Food thief

[smkie]

http://www.chazhound.com/pictures/showphoto.php?photo=9183&cat=500&ppuser=2623 this dog is a food thief. SHe is endangering her dainty ankles. CAn all of you that have had food thieves in the past share your tips in breaking the habit?

[Love That Collie]

The only food theif I ever had was when I was a kid and my dad's BOOMING voice put a stop to that.
However, when I grew up, had dogs on my own, I trained them not to ever take any food that wasn't offered to them or that wasn't in their bowls. But I don't do it like my Dad did.:rolleyes:

I, for some reason, still sit in the floor in front of the TV and eat sometimes. And sometimes you have to get up for some reason prior to finishing.
I have trained all of the dogs I have ever had in the last 30 years since moving out of my parents home NOT to do this. I sit in the floor with my plate of food, I tell the dog "leave it" or "no", I get up, leave the plate there and tell them "leave it" and I stand there and watch and if they did make an attempt I said it again and again. Gradually I could get farther and farther away. Depending on which dog it was/is them either walk away or like my RB Collie Timmie......he would stare a hole in the plate, just watch it and watch it. Every time the dog/pup even looks like it might get too near...."LEAVE IT"

A friend of mine had a countersurfer, penny cans worked great for her.

[sam]

Well I share your pain but I'm not sure I have the answer.
My aussie is a counter surfer.I don't know too many aussies who aren't. She's pretty good most of the time but lets say a raw roast beef was left on the counter and there was nobody around for 20 minutes- it would be GONE. I worked on it to some degree but mostly I manage it: I don't leave food out unattended. If I have a mess in the kitchen and I don't want to clean it right away I just keep Rosie with me.
Boobie traps work for some people but the problem with a loud sound followed by a great treat is it tends to just desensitize the dog to loud sounds:p Rosie already attacks the vaccuum and isn't scared by much.
I'm not sure what basic OB the dog's had but working on self control / no mugging exercises helps too. http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Levels/LevelBehaviours/TL26Zen.html
having a solid 'go to mat' and a down stay might come in handy with this too.