| Training » Training Your Dog Not to Eat Garbage |
| Many dogs learn that raiding the trash can (or eating random things off the kitchen counter) is an easy and yummy way to get food. What?s more, it?s usually food that is more interesting than the same old dog food you put in the dog bowl. While this behavior is fairly common and may seem fine from the dog?s point of view, it is not an acceptable behavior to most owners. In fact, there are many reasons you should discourage garbage raiding. Of course, it can cause a huge mess when the trash is tipped over and contents are spilled. But, eating garbage can interfere with the normal diet of a dog, and lead to weight gain and unpleasant digestive problems. The most important thing, however, is that this bad habit can have deadly consequences. In fact, one of the main problems with dogs digging through garbage is that they often come into contact with chemicals or objects that are harmful to their health. Poisoning occurs very easily in dogs, because they are not particularly discriminating when ?dumpster diving.? Thus, when a dog digs through the garbage and eats any edible items, he can also eat harmful substances without even knowing it. As a result, thousands of dogs are poisoned each year ? and many of these die ? because they were not prevented from eating garbage. Many owners are very tolerant of their dogs eating ?people food? and willingly let a dog eat leftovers off their own plates. This practice may be relatively safe (though not wise from a dietary standpoint). But take into consideration the dog?s way of thinking: if it?s all right to eat the pork chop off my owner?s plate, maybe it?s OK to eat pork chops out of the garbage can, too. Yet, if the garbage can also contains paper towels with toxic cleanser ? or a discarded bottle of insecticide, the result of garbage raiding can be a disaster. Of course, it is not only poisons that pose a potential problem in the garbage. When your dog goes through the trash, he may gulp down something large that is not digestible. This may cause him to choke or to swallow it and develop an intestinal obstruction. Examples include large bones, paper or foil products, or almost anything that will fit in a dog?s mouth. There are simple steps you can take to train your dog away from the nasty habit of eating garbage. You should always use a positive and loving approach in any training program and this is especially true here. After all, dogs will eat food when it is readily available; it is a perfectly normal thing. So, you are training your dog to stop doing something that he sees is normal. Of course, you will have best results if you start when the dog is a puppy. If you obtain your dog at a young age, start training immediately about avoiding the garbage can. If you take in an older dog, it may be much harder to succeed with this training (especially if you?ve taken in a stray that had to live off the streets). So, if training an older, rescued stray, be understanding and patient about how he may have had to make a living in the past. You may find that you will never fully succeed in training a stray to avoid the garbage. That means YOUR behavior also needs to be modified. So, make some changes in your own life to help your dog kick the habit of dumpster diving. For example: 1) Avoid leaving food within reach of a dog; 2) Avoid letting your dog have table scraps; 3) Use some common sense about your garbage can by keeping a lid on it and putting it out of reach. There are some helpful training tips that will help the process: 1) When preparing food in the dog?s presence, use verbal commands to stop any attempt at getting the food; 2) Teach the dog that this is YOUR food and HIS food is in his bowl; 3) Set up a tempting opportunity of food while you appear to be not paying attention, so you can have a chance to reprimand; 4) For hard to train dogs, you may need to set up a ?rigged? situation to create a loud noise during a food stealing attempt. Remember, the problem of dogs eating garbage not just an annoyance. This behavior can have very serious health consequences. |
|
|
|
| Featured Listings |
 |
|
| Name: |
CHRISTMAS PUPPIES |
| Gender: |
Female |
| Age: |
1 Week |
| Price: |
$450.00(usd) |
|
|
 |
|
| Name: |
Great New Years Puppy! |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Age: |
2 Weeks |
| Price: |
$2000.00(usd) |
|
|
 |
|
| Name: |
Mastiff |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Age: |
4 Month |
| Price: |
$400.00(usd) |
|
|
 |
|
| Name: |
Schnauzer Claus |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Age: |
1 Month |
| Price: |
$900.00(usd) |
|
|
 |
|
| Name: |
Roxy |
| Gender: |
Female |
| Age: |
2 Month |
| Price: |
$550.00(usd) |
|
|
|
|
