Food Thief!

[packmom]

I'm finally stumped. After all the years of owning greys and fostering this guy has a behavior that is driving me nuts. At the age of 8 he is the worst counter surfer and food thief I have ever seen. He came here overweight and I thought we could get him down a few pounds but he has gained weight! He steals food from the counter, the table, the other dogs.....anywhere he can get it. Doesn't matter what it is, even peaches and bananas. He will take anything in a plastic bag, including non-food. I guess I've never had one that was so persistant. He watches food with that high prey drive stare. At his age they are usually over this. Tonight he ate a whole bag of buns that I thought were out of reach. He will do this while we are here. He gets into things that no other greys have bothered. He is so sneaky! After years of having only older dogs we've had to start checking everything before leaving the kitchen. Thank goodness he doesn't know how to open cupboards. How do you curb this behavior?

Edited September 4, 2010 by packmom

[Cully]

Have you tried putting cookie sheets on the counter so that they hang over the edges. Then when he puts his paws up there it will knock the cookie sheets off and scare him? I works for some dogs.

[Batmom]

I just put everything away, every time, always.

[packmom]

Have you tried putting cookie sheets on the counter so that they hang over the edges. Then when he puts his paws up there it will knock the cookie sheets off and scare him? I works for some dogs.

 

I bet that would scare him. Probably the cat that jumps up there, too! It may work for a while.

[buddibear]

My guy ate a pound of thawing cooked shrimp from a deep sink. Next door neighbor has 2 german sheps that pull open the fridge AND clean it out. She now ties the frigd up with bungee cords

[GeorgeofNE]

I just put everything away, every time, always.

 

 

Put it all away, and consider baby gating him out of the kitchen entirely.

 

As far as stealing the other hounds' food, perhaps you should feed him in a crate?

[JohnF]

Speaking as one whose tall Borzoi many years ago took an entire cooked chicken from the dinner table and down to the bottom of the garden when I went to call guests, I kind of know what you're going thru with a dog that thinks that all food is his food and it needs to be eaten as quickly as possible!

 

It can help if you exclude them from the kitchen and make a point of eating your breakfast/dinner first before any dog gets theirs. The idea will finally dawn on them that the food in the house is YOUR food.

[Guest cheltzey]

make a point of eating your breakfast/dinner first before any dog gets theirs. The idea will finally dawn on them that the food in the house is YOUR food.

 

We've done this with Lando, who is a notorious and indiscriminate counter surfer, and it seems to be working. Good luck! I know how frustrating it is, especially when you can control what you leave out, but not what everyone else in your family does.

[cleptogrey]

i love the idea of tins/cookie sheets on the counter, maybe put a shaker can in each cookie sheet/pie pan so there will really be a racket when he knocks it over.(fill a used metal can w/ a dozen pennies and tape the metal top back onto the can). otherwise, secure the kitchen, baby gates and feed him in a crate.

 

yes, you got a WINNER!

[TheFullHouse]

Good luck, I've tried everything with Arrow, including eating first and he doesn't care. He's gotten food out of the refrigerator because he sneaks his long nose under my arm and I don't know he's there. He's taken cooking food from a skillet (how he didn't burn his nose I'll never know), he's even dived into the garbage disposal when Kevin forgot to turn it on after dumping food into it. He will steal a loaf of bread off the counter if you're not watching when making a sandwich. We have learned that NOTHING can be left on the counters! He's been with us for almost 6 years and still if given the opportunity, will take whatever he can whenever he can.

[packmom]

We tried the cookie sheets. He dumped them once then learned to get around them. The next time he dumped one it actually scared him because I was hiding around the corner to add to the noise. We can do gates sometimes and he respects the gate as long as we are here. It's just so surprizing because he is 8 and not right off the track.

[Guest Lgyure85]

We have a HORRIBLE food theif also. We tried everything short of mouse-traps on the counter (cookie sheets, yelling, and anything else we could think of). We ended up just putting a gate up across our kitchen door, and making sure EVERYTHING edible is out of reach (aka in a cabinet, since she can reach all of the surfaces). If you found something that works, share!!!