Food stealing in an overweight dog

[amcal]

My lab is overweight. She's a horrible food stealer. I can't make a sandwich and turn to answer the phone without her jumping on the counter and stealing an entire loaf of bread or block of cheese.

Last night, I made 24 muffins and put them in a bag to freeze. I put the bag in the back corner of the counter and left it open to make sure all the steam was out before sealing and freezing.

I walked away for minutes and the #!#*^! dog somehow got up and ate 9 muffins right out of the bag. I have no idea how she did it.

Anyway, I know that keeping food away from where she can get it is my responsibility. And I do try. Seriously, I try. But, I blink and this dog has gotten up on the counter/table and has stolen food. It can be a full time job making sure there is never food she can get or that she's not around any time food is out.

But, my question is about feeding a dog who does this. She ate 9 muffins last night. 9 Freaking muffins!!!!

So, obviously, I didn't feed her last night.

But, that's a tremendous number of calories for an already overweight dog.

So, when something like this happens, how do you handle the next couple feedings? Do you feed as normal? Lighter? Skip a meal?

[2xy]

How old is she? She might benefit from obedience training. My mother had seven dogs at one point, all trained to not do things like that. Two were Golden Retrievers and one was a Lab mix...all with tendencies towards gluttony. You could put a plate of roast beef in front of any one of those dogs and they would not eat until commanded to.

To answer your question, though, I would skip the nearest meal and feed a little lighter on the next couple of meals.

[amcal]

She's almost 5yo. We did several rounds of obedience training. She can sit, stay, lay down, come, she walks perfectly on a lease etc.... but, the temptation of food is more than she can take. We could never break her of this.

[ChristyMarie]

When I had a Great Dane I quickly learned that food on the table or counter simply did not work. Depending on your set up, on top of the frigde may be a safe place to store things.

Otherwise, keep her out of the kitchen whenever there is food around if you cannot find a way to train her out of this behavior.

[amcal]

Thanks for the thoughts on the food stealing.

I'm really hoping to get ideas on how to handle feeding her after an episode like this. I know the things I need to do to keep food away from her but, seriously, life happens. The phone rings, there is some sort of chaos going on and there will be times I look away and she steals food.

So, my question is - do you have thoughts on how to handle feeding her after a food stealing incident - should she skip a meal or two? Feed as normal? Not sure how to handle this...

[c'est moi]

has your vet ever given you advice on this? maybe you could call and ask. i'm no professional. just dog owner/lover, but i have to wonder if withholding food entirely after an incident would just make her more likely to steal more in following days.

[lifeguard]

Our dog is similar although she does not struggle with her weight. Obedience training only goes so far, our girl knows full well she should not be on the counter & would never do it if we are in the room or close by - it's when you are not there that it's a problem.

What we have found works: being vigilant about putting things away in cupboards or the fridge & putting a baby gate on the kitchen so she is unable to enter the room when we aren't supervising & having her lie down when there is a temporary temptation that can't be put away immediately (we do this a lot when ds is eating or she will try to sneak things off the side of his tray - he thinks feeding her is fun).

As for not feeding the dog as a result I personally don't think it's fair. The dog is unable to make the connection that the earlier action resulted in a skipped meal. So in a way you are creating an uncertainty about whether or not the pup can rely on meal times. I would maybe decrease the amount in a feeding but I certainly would not skip a feeding altogether.

[2xy]

Dogs in a natural environment do not not eat on a schedule or even every day. Some days, no prey is caught.

Skipping a meal after ingesting a million calories worth of muffins (i.e., "junk food" for a dog) is not going to hurt anything. It would probably help cleanse the body of toxins.

[Ola_]

When we first got our greyhound he was a food stealer. He would snatch things off the counter, and once even got a wrapped loaf of bread that was on top of a 6 foot high shelf! He carried it to his bed, ripped a hole in the bag, and was daintily pulling out one slice at a time from the bag.

Just sharing that for your amusement. I used the microwave a lot for storing things and thawing them (I didn't turn it on, but the door is fortunately not easy to open). I was my main go-to place when I needed to put something away quick.

BTW, has she been checked for things like thyroid problems and Cushings disease? There are some medical issues that can make dogs put on weight and have an intense drive to steal food. It could be more than just her personality and medication could really help in that case. Good luck!

Re: feeding after food stealing, I would skip a meal or feed a much lighter one, depending on the amount eaten. Not as a punishment or anything but because sufficient calories have already been ingested and feeding even more on top of that might be a recipe for diarrhea.