Is the doghouse a thing?

[tishtishboom]

My elderly rescue cocker is A Very Good Girl. It's adorable, and slightly heartbreaking, to see how hard she tries to do the right thing. But just occasionally, a sandwich left carelessly within reach gets the better of her. She clearly knows it's wrong (she will delicately turn her head away when I'm eating, to let me know she has no designs). But, well, ham is delicious after all. I've no idea how to effectively convey that theft is not on. I turf her off the sofa, and give her a stern "no", but is that sufficient/effective? Should I ostracise her for a bit, and if so, for how long? In other words, does the doghouse work?

Or should I just chalk up three sandwiches in 18 months as fair dos in light of her grim puppy farm past?

Do not punish her.

Remove temptation.

Job done

Don't punish her, don't leave sandwiches lying around. What an odd question.

Only 3 in eighteen months! She's a gold star dog. I wish mine were as good as this. Don't punish her. Just say "no". And try to keep them out of her reach. She sounds lovely.

Don't punish her and don't leave food in reach. You are setting her up to fail.

This. If you have a dog and leave food within their reach surely you know the inevitable will happen?
She sounds delightful btw

This thread made me laugh - it came up in active and my thief is a cat rather than dog, so forgive me muscling in. We adopted a one year old ex stray boy last year and his stealing food was astonishing, from swiping stuff off our plates to breaking into the kitchen waste caddy. Our previous cat was very food motivated, but also mannerly.

He’s going to be two next week and while he’s still game if you leave eg meat resting on the side (the christmas turkey was almost a casualty) the thieving has stopped now. We think that as a stray kitten he was used to having to scavenge for food, and now he knows there’s a plentiful supply he doesn’t need to bother. Your girl sounds similar, OP.

I don’t think “the dog house” or cold shoulder works for animals at all - they need an immediate reprimand/removal if caught in the act, then done.

The only telling off I’d do is to myself for leaving a tempting sandwich unattended!

My cats have had at more than 3 sandwiches this month let alone anything else.

I'd rather a dog chomp the whole thing than a cat sneakily lick off the butter whilst you've nipped to do something else and come back none the wiser to enjoy your lovely sandwich.....

Clearly you need to go vegetarian and teach your dog to appreciate cheese. It worked for mine - she's never stolen a ham sandwich in her life 😁

No. Cockers are very sensitive and you know she knows she’s done wrong - so ‘punishing’ her won’t help.

Remove the temptation.

Oh behave. Errors on both sides are inevitable. QED per this thread.

To be fair, it was ham and cheese! Temptation overload.

Message received and understood. I hate the idea of punishing her, as she is a (my) darling, so glad to hear the consensus. Rookie owner, so guidance appreciated.

You may have found AIBU more helpful for your particular dilemma today...😏

Threads on The Doghouse are often somewhat meatier than a ham sandwich.