Hi all,
My greedy 3 year old lab bitch Casey is driving me batty with her stealing. We have always had to be careful about leaving her alone in the kitchen with food scraps on plates on the counter tops. She loves anything and everything. This summer she stole and ate a whole bar of soap when "on holiday" with my in-laws. Not too pretty an aftermath but she was very clean on the inside.:D

Since my two pups arrived 10 weeks ago she seems to have become worse and steals anything she can off the countertops. This has become dangerous as she is sharing her loot with her puppy sidekicks. It was a used teabag this morning and hair elastics left by my daughters this afternoon. It wasn't too bad altho unhygienic when it was crusts from sandwiches but the potential for catastrophe is huge. I keep the counters as clear as humanly possible but inevitably they have to be used and I don't like locking her in the utility room whenever I can't supervise her.Surely at 3 years old we should be able to trust her. How can I stop this habit please?

Thanks
Gill

Does Casey have a Havaball or rollng Kong thing that dispenses food? That would be positive. We resorted to putting booby traps on tables/counters bearing food and the noise of clattering pans ( cheap n nasty light ones) deterred Morse from nicking food again. Or you could use the water pistol to discourage it as long as she dosent see it coming from you. Like you we found it didnt stop at food and was getting dangerous even without 2 puppies. I dont want to seem cruel or hurt a dog. Training discs do the same job.

someone else had the same problem at our dog club and the trainer suggested sprigs of holly sellotaped to the edge of the worktops

Our rescue dog was a bad scavenger when we got him. What really worked for us was to be very careful not to leave anything where he could reach. Also - importantly - was to teach him the 'leave it' command. Any food that was given to him, he had to sit and wait for. We also put biscuits down on the floor and made him leave them - then took them up again. It took several years - but he hasn't stolen any food for about two years now :)

Daisy

Thanks:D.These are all great tips . She knows "leave", and she is made to wait for her food. The problem at the moment is when you don't notice her at it. She needs something that will deter her when we aren't watching so the holly would do that, as would trapping her in the act. and "shooting" her. I'll do a search on training discs as I don't know much (anything;))about these. I presume the dog's distracted by the sound and learn that they indicate undesirable behaviour and when they hear it they stop what they are doing? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

You don't need training discs - an empty Coke can filled with a bit of gravel and sealed will work just as well :) But it doesn't work with all dogs - she will either stop dead in her tracks when you shake it or will want to play with it :D

Daisy

Do you know my girl by any chance Daisy? Life's just one long game...I wish:D

No - but it worked a treat with my older dog, but the younger one doesn't take any notice of it :D

Daisy

You could try can filled with pebbles or coins left on the edge of the work tops (unless she is of a too sensitive disposition)

That's a fantastic idea. And no she certainly isn't too sensitive:D
Gill

A golden syrup tin with an old style 'choke chain' or similar inside it will do the job quite dramatically. If you attach string to the can you can pull it from a distance creating a scary effect!

Ifyou can, keep the counters etc as tidy as is humanly possible - the more the dog is rewarded, in her terms, for scavenging and counter surfing, the more she will do it

My dog is never in the kitchen without my supervision as i use a child gate, very useful they are too. She isn't really a scavenger though :)

It's hard with a family - the training discs are different to an aversive noise, the dog has to be "conditioned" to them and when thrown on the floor, they signal a "non reward" in the dog's brain. They may work well, but probably only if you are present. The dog will almost certainly still attempt surfing when you are absent (and i don't mean on the computer!!! LOL!)

I agree with the advice to use an environmental consequence, working on the ACt of God principle...... you could also try strips of double sided tape, attacked to the worktops, these are supposed to be very effective and is what a trainer friend recommends to owners ;) Most dogs just cannot bear that sticky feel on their paws.

Good luck.