stealing food

[pjaynen]

Hey Mike, you had mentioned something about Dog Gods? I am still having a great deal of difficulty with Stella in the house. She can not be loose in the house at all. We always hold her leash or tie her to something. If loose, she immediately goes on the counter, to the compost, or over the gate into the pantry where we keep her food and also the litter box. She absolutely does not respond to "leave it" or "off" unless we are right there to take her leash. It makes dinner time very stressful here. Also, she has taken to barking incessantly if she is tied in the house. We usually only do this while I am cooking or we are eating, to save our meals from being snatched. If we are holding her leash she is fine. So basically now she is barking all through our dinner. any suggestions?

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Have you tried any dog gods yet?

One of the mildest that I like to start with are the citronella remote training collars. They work good for a lot of dogs - the problem is that some dogs barely notice. Since they can cost a good buck it is always good to see if you know someone who has one first so you can give it a test. I keep one at the kennel for that purpose.

Dog God can be just about anything that the dog doesnt know comes from you and motivates the dog to avoid that behavior. You never want to be connected to these housebreaking connections unless you want a dog that is only good when you are around.

[jokowalczyk]

Hey there Mike,

thanks for your help on the distraction topic, we are doing well so far with the heel and distractions mostly on the pinch collar...

So we have a lab on hand and I wanted to know if he is ever going to grow out of the food obsession. I train him in the house now for place and bring him in as much as possible. He is restricted to the mudroom and the kitchen and we do spend time mostly in the kitchen if we are not outside. We do have two small children so stuff gets dropped off the table all the time. He Buddy is obsessed with every little crumb on the floor ( I do keep the floor quite clean). If I leave anything within his reach it becomes his mission to get it. I don't think he is hungry cause we feed him well and treat train as well. I was going to get him checked for worms to see if that would help. I have heard that labs are 'stomachs' but does it last forever..?? he used to eat veggies straight out of my garden but thanks to the dogtra god he does not enter it anymore...fresh onions, garlic peas you name it...vegetarian at heart....
Any suggestions.

[ChrisNJudy]

Hello,

There a couple of things you can do to help manage the problem. However, rather than trying to go against mother nature and try to make dog not interested in food, you can use it for your advantage. A dog that is very food motivated is actually a good thing especially when it comes to training. Your training will become a lot easier with a dog that is so food motivated like your lab.
In regards to them picking up crumbs that you drop, unless you told him to leave it, it is expected for him to go for it. It is a unclaimed possesion..its like when a wolf pack gets a meal, the Alpha gets the main piece, but if little pieces fall off the other members of the pack have right to it. If you do not like this, the best thing to do is set the dog up for success and manage it. You can have him out of the room when you eat and let him back in once you clean the area. As you move through the training, you can just send your little buddy to a place while you eat.
To your problem about, him stealing food the moment you leave it.. This goes to same thing I said up top. The moment you leave something, it becomes a unclaimed possession and it is natural for the dog to think he has a right to it unless trained otherwise. The best thing to do is set the dog up for success and not leave him alone with unclaimed food until trained. This will be part of the housebreaking section on the triangle how to manage this. I would suggest reading this section to help cure the problem and on how to work with dog gods.

If you feel that has a health issue like you said up top, get that checked out before you go any further with the training.

I hope that helps for now!
Keep us updated!
Chris