"DogStar716" wrote in message
...

Thats why I would trust management more than training. Not to mention,
the
majority of people do not have the time, patience or skill it takes to
teach a
dog not to self reward when the temptation is right in front of him.

There's no question that I'm lazy, but I didn't even know that it's possible
to teach him to leave things alone when I'm not around. How does one teach a
dog the boundaries between 'yours' and 'not yours' when there's no one to
reinforce if they start thinking about crossing that boundary?

I mean--he knows what I approve of and don't approve of, but that was
accomplished through a combination of liberal use of the word 'NO,' the
command 'LEAVE IT' and just being, I guess, already pretty good at not
bothering what's not his.

This does not extend to food, however. He's a lab, after all. If he were
alone in a room, I couldn't trust him not to eat a plate of cheese and
crackers on the coffee table, for example. So I don't put that temptation in
front of him. If we have dinner guests and we have hor d'oeuvres on the
coffee table, the plate gets moved if we all leave the room.

I know some dogs who never get into the trash, or steal food, or chew
shoes (my
Dane is one of them . However, I still put my trash up because, A. he's
a
dog and B. you never know when he might suddenly get an urge to eat
coffee
grounds or lick out the chili can

I got a bit of an education last year with Orson, the previously Almost
Perfect Dog. An unopened bag of cat food left on the floor for two weeks was
broken into when no one was home. A full trash bag left out of the can was
raided and strewn around the dining room. The temptation of food apparently
*is* too great. We don't leave any food out anymore, not even on counters.

We've been tremendously lucky with everything else that's not food. Except
for one shoe and one chair leg, both gnawed on in the months right after we
got him. Other than that, no non-food items, thank doG. I suppose I should
be on the lookout for him to suddenly start eating socks and rocks, but he's
4.5 and it hasn't happened yet.

Cate

Cate said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

This does not extend to food, however. He's a lab, after
all. If he were alone in a room, I couldn't trust him not
to eat a plate of cheese and crackers on the coffee table,
for example. So I don't put that temptation in front of
him.

I've run into a number of trainers that tell me that I can work
though Rocky's food addiction --and it really is an addiction,
what with the drugs-- but I think that, in this case, I'll just
put edibles away.

Even good ol' Murphy - flawless until she found a chicken
carcass in the garbage when she was 11. That was the first time
she'd been into the trash can, but was hardly the last. The
solution was easy.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

Cate said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

This does not extend to food, however. He's a lab, after
all. If he were alone in a room, I couldn't trust him not
to eat a plate of cheese and crackers on the coffee table,
for example. So I don't put that temptation in front of
him.

I've run into a number of trainers that tell me that I can work
though Rocky's food addiction --and it really is an addiction,
what with the drugs-- but I think that, in this case, I'll just
put edibles away.

Even good ol' Murphy - flawless until she found a chicken
carcass in the garbage when she was 11. That was the first time
she'd been into the trash can, but was hardly the last. The
solution was easy.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

"Cate" wrote in message
...
This does not extend to food, however. He's a lab, after all. If he were
alone in a room, I couldn't trust him not to eat a plate of cheese and
crackers on the coffee table, for example. So I don't put that temptation
in
front of him. If we have dinner guests and we have hor d'oeuvres on the
coffee table, the plate gets moved if we all leave the room.



Hey, being a Lab is no excuse! : )

My girl is a Lab and as food crazy as they come but she learned, when very
young, that if it's not on the floor it's not hers.

--
Kristen &
Kali CD, CGC, TDI, TT
http://www.kristenandkali.com

"Cate" wrote in message
...
This does not extend to food, however. He's a lab, after all. If he were
alone in a room, I couldn't trust him not to eat a plate of cheese and
crackers on the coffee table, for example. So I don't put that temptation
in
front of him. If we have dinner guests and we have hor d'oeuvres on the
coffee table, the plate gets moved if we all leave the room.



Hey, being a Lab is no excuse! : )

My girl is a Lab and as food crazy as they come but she learned, when very
young, that if it's not on the floor it's not hers.

--
Kristen &
Kali CD, CGC, TDI, TT
http://www.kristenandkali.com

"KrisHur" wrote in message
...

Hey, being a Lab is no excuse! : )

Well, it's an excuse. Just not a good one. g

My girl is a Lab and as food crazy as they come but she learned, when very
young, that if it's not on the floor it's not hers.

How did you teach her to associate the floor with 'hers' and any other
location with 'not hers'?

Cate

"KrisHur" wrote in message
...

Hey, being a Lab is no excuse! : )

Well, it's an excuse. Just not a good one. g

My girl is a Lab and as food crazy as they come but she learned, when very
young, that if it's not on the floor it's not hers.

How did you teach her to associate the floor with 'hers' and any other
location with 'not hers'?

Cate

We've been tremendously lucky with everything else that's not food. Except
for one shoe and one chair leg, both gnawed on in the months right after
we
got him. Other than that, no non-food items, thank doG. I suppose I should
be on the lookout for him to suddenly start eating socks and rocks, but
he's
4.5 and it hasn't happened yet.

I would NEVER trust a Lab not to eat something when I wasn't home.

That said, Bridge & Butter know that if they get caught eating something
that they were told "LEAVE IT" about, bad stuff happens. But that command
only applies if I walk out of the room and will be back shortly. Leave it
for more than 2 minutes and it's fair game.

It's part of having a Lab that you can never get away from. You HAVE to
expect that some day, they'll decide that food is good.

~Emily


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We've been tremendously lucky with everything else that's not food. Except
for one shoe and one chair leg, both gnawed on in the months right after
we
got him. Other than that, no non-food items, thank doG. I suppose I should
be on the lookout for him to suddenly start eating socks and rocks, but
he's
4.5 and it hasn't happened yet.

I would NEVER trust a Lab not to eat something when I wasn't home.

That said, Bridge & Butter know that if they get caught eating something
that they were told "LEAVE IT" about, bad stuff happens. But that command
only applies if I walk out of the room and will be back shortly. Leave it
for more than 2 minutes and it's fair game.

It's part of having a Lab that you can never get away from. You HAVE to
expect that some day, they'll decide that food is good.

~Emily


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Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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