that nothing gets left anywhere, and I've moved a crate into the kitchen so she is confined when I'm cooking!

You did well, sashandme - my girl who did that ate most of the shells and half the box too LOL. You thought the after-effects without shells weren't pretty ...

M.

I've had to re train ALL my boys to not walk/stand around eating as Khan will follow and drool, I also think it's basic manners to sit and eat. I find it easier to control Khan when there's food around if it's not moving!

> Another favourite of his is doner kebab with extra hot chilli sauce

Claire, this is funny you should mention it, but our Malamute loves spicy food too. If we have a curry she really makes a fuss when we don't give her any - she knows straight away if we're having an Indian takeaway though and she sits there and drools, and makes angry barking noises. She discovered curry by accident when she got into a bin bag that was left carelessly on the floor (NOT by me I add ;-))

Does Alfie get any side effects from the spicy food? I was expecting Samoui to be a bit poorly but she was absolutely fine the next day! Her poo was just a bit brighter than usual :-D Must add though, we dont give her curry now, I am sure its no good for her!

Once my pup got big enough to survey the counter tops by standing on his hind feet he went through a period of counter surfing.  I never left food there unattended but I guess it still smelled like food.  His favorite item was the dish cloth, which someone who will remain nameless had a hard time putting up out of reach.  Luckily, dish cloths are amazingly digestible.

Anyway, what worked for me was vinegar.  First I offered him a bowl of it.  He dove in with gusto and came up sputtering, spitting, shaking his head and looked at me as if I was nuts.  Then I wiped the counters down with vinegar each night and a couple of times a day.  Having experienced for himself that vinegar is not tasty he declined to investigate any place it had been.  In only a few days he was no longer interested in things on the counter top.  I did have to repeat a couple of times.  And I made sure to soak the dish cloth in vinegar.

This pup does not like pickles.  Last pup did.  Doubtful if this would work on a dog that eats pickles.

We live in a pub and needless to say, our boy has become accustomed to the sound of a packet of crisps rustling (he can hear it from upstairs) and never misses an opportunity to look as cute as possible in the hope of recieving one. This really started to irritate me as customers feel its is their given right to feed him anything and everything. He then began to beg at tables and for customers who dont like dogs or like dogs begging (when im not quick enough to distract him) this can be off putting to say the least. So, one afternoon we decided to take a packet of crisps to a table, open it and when (not if!) he came over i would give him one, with tabasco sauce on! harsh, i know. His reaction was to lick the crisp clean without blinking, gobble it down and beg for more!! We have now tried, hot jamacian pepper sauce, jalapeno peppers, mustard, capers...the list is endless but in the end we have had to learn he will eat anything!! not so much steal but beg and look pathetic!!
good luck, but as i have found when i've used food for training treats there isnt much i have been able to do to deter him from anything else :)

> T-Bone when she was younger use to drink out of my coffee and I never new till one day I caught her- always wondered why I had dribble of coffee on the cup and the coffee table-&nbsp; eeeeeeeeeew and the worst thing is that she is a poo eater "yuck" She was clever enough to have a lap and be gone before I got back coffee must have been especially good that day- still eeeeeeeeeeeeeew!
>

ugh!!! thats horrible!!!

>Does Alfie get any side effects from the spicy food? I was expecting Samoui to be a bit poorly but she was absolutely fine the next day! Her poo was just a bit brighter than usual  Must add though, we dont give her curry now, I am sure its no good for her!

not that ive noticed, he doesnt get curry that often either - its my OH who eats the real hot stuff and he rarely leaves anything !!

My dog does this... loves margarine and has nicked many from the kitchen side. I have tried training my son to put it back in the fridge after he has made a sandwich ! Starks has had about 6 tubs in as many months, last one though he ended up throwing up in the front room and has not bothered since.

The worst thing that has happened from him jumping up is turning the gas knob on my cooker and nearly gassing everyone to death. I thought I had sorted it out by putting down the glass top- but no the grill knob will still turn even when safety lid down !! luckily I have been in when this has happened,  now my kitchen is always extra tidy no cause for him to jump up in the first place!

my brother had an old english called paddy and he used to open the fridge and pinch the butter.my lab just pinches socks and brings them to me,soaking wet from slobber.funny thing is she won't fetch anything at all when we're on our walks-doesn't know the meaning of the word retrieve.i've become very good at fetching her ball back though.i must be daft as they say in these partsx

> luckily I have been in when this has happened

That sounds really dangerous .  Perhaps not best to rely on luck or that there is nothing to interest an investigation by your dog.  You can have "no flame" safety cut-outs fitted to gas hobs, not so sure about grills and ovens though.  If you cannot entirely prevent the dog having access perhaps one of these might be the answer.

Thats def scary if your dog can turn this on Think I would def make sure the dog could not get near it at all just to be safe on all sides....

It is really dangerous, thought the grill wouldn't come on with just a turn.
The other thing I have done to startle the monkey is put a plastic tray in front of the sides, so when he puts his paws up that comes crashing down on top of him. He has stopped nicking things from the side for a while now. Even the cat food. 

My dobermann would do this.  We had Rob Alleyne round to us (a couple of years ago now), and he recommended me using some caps (these make a bang).  They are on joke web sites, they are like a little metal trap, and you put a cap into it, then put a piece of food or something onto it, when the dog jumps up to the work top and takes the food the cap will make a bang and believe me, your dog won't get up there again.  It makes the sound of a cap gun, I don't know if you had these when you were a child.  It worked a treat.

all my dogs counter surf ..I just dont leave anything out that they would be interested in so its a quick look and jump down.

This has reminded me of a very close call I had many years ago. I came home, opened the front door to a VERY strong smell of gas. I had the sense not to turn on a light switch, just rushed through to the kitchen (where the dogs were), quicky realised that the gas was coming from the gas hob, turned the knob off, shoved dogs in garden and opened all doors and windows. What a scare! I think I must have had a gas tap that was easily accessible because I instantly got into the habit of turning it off when I'd finished cooking.

In this house we have a gas hob, it's bottled gas so it's very easy to turn it off after using the hob. I always remember, OH doesn't but I check up on him. The joy of tall, thieving dogs!

I too have had a counter surfing incident.
Last october I reterned from a shopping trip with the children to discover my kitchen on fire.
My then 5 month old pup had jumped up on the gas cooker and somehow managed to light it. Somehow he must have dragged across and set light to a laundry basket I had carefully placed next to the hob out of his reach. I had to have a new kitchen and the whole house redecorated due to the smoke damage.
He is now banned form the kitchen when we are not around.