I have a 12 week old golden retriever pup, who is extremely greedy. She is fed well and has been treated for worms so it can't be medical. I know retrievers are quite greedy by nature, but given half the chance she will eat anything. She doesn't beg when we are at the table but if we eat anything around her when we are not sat at the table, e.g. outside or on the sofa, she will continuously try to get at the food and if she succeeds in getting onto the chair she will scrabble to get the food. It makes it almost impossible. We don't give her any titbits so she doesn't get rewarded for it. Will she just give up trying? I don;t want to have to crate her whilst we eat because she will never actually learn and there isn't always a crate handy if you go out!
Also i have nearly had my fingers bitten off by her snatching a biscuit from my hand when i offered it to her. How do i stop that?
Finally she eats what i believe to be cat poo (Could be fox poo or even dog poo, but i'm pretty sure it belongs to the cats!). Its not possible to clear it all up as we have a big garden and a lot of cats so we can't follow them around all the time with a pooper scooper!! :-) She is learning the 'leave it' command, but i can't always be with her when she goes into the garden and so i was wondering if there is something i cam put in the cats food to stop it being so tasty?

Welcome to the world of dogs! Disgusting little swine! ;)
You say she never gets anything but then say she snatches a biscuit from your hands so yes, she is learning that your hands contain nice things! Remember, she has no idea that a dog biscuit is any different to anything else in your hands!

At 12 weeks old she will still have sibling competition on her mind, "Grab it before another puppy gets it!" gradually, as she finds that there is no competition any more he will get easier in this respect.

Regards, John

Yep she is a disgusting little swine - with very smelly breath! ;-) (Thank god for poultry flavoured toothpaste!)
Its true what you say, i never thought of it like that.

Hi,
As John has said, if you have given her a biscuit from yourfingers she has learned that hands can contain food! This is fine as long as you teach her to take titbits gently. Otherwise someone is going to get a nasty nip (accidentally, but it will still hurt) and it won't be the dog's fault!

I teach this by holding a titbit in my closed hand. I offer it to the dog, saying quietly but firmly "Gently". I open my hand a little so the dog can smell the treat in there and starts to try to get it. I say "No"...."Gently" and only release the treat when the pup has stopped trying to get at it, and praising a lot!

You may well have to put her in the kitchen when you eat, because a single crumb dropped on the floor will be enough of a reward for her to keep scrounging.

Most dogs seem to like cat poo - cat food is very high in protein, and there is a lot still left by the time it comes out the other end (yuck) - so it is generally considered a delicacy.

Don't forget she is still a very young baby - with firm, consistent training she should have grown out of the scrounging (though she will always be hopeful!) in a few years time
:)

Perhaps you could try putting her on her lead and tying her to something while you are eating, close to you but not too close :)

Daisy

hey.. i recently got a golden retriever puppy and he is now 4 months old.. he also will eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING! in my backyard we have a lot of bunny poop which dogs LOVE!