You know, sometimes I think it might be easier to raise a child than to raise a dog. My dog, as smart as she is, cannot be reasoned with. There’s not point in trying to tell her why something she did was wrong, because to here it’s all “blah, blah, blah, total attitude.”
This evening, my sweetie, thomasm, and the Esprix have theater tickets to Les Mis. Having seen it and not been impressed, I passed on the show. They had to leave the house early to make it to the show on time, and I got stuck late at work. Now, when Esprix and thomasm got home, the house was spotless. However in the 15 minutes between when they left and I got home, our dog has tipped over the trash can and hauled a bunch of stuff down to the lower room to chew on (including a half-loaf of moldy bread. Yechhh!). Fifteen minutes! Know where I found her? In her time-out spot. She knew what she did was wrong, but it certainly did not stop her.
Looks like I’m gonna have to invest in a more dog-resistant garbage can, 'cause I don’t think I’m getting through to her that she needs to lay off the dumpster diving.
Maybe she thinks it’s part of the game. She thinks, “I’ll just have a bit of fun while they’re out, then sit in my out-of-the-way spot while the master cleans it up so I can do it all over again later! Yay!”
Don’t be too hard on her; I think she just panicked.
Doggie brain:
*Where’s John? Where’s John? Where’s John? Hey! Where’d those other guys go? I’m all alone! Where’s John? He’s never coming home! I’m going to starve to death! I better find something to eat! Garbage can, yeah!
What’s that noise? John’s home! Yaaay! John’s ho…uh-oh.*
For an incorigible garbage hound one of the few cures I’ve found is to take a not-exactly-edible chunk of something from the scattered garbage in question, like a discarded sponge, and jam it partially down the animal’s throat. The mutt promptly gets to hack up this synthetic furball and immediately begins to get negative associations with raiding the trash.
Harsh as it sounds the discomfort level involved eventually begins to serve as a deterrent. You have to make it so the garbage is not your animal’s friend, instead of it being a fabulous smell-o-rama of humie food.
She’s actually an old lady, nearly 8 years old. However, she is the smartest dog I’ve ever had the disputable pleasure of interacting with. She just gives in to temptation a little too often. She also has exacting schedules which we must follow or suffer the consequences.
She’s my baby, and I love her. I just wish I could talk with her.
My dog used to tear up the garbage can constantly. Every time I turned my back he’d make his way towards the trash. The one thing that seems to work lately is smearing a bit of apple bitters spray around the edge of the can. For $3.00 you can get a god sized bottle from your local pet store. It only takes a little bit. A quick spray on your fingers is more than enough to spread the scent.
So far I’ve done this once, and my pup hasn’t gone near the barrel in 2 weeks!
I have found also that ammonia does the trick. First time I did it, I set the open bottle on the floor and called the dog over. He runs up, sees the open bottle, and takes a big wiff…and then backs off quickly.
I wonder if its a mild case of separation anxiety, it is very common in differant degrees from hugging an owners slipper to absolutely trashing the house.
There are lots of things you can do, any dog trainer will be able to help.
Before you leave the house in the last half hour or so you should not show too much affection, be more distant and aloof, certainly do not give out lots of goodbye hugs.
You can condition her by puttting her in a room on her own for increasing amounts of time with some of your clothes near her.When you let her in you then stay aloof and only make a fuss of her when you want to rather than when she wants to.
When you return home and she goes ballistic in greeting you, again you should do this on your terms, make a fuss when you are ready, not when she is.
Take her out for a good long walk before you go, if you have the time.
Some times we get so close to our dogs that we humanize them and this can lead to problems when the dog fails to appreciate its position in the household hierarchy.
