Proven Tips to Keep Your Dog From Stealing Food
As a child, I remember watching our small dog strategically jump from chair to chair until she landed on our dining room table. There, she promptly helped herself to a banana from the fruit bowl. My first thought was she’s pretty darn smart! Then, I was shocked she ate the entire banana.
While most pet owners appreciate their dogs’ skill and finesse when stealing food from the table, it’s not always entertaining watching your Rottweiler eat your carefully prepared roast. 🙂 These dog training tips not only stop dog stealing food behavior, but they also prevent it from happening in the first place.
Why Dogs Steal Food Off Tables
Who can resist deliciously smelling food sitting on a table, right? When food is left on tables or kitchen countertops, it can easily become an open invitation for your dog. Once your dog rewards himself by pulling down a loaf of bread and eating every slice, including the plastic wrapping, he learns to patrol tables and countertops heavily.
Every time your dog steals food, he is rewarded, which strengthens the behavior. As a result, the dog stealing food behavior happens more often. Think about it this way: If you found a $100 bill under a large tree in your backyard every week, I’m pretty sure you would keep an eye on it constantly or, if not, live under the tree.
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How to Prevent Dog Stealing Food Behavior
As you’ve probably guessed, keeping food off tables and counters prevents this dog behavior from happening in the first place. Get the children involved and stash bread, snacks and fruits in closed cabinets or refrigerator. Remember to pick up food items after cooking.
If you’re cooking, and food is scattered across your counters, keep an eye on your dog. Or better yet, push food items further back from counter edges to prevent your dog from sniffing or snatching food. If your dog starts sniffing counter edges, call your dog to you and ask him to “lie down” and reward with a treat. Soon, your dog learns that lying down in the kitchen makes food appear rather than stealing it.
For proven food thieves, or dogs that have a history of stealing food off tables, fence the kitchen off with a baby gate. By creating a barrier, your dog is unable to patrol the area and look for food. Also, keep your dog in a crate when you’re away. This prevents your dog from learning to climb furniture for fruit bowls placed in high locations.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]If you punish your dog for stealing food, he will learn to steal food when you’re not around. [/perfectpullquote]
Don’t Punish Your Dog For Stealing Food
We all scream when a dog steals food and runs away with it; we’re shocked it just happened. Do know that punishing your dog for stealing food won’t stop him, but instead make it much worse. So many times, pet owners are advised to set up their dogs with tempting food dangling from the table edge. The moment their dogs walk toward it, they’re advised to punish him. Let me explain how this creates a super sneaky food thief.
If you punish your dog for stealing food, he will learn to steal food when you’re not around. Yes, punishment creates stealth thieves, meaning you never hear it happening or it happens so fast that everyone in the house is clueless. Think about it this way: If you’re speeding near a specific bridge and the police stops and issues you a ticket at that location, you’ll either learn to drive slowly everywhere or slow down when approaching the bridge.
Preventing a behavior from happening is key! If dog stealing food behavior occurs down the road, prevention still works best, so the behavior is never rewarded (dog is unsuccessful at stealing food because it’s not available). This works!
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