Dog is a dangerous Scavenger

[Gordiesmom]

Greetings all, it's been a bit since I've logged in. Seems I have a Dangerous Scavenger for a 7 month old puppy. Our wonderful Belgian Gordie has developed a very bad habit of snatching any food left on the counters, trash, a plate left out. Even if there isn't any food on the plate he will knock it off a table and onto the floor. When I am watching him this doesn't happen. So far we have paid over 300 in vet bills for things he has eaten. Last night someone let him out of his kennel and didn't watch him. He jumped on the counter and got ahold of a pill case and ate two 300mg Wellbutrin pills. sooooo not impressed. The vet says to watch him for any weird signs, and let her know. How do I stop this behavior. The only things I have heard of to stop it is mouse traps on the counters. What recommendations do you have?

[Sarah83]

Don't leave anything on the counters/table where he has access to it. If he never gets rewarded for counter surfing then the behaviour should die out after a while. Seriously, I don't think there is any other way to stop it that doesn't involve hurting or frightening him. It's a management issue, not a training issue.

[runlikethewind]

Mouse traps??? Who on earth gives out this dangerous advice? Do we need to explain once again to all new readers on here why punishment devices do not work and can damage your dog physically and emotionally....

Agree with Sarah - tidy up more. IMHO All dogs are natural scavengers. Those that appear to leave food clearly in temptation's way, whilst the owner is not there to cue a 'leave it' or a 'wait' have been 'taught' by punishment. Would you want to do that to your dog?

Having said that, I think Victoria has the funny staring eyed collie that time who was a counter surfer.. does anyone recall?

[Erica]

Victoria used a collar with a radio sort of thing on it. She taught the dog the "leave it" command until he'd ignore a plate of cupcakes in front of him, then left something dog-safe on the counter, set up a remote-viewing area, and let the dog wander. Then, when the dog went to sniff/eat the food, she used the radio collar to tell him to leave it. It worked, though unless you have the time/resources to do something similar, your best bet would be to remove EVERYTHING that the dog could eat from the counter and to keep an eye on him when he's out of the kennel. Teaching a good "drop it" command would help as well, in case you catch him with something dangerous. For example, leave something boring on the floor for doggy to find/pick up, then offer a choice piece of yummy smelly meat in trade. The dog will (probably) drop the boring thing to eat the yummy thing. I'm sure there's a more complete guide somewhere on this board!

Also, DO NOT use the mouse traps unless you want more vet bills for broken toes and squished noses.

[JudyN]

I have a large plastic lidded box on the worktop into which goes all dirty crockery and so on until it gets dealt with. The only solution really is to keep everything remotely edible out of reach. Tablets on the worktop are a definite no-no.

With a dedicated thief it does become second nature... I work from home and as well as keeping the kitchen clear, until recently if I just popped out the room to go to the loo I'd automatically put my pens, pencils, rubbers, etc in a drawer. I got through a fair few rubbers to start off with, though...

[Sarah83]

Mouse traps??? Who on earth gives out this dangerous advice? Do we need to explain once again to all new readers on here why punishment devices do not work and can damage your dog physically and emotionally....

Rupert is absolutely terrified of the noise pots and pans being placed on top of each other makes. Why? He pulled a cupboard over on himself while trying to steal sausages and 2 plates hit the floor and smashed as the cupboard fell on him*. Oh it worked to stop him counter surfing but 7 years on I STILL haven't managed to convince him that nothing bad will happen when I'm washing and drying the dishes. He goes and hides under the bed. I've heard of rigging up tin cans to fall and make a loud noise to scare the dog out of counter surfing but in all honesty I wouldn't use it. Not when it's a "problem" that's fairly easily managed.

*THIS WAS NOT PURPOSELY SET UP IN ANY WAY*

[ladybug1802]

You may not have been impressed about him eating the pills, but you should think yourself lucky he didnt get seriously ill. I am actually surprised your vet didnt want the dog to come in.

As others have said, you just need to learn to be more tidy and NOT leave food, plates or items you dont want him to get hold of out. We all have to do it. I dont ever leave the rubbish bin near my dog when I go out....I either put the bin directly into the outside bin, or move the inside bin into the hallway where he cant get to it, otherwise my boy drags the bag out and over to his bed! Similarly, if I leave any food or anything out on the counter when I am not there, he will have it....and to be honest, who can blame him!

And...mouse traps?????Seriously???? Lord....imagine the pain you could cause to your dog with this...not to mention more vets bills if you want to look at it that way!

[emmabeth]

runlikethewind - yep, as long as people like VETS keep giving out stupid, dangerous advice, we will have to keep explaining why this is stupid and dangerous!

Something like mousetraps, asides from potentially causing a nasty injury, could leave your dog fearful of sudden noises, and reactive to fast movements - in addition IF the reward is worth it, they may well learn to ignore the potential punishment to get the reward.

My own 'thief' dog is like this - he is BADLY sound phobic, he is a nervous wreck if we shout at all, he is a dribbling shivering mess if there is a prolonged thunderstorm, window cleaners can upset him for days after the event (its the sound of the ladders).... but he has stolen food from a work top where things have fallen off and smashed around him, pots and pans, glass jars, he doesn't care, because the reward (both the food and the 'stress relief' he gets from stealing!) is worth it!

It might seem difficult to learn to put everything out of reach, but how likely are you to remember to put out mousetraps over and over and over?

So yeah.. no mousetraps, or anything else that will fall on him.

Keep your work tops TOTALLY clear and let him figure out that there is NEVER anything up there if you are not in the room, NEVER. Eventually, he will stop looking, but in any case YOU will have developed the habit of never leaving anything up there, so he will be safer!

[Gordiesmom]

Finally got the computer fixed so I can respond to your post.
First let me state my home is VERY clean with two dogs and three daughters, and a three cats you'd never know if you visited. My biggest issue with things left out is my girls are very bad about it. More about how I fixed that...........
Second, Gordie ended up going to the vet , sigh, again. The vet called me back shortly after my post and she had researched it online and Wellbutrin is HIGHLY TOXIC to dogs. Lucky for us we rushed him in and she gave him Charcoal IPAC to move it through his system quickly. Gordie thankfully ate it mixed with dog food without any problem. Three more doses throughout the day and he is fine. (a side note.....we had family pictures that afternoon and at least he was very posed and calm, although I could have done without the drama that caused him to be that way)
Thirdly it was MY VET that recommened the mouse traps, something that I refuse to do. I had someone also suggest electronic matts that shock them and again NO WAY!
Happy to report that after giving my daughters 13, 15, and 17 the 150.00 dollar vet bill and making them pay it, there are no more plates left out and no more medicine cases left out. Amazing what it cost.
I'd also like to add that Gordie is hardly EVER out of my site, when I am not home he isn't allowed out of his kennel unless my fiance is home. Because my girls well they just don't realize that letting him run lose at 7 months is like letting a 3 year old run lose throughout the house. Thank all for the suggestions. The girls are finally taking care of their things and so far Gordie can't snatch anything because we don't leave it out. We did start using the tin can thing for the garbage can. I hung them above it so that everytime the lid is opened it sets off the cans. It's great because if I am in the bathroom or some place and he wanders to the trash (which he has learned to open the locking latch) I hear the cans and can stop him. The noise also starttles him and he knows I will be coming quickly.

[Fundog]

Ah, human teenagers.... sooo much harder to train than dogs.

I'm really happy to hear that Gordie is going to be okay after his drug overdose. I'm also super suprised to hear that it ONLY cost $150-- I truly would have expected a much higher bill!

Thanks for letting us know how things turned out.

[emmabeth]

Good job with the human teenagers!

I dont like the tin can thing for the trash can - sure he might be scared of the trash can now but whats actually likely to happen is he realises the tin cans won't hurt him as far as the trash can goes. if the reward is good enough, he will do it - maybe not now or not next week, but eventually.

Better to move the trashcan, or put it somewhere he can't get in it (in a cupboard!), or get a trashcan he CAN'T open.

The other downside of using a sound aversion is whilst he might be willing to overcome the fear for the reward here, theres a risk he will become reactive/nervous/phobic about OTHER sounds, sounds that don't have a massive payoff such as a tasty trashcan.... I live with a sound phobic dog - believe me, he would steal anything, and it wouldnt matter if the world really did explode as he did it, to him it would be worth it. But fireworks, thunder, rain (because it means thunder!), windowcleaners ladders, wheelybins being dragged along.... all these things make him dribble and shake, and its taken us around 9 years to get him to the point he ISNT urinating himself in fear.

[Gordiesmom]

So much for the tin cans.........my crazy dog knocked those down and had a blast playing with them from one end of the house to another!!!! He definatly is not sound phobic to anything. Start a chain saw up and he will run toward the noise not away from it. Today the carpenter is coming to build me a wooden box that we can put the garbage can in, like a small free standing cupboard. I don't have one in the kitchen that will work. Cost $100, but at least this way Gordie can't get the trash at all. We are hinging it to the call with the opening on the top so that he would have to actually have THUMBS to lift the lid. And as I write this my 7 month old puppy is laying on the floor sucking on his teddy bear acting completely innocent to the fact that he is a little sneek! Thanks again for the advice

Oh and on the training teenagers thing.........it's a struggle but since I've started throwing their things away or hiding them from them it seems to be working out. Love it when they ask where something is and I innocently say, "I don't know".....

[Fundog]

LOL, I remember when I was a teenager, it was my younger sisters who were always leaving things out, and my dad would have a fit... so one time after everyone had left the room, I picked up all of the clutter and arranged it in a big pile in the middle of the floor.... Dad didn't like that either! (my intent was to make a point, for everyone to pick up their stuff and put it away, but it backfired)

Then I started taking my sisters' belongings and quietly putting them away where they belonged... when my sisters asked where their items were, I replied, "Try looking where it belongs." That gave them quite a bit of confusion, as they had to seriously think about it!

I'm blessed, really--- my own teenagers (boys) are somewhat geeky and abnormal. They are getting to be as good at understanding our dogs as I am.

The trash bin cupboard is an excellent idea-- and a big bouquet of flowers to you for being so willing to "think outside the box" and shell out the price tag to have something like that custom built!