Dog Suddenly Scavenging-why?

[BruFord]

Our older Pomeranian mix (11) has suddenly started tipping over household bins and selecting bits that he wants to eat. Yesterday he was lurking in the kitchen as I cooked dinner, watching me put peelings and egg shells in the bin…as soon as my back was turned, he had his head in there. 🤣

Why is he suddenly doing this? Could it be winter boredom as it’s very cold (frozen snow on the ground) where we are so he’s been going for shorter walks than usual.

He knows that we adore him so he looks sad when he’s told off…and just waits until we’re not looking to go in the bins again!

It could be boredom, but it's very likely to be that he is seeking something that is missing from his diet. Can you figure out if there is a pattern to what he is scavenging?

I haven't detected a pattern yet, @EmmaMaria He rifles through the rubbish and licks/chews whatever seems tasty to him!

He's on a vet-prescribed dry diet and we let him have some cooked meat sometimes. He's a rescue and was apparently living out of bins when he was found so perhaps he's reverting to old behaviors. He seemed to give it up when he was being cared for properly though, he hasn't done this for years.

Is you dear dog doing anything else unusual? My dog developed doggy dementia and started doing things that he did in puppy hood. He would also get the stares and just stare at walls of things. There is medication that helps, does not cure it but seems to delay things a bit.
Also does your doggy eat grass in the garden which it can’t at the moment due to the freezing weather. Maybe it wants some vegetables?
I don’t know as I am not a vet but I would get them checked out. It is probably nothing but worth a general once over by your vet

Has he been wormed recently?

A vet was just talking about this on the news. Shorter walks in bad weather/winter means they get bored fractious. Our old dog is playing with toys all over the house which is a pain. The young one is raiding the bin every chance she gets.

Roll on spring.

'He knows that we adore him so he looks sad when he’s told off'

Please don't tell him off. Any food he gets hold of us because it was not put away or secured from his reach/ability to get at it.

Get a lick mat to occupy him.

Likely what happened was something very smelly/tasty caught his attention which made him raid the bin. Once he did it once, he went 'oh yeah I used to do this, this is great'. And now he's in the reward habit. Put the bin somewhere he can't get to it to break the habit. Every time he does it and gets something it's a massive reward so you just want to prevent for a few weeks (maybe months depending on how tenacious he is).

Unless he has lost weight recently and you think he's hungry. Then get him to the vet to check for anything more sinister

Thanks all. I think perhaps he’s bored in the bad weather and has rediscovered the joys of scavenging- as @fortheloveofcollies says, if he found a couple of tasty items, he’ll want to do it again! He’s not losing weight and seems pretty lively overall.

I’ll invest in some new toys and perhaps get him a lick mat to keep him occupied.