beach chick Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Ozzie will be 4 in January, he came to us as a 10mth old rescue dog. being a Lab, of course, he's greedy ... but in the last few weeks he has turned into a total thief! we cant leave ANYTHING out on the worktop, because he will sneak in and get up on his back paws to snaffle it, and if anyone leaves a crisp packet lying around he'll eat that too. last straw was this morning while I was cleaning out the chooks and he ate the cupcakes youngest had just baked - she's not happy havent changed his food, he's getting his walkies/playtime, he's very fit at the moment (having had dysplasia problems in the past). the only thing I can think of (apart from installing barricades) is to worm him again, but he was Advocate-d about 5 weeks ago so shouldnt really be that so quickly. off to vets next week for vaccinations etc and I will get some more Advocate then, but in the meantime any ideas anyone?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Labradors are Opportunist scroungers , no matter what age if you let your guard down they'll be there . Cold weather can make them more hunergy too. Keep food well out of reach, train family members to do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna C Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 What do you do when he does this?? I've got other problem, just got mine straight(wheat/gluton intollerent) and they've stopped selling his treats, back to square 1 . He isn't that interested in any food much but his brother is opposite. Ihad to be really firm from day one and seems o.k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBevBen Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 The only thing I can think of suggesting Beach Chick is to make sure there's no food anywhere that he can see, that he can get to as well, then the temptation is removed. If you do catch him 'in the act' stand firm and don't back down so he'll learn. We're so lucky with our Ben, he's never once took anything off the work tops. Only in the last few months has he cottoned onto the fact that what we eat is nice and tasty and interesting...... but I can put stuff on the worktops and he won't go near. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 They are scrounging little monkeys, List of things my darling boy lab ate as a pup: Whole large christmas cake (spat the icing out) Entire orgainc veg box ( nice purple poos the next day from the beetroot) Wasabi peanuts 4 beef roasts to many sandwiches to mention Plums (spat the stones out thank goodness) We soon learnt to tidy food stuff up pretty quickly and invest in a dog proof bin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 If we catch him in the act, I growl at him, and he looks at me as if to say "got a problem Mum?!". otherwise there's no point doing anything!! but yes, I constantly remind the kids not to leave anything lying around - apart from not being that healthy generally, if it's chocolate then it's bad for dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBevBen Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 They are scrounging little monkeys, List of things my darling boy lab ate as a pup: Whole large christmas cake (spat the icing out) Entire orgainc veg box ( nice purple poos the next day from the beetroot) Wasabi peanuts 4 beef roasts to many sandwiches to mention Plums (spat the stones out thank goodness) We soon learnt to tidy food stuff up pretty quickly and invest in a dog proof bin! :shock: (had to laugh at your boy spitting out the icing though!) Blimey!!!! We really have been so lucky with our Ben We did gear ourselves up for him being mostly Lab and the potential for all this, but he's so good bless his furry paws! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBevBen Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 got a problem Mum?! you really have got a teenager on your hands then! Hopefully with constant reinforcement that what he's doing is not acceptable, the penny will eventually drop BC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna C Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Blimey, you don't realise how good they are til you hear from someone eles( bit like children really). Can leave food anywhere with mine and won't touch it. However as i've said for the first year of his life he was very very poorly so he probably got fed up with eating and being poorly . I do find a smack on the nose( not a wack ) help when his big brother comes to visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBevBen Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Blimey, you don't realise how good they are til you hear from someone eles( bit like children really). Can leave food anywhere with mine and won't touch it. However as i've said for the first year of his life he was very very poorly so he probably got fed up with eating and being poorly . I do find a smack on the nose( not a wack ) help when his big brother comes to visit. You certainly do hey Donna Sorry to hear your boy has been so poorly, hopefully he's turned a corner now hey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna C Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 oh he's fine now, not fitted for ages but as i say got to change treats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 We have one non-greedy Lab who will leave food in her bowl if she's not hungry ( ) and one who will eat whatever appears in her bowl but neither of them steal food - I didn't realise we were so lucky! I wonder why he's started doing it now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBevBen Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 We have one non-greedy Lab who will leave food in her bowl if she's not hungry That's like our Ben and we've noticed he'll often wait until we're all home and then he'll eat! Then when we all went away and so he gets the treat of staying in our room, we noticed he has his little midnight feasts through the night!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 that's what I wonder Lesley, especially as he is such an angel in so many other ways! will ask the vet's advice I think. at the moment he's on a Royal Canin Satiety vet diet which is meant to be for weight control but still satisfying (and he's done brilliantly on it), but I might put him back on RC Labrador - the volume of food is bigger and it might make him feel fuller. the only other thing I have done is switch to a dog bowl with lumps in it (sorry, dont know what it's called!) but it slows down how fast they eat - he used to just scarf a meal down in about 30 secs, now it takes at least a minute!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Labs are just greedy. We have a 13 year old lab who has arthiritis in all four legs and potters about but leave any food around and he soon perks up. We say he has the mind of a two year old in a very old body, bless him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsylabrador Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 This might help reassure - I was helping on a rally for blind people at Westminster, it was very well attended and the initial meeting in a hall was chaotic. Lunch was provided, and inevitably sandwiches got dropped on the floor. There were a lot of very happy guide dogs and no need for a vacuum cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 - you can just picture it can't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted October 30, 2010 Author Share Posted October 30, 2010 they're so lovely, and so eager to please, you can just see them thinking 'mum doesnt like crumbs on the floor, best hoover it up...!' but I do have to be careful about Ozzie and weight because he had elbow dysplasia, so its in his own best interests (not that those melting brown eyes really believe it...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
