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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think all dogs aren't this naughty???

62 replies

ICameOnTheJitney · 04/12/2013 13:44

Looking after my brother's dog. She's a naughty little shit. Sorry but I am so annoyed.

I'm in the kitchen with her in her bed....I made myself some pasta for lunch, grated some cheese on top, turned around to get a fork and when I looked back she'd silently got the whole block of cheese and returned to her basket with it. Angry

Do they ALL act like that? The cheese is now licked and bitten so in the bin...what a waste!

She's very tall so it's not much effort for her to reach the countertop...but really...to do it when I'm in the frigging room!!

OP posts:
Original poster
ICameOnTheJitney · 04/12/2013 13:52

She just starts looking for more food once I've told her off! I don't shout...but I say "No!" in a firm voice...what are you meant to DO? She howls if I put her in the garden and only relaxes when she's by my side!

OP posts:
alwaysregretposting · 04/12/2013 14:02

No, they're not all like this. However, I don't think the distinction is between 'naughty' dogs and 'good' dogs, rather it's between dogs who are highly motivated by food and dogs who aren't. Even dogs who aren't can be tempted though.

My dog is HIGHLY obssessed motivated by food and we have adapted accordingly. If it's left in reach and unattended then it runs a high risk of being eaten - so we don't leave anything unattended in reach. Ever.

Except mistakes do of course happen and when they do I don't see it as my dog being naughty. I just see it as my dog being a dog and us being careless. He doesn't really understand the concept of 'naughty', I don't think that's how he's wired.

We've trained him to do many things since we adopted him but not taking food when it's available is not something that would be easily trainable for him I don't think. The instinct is too strong. The plus side is that he's easy to train - with food!

DziezkoDisco · 04/12/2013 14:06

Most dogs will nicked food at any given moment. My little monkey waits til we are out the room, knocks it off with her paw then devours, no matter where it is. Some breeds are worse greedier thn others.

SashaOfSiberia · 04/12/2013 14:08

Some dogs are as previous poster said, highly motivated by food. I used to own a dog who was of a breed that were obsessed with food and never full.

Quite a few of this breed are overweight as you really need to exercise them because of all the food or properly control they're diet. My dog used to steal entire packets of brioche, whole chickens, pizzas etc You could not leave her unsupervised. In the end we banned her from the kitchen as she was getting into cupboard and I think the smells were driving her wild.

Your brothers dog isn't naughty, she's just acting on instinct, you should take the necessary precautions.

What breed is she?

ZombieMojaveWonderer · 04/12/2013 14:13

Mine are 'naughty' like this Wink my cats too actually. Always sneaking food off my plate if they get the chance.

spiderlight · 04/12/2013 14:15

Dogs are opportunists. Don't throw the cheese out - put chunks of it in a Kong or similar activity toy to occupy her (or, as my fabulous dog-trainer friend puts it, give her a job or she'll go self-employed!)

CosyTeaBags · 04/12/2013 14:27

My dogs are motivated by food, but would never do this. (maybe they're less food motivated than I think?) They have been taught that it is not acceptable. Some breeds are definitely worse than others (I have one angel and one mischievous little bugger, both true to their breed types)

How long do you have the dog for? Is it worth trying to train her while she's at yours? You could start by giving her a warning whenever she shows an interest in any food on the counter - just a distraction noise like "ah ah" or click fingers, then a stern point and a deep voice 'I'm watching you' usually does it for me. If you catch her in the act, tell her off sternly. She might learn that it's not ok in your house.

give her a job or she'll go self-employed! Love this! Very true!

I was house sitting a friend's house with 2 dogs once. They had some chocolate birthday cake which they had told me to take home to share with my friends. I cut off a huge wedge - say enough for about 4 good slices - and put it on the kitchen table while I went to the loo in the adjoining room. Their dog was sitting under the table. Came back - the scene was exactly as I'd left it, dog sitting peacefully under table.. but no chocolate cake on the plate. He had snarfed it all in the time it took me to have a quick wee. I was astonished!

smokeandglitter · 04/12/2013 14:27

As others have said many dogs are like that. I mainly trained (with the aid of classes) our dog (got her as an older child) and she doesn't steal food in front of me but if I leave food within reach and leave the room she will take it. She adores food. Also, with my parents (who she stayed with after I went to Uni) she isn't as wary of taking food if they have their back turned.

Personally as your brother I would have tried to give you a list of suggestions to make caring for her less bothersome if you're not used to looking after dogs, like don't leave food in reach, but it's easily overlooked and perhaps he assumed you knew not to.

One of my cats is awful with food. Turn away for a second and she's on it like a car bonnet! We never leave food in a reachable place unattended. Smile

diddl · 04/12/2013 14:44

Cheese gives my dog the shits!

I also don't think of is as a dog being naughty-just being a dog!

Saw a chance & took it!

DiseasesOfTheSheep · 04/12/2013 14:49

Nope, mine is highly food oriented but knows that food not "given" to him isn't for pinching when my back is turned. I can leave a plate of biscuits on the floor and leave the room for half an hour and they'll still be there when I get back. Not that I'm smug or anything!

pianodoodle · 04/12/2013 14:51

You leave cheese within reach the majority of dogs will have it Grin

They don't see it as stealing. It's just some nice food!

D0oinMeCleanin · 04/12/2013 14:51

99% of dogs would do this. I've got a foster atm who will eat anything. I've just came home from work to find she's ripped a bin bag open all over the dining room to get to used tea bags and cotton buds.

Last week she ate 20 cigarettes (Thanks, Rubes, that wasn't expensive at all)

I also recently learned that she can open the oven. She won't do it while it's hot but if leave meat in there to cool before putting in the fridge, we have to watch it because as soon as the oven is cool enough she'll have the meat out and be merrily sharing it with her canine house mates.

There are ways to train for this, but generally, prevention is better cure, particularly where greyhounds are concerned. They are very food motivated but not exactly bright. Put everything away as soon as you've finished with it. It becomes habit after a while. My kitchen never looks cleaner than it does when we have greyhounds staying over Grin

The first grey we had would take tins out of the bottom cupboard and store them in her bed. She couldn't open them, but they smelled of food so she hoarded them Hmm

LuciusMalfoyisSmokingHot · 04/12/2013 14:56

Some dogs are worse than others, my Dsis dog was a food hound and would park herself in front of you, to guilt you into feeding her.

Cat are also bad too, my exp friend once, was getting some sandwich meat out of the fridge not realising said kitty was lingering, before he ever shut the fridge, naughty kitty leaped through the air, with one paw stole the meat and leg it it with the meat.

SnakeyMcBadass · 04/12/2013 14:57

I don't ever leave food about if I'm leaving the room. My two won't touch it while I'm there, but out of sight, out of mind as far as they're concerned. Meat and cheese would be swallowed whole.

LuciusMalfoyisSmokingHot · 04/12/2013 15:02

Be happy you dont have this sneaky canine

or this clever kitty

CosyTeaBags · 04/12/2013 15:06

The first grey we had would take tins out of the bottom cupboard and store them in her bed. She couldn't open them, but they smelled of food so she hoarded them Oh bless her, that's so cute! I would say there's no hope of training a dog that is that food obsessed not to steal a tempting lump of cheese within reach!

I can leave a plate of biscuits on the floor and leave the room for half an hour and they'll still be there when I get back. Mine too. I think he's more human than dog sometimes. I also do that cruel thing of putting a biscuit on his paw and telling him to leave it. He just stares longingly at it until I tell him it's ok... cruel control freak that I am

DiseasesOfTheSheep · 04/12/2013 15:11

I do the same, cosy Grin he is (and has never been) allowed to eat without being "released" to it, so it doesn't occur to him to take without permission. And yes, control freak sounds about right!

SecretSantaFix · 04/12/2013 15:19

I used to have a border collie who would steal food if you hadn't expressly instructed her to lie down and leave it.

She was super clever sometimes and my mother caught her helping herself to a loaf of bread from the bread bin. She had watched how my mother pressed a certain point on the front and the front would come down. So she must have had about 5 loaves before she was caught.

We stepped up the playtime with her and replaced the bread bin with a lid that had to be physically lifted.

LadyVetinari · 04/12/2013 15:33

YABU - it's extremely hard to train dogs not to take "left" food, and many just aren't capable of controlling the impulse for very long anyway.

Also, just to warn you - lactose intolerance is quite common in dogs, so if she's eaten more than a few crumbs you may want to confine her to wipe-clean surfaces for the next few hours. (Voice of bitter experience...)

KateMoose · 04/12/2013 15:56

I have a highly motivated by food dog too. He's a spaniel. Normally they are trainable by being ball or toy obsessed. He is food. He has brilliant problem solving techniques to get food and i am convinced he has a go go gadget paw that can super stretch to grab food. I am quite adept at keeping stuff out of reach but my DD and my parents are TERRIBLE. My DD leaves her food unattended and I have usually told the dog to go to bed but he cannot help himself. He will dash in and grab stuff and she is devastated and runs screaming (she's 3) that he's snaffled her food. He's also dreadful for filtching it out of her hand if he can.

My parents leave the cupboard that contains their dog's food open all the time and we go round, then after a while realise that the dog is quiet, to find him desperately gulping back the dog food like a starving stray. Or, they leave whole loaves of freshly made bread RIGHT on the edge of the work top....

Its really refreshing to read this thread to find out about like minded dogs! I particularly like the greyhound hoarding tins bit. I am constantly on the hunt to get him food that is filling but it does not work...

trashcanjunkie · 04/12/2013 16:05

I sometimes look after a greyhound. We are super vigilant with food, as she's a rotter for sneaking it off the kitchen benches - even right at the back. She once ate an entire packet of salted peanut. Her poos came out like nutrageous bars Blush. I prefer her tricks, which I can outwit, to the shit eating spaniel that I also look after. He's disgusting. The more rotted the shit, the better in his opinion. He's obsessed. Last week he ate so much shit on our walk, and the one his owner took him for, he came back home and barfed shit up all over their kitchen floor. We've tried all sorts to curtail his habits dietary wise, so I think he may need some kind of nose bag to keep him from eating tramp droppings. Bleaurgh

mrsjay · 04/12/2013 16:09

MY dog sits underneath the worktop when i am grating cheese in the hope I will drop some he doesnt steal though he never has HOWEVER my last dog did she would steal food and we had her from a puppy and it was something we could never train out of her IYSWIm she once nicked a chicken from the side and dragged it to her --lair== bed. some dogs are scavangers, newdog has a thing for socks and pants and will nick them

pianodoodle · 04/12/2013 16:12

I've made an oath that I will definitely train my next dog properly :)

As it is, I have a spoiled dachshund although she isn't fat, just a bit entitled and haughty!

At least she can't reach high enough to get into anything!

mrsjay · 04/12/2013 16:15

MY last dog was a little madame she would do the yes I am good look i am sitting and not going to steal that as soon as my back was turned she was off with whatever, this dog we have is really not that bothered unless i drop something

CMOTDibbler · 04/12/2013 16:17

We have a stairgate on the kitchen as my lurcher (who will leave food alone where he has been specifically told to wait or leave it) just can't be trusted around food. He was underfed as a puppy, and thinks he needs to get food whenever he can

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