kleptomaniac spaniel

[sarahp]

OH went round to a clients house the other night for an appointment - to be greeted by a frantic couple.  They were really quite stressed - and embarrassed that Chris had just turned up ..............................................





turns out their 8month old lab had one of the sons rugby socks hanging out of his bum and they were having to help with the removal process 

OH thought it was hilarious but the woman was clearly mortified 

[hawkins]

 

And I thought I had it bad with baxter stealing socks!!!! At least he's not eating them. He sort of comes and shows them to you. Except he sneaks off and finds one (which is easy in our house as we're sooo messy) balls as much as he can in to his mouth and then he sits in front of you with this look of..... I haven't got anything .. honest on his face.

Lets just say there are a lot of socks in our house with a lot of holes. But I'd rather have that, than have to retreive them from his bum!!! 

[Ellie]

Quite agree!  Glad Daisy doesn't actually eat socks, I can't imagine how a sock could get through the other end and hope she never shows me how!

I got the police round when Daisy was about 5 months to mark our belongings.  One of the policemen was on his knees marking things and put his brush down ... Next thing I know me and two policemen are chasing her round the coffee table before she darted up the stairs, ears a-flapping, found her under my bed triumphantly slathering over the brush!

[georgie05]

Must be the name we have a little Georgie too who eats everything!!!!!  So far he has had four visits to the emergency vets - he has eaten a sock (whole - in one gulp as we walked towards him ), a j-cloth, a thick lace (whole of course) and the latest yesterday had a twig stuck in his throat.  Not bad eh in 3 months - he is costing us a fortune 116.00 for the injection to make him sick.  Our vet is always over cautious and tells although the object could pass through his system it could block his intestines and then he would need an operation.  What choice do we have?  We are not deliberately leaving stuff around he is snatching things and running - sometimes from your hand before you have chance to do anything    What can we do? Georgie picks everything up when we are out for a walk and can't hear us  when we tell him to drop or leave (although when he is at puppy class he always does it beautifully !!!   Any advice would be v. welcome.

Tracy and Georgie x

[Cob-Web]

  Not bad eh in 3 months - he is costing us a fortune 116.00 for the injection to make him sick.  Our vet is always over cautious and tells although the object could pass through his system it could block his intestines and then he would need an operation.  What choice do we have?  We are not deliberately leaving stuff around he is snatching things and running - sometimes from your hand before you have chance to do anything    What can we do? Georgie picks everything up when we are out for a walk and can't hear us  when we tell him to drop or leave (although when he is at puppy class he always does it beautifully !!!   Any advice would be v. welcome.

Tracy and Georgie x

I would suggest a muzzle in this case - if he develops a habit for this type of thing into adulthood, an injection may not be enough and he can only have so many operations......

[georgie05]

a muzzle? what all the time?

[Cob-Web]

Only when she is "at risk" of eating items - you say she "cant hear you" when you are out on a walk, so a muzzle would stop this out and about 

If you can't stop her snatching things out of your hands at home, then maybe you need to introduce baby gates or a crate for a while so you can give her your full attention when she does has full access to the house? 

[georgie05]

Georgie tries to eat things all the time!!!!!  We do have a crate that he is used to when I can not give him my "full attention". Unfortunately it would be impossible to put him in there everytime I need to wipe a worktop or table down etc.  I was just trying to ask for advice on how I can stop this behaviour. Believe me we have tried with his training and are trying lots of different strategies.  I wondered whether any other cockers can follow instructions perfectly well in training and then when they have to do them with added distrations (ie. traffic) pretend they can't hear.

[The Moog]

A girl I work with said her Auntie's dog would regularly eat pairs of tights......then pass them ( with Auntie's help 'teasing' out  ) 
I know what you are saying about watching them every second or putting a muzzle on.....if I did that with my two I would end up in a house on my own as OH and child would leave me!  They already think I am neurotic     I have learnt by my mistakes - thats all you can really do IMO.  I make sure I close bedroom/cupboard doors and anything left on the dressing table is pushed safely out of reach...

[Cob-Web]

Unfortunately it would be impossible to put him in there everytime I need to wipe a worktop or table down etc.  I was just trying to ask for advice on how I can stop this behaviour.

If he is snatching a cloth from your hands when you are wiping a table for instance, then it offers a brilliant training opportunity Don't relinquish the item when he grabs it; and to begin with offer him a treat, using the word "leave" only when he takes his teeth off the item to take the treat After lots of repetition, he will slowly begin to associate the word with the treat and so you will be able to use the command to get him to leave the item he had grabbed, in favour of the treat he knows he is going to get 

I'm not sure cockers are the right breed to be able to train never to take any items - Molo will still fixate on an object (shop receipts, for instance); but wil always "leave" when he hears the gravy bone tin rattled 

[georgie05]

Sorry I didn't make myself clear, Georgie knows leave and the whole family are trying hard with his training.  But when he snatches things he tends to do it unexpectedly and runs and swallows them before you have chance to try leave on him.  I only wish we could use this opportunity for training - but his little 'game' is over very quickly.  We do try to keep everything out of his reach. 

[Cob-Web]

when he snatches things he tends to do it unexpectedly and runs and swallows them before you have chance to try leave on him. 

Quick little blighters when they are young, aren't they ??   they lollop along and then suddenly take on a burst of speed when you least expect it 

I just reinterate what I suggested before really - if you are busy and he has the chance to sneak up on you, then maybe you need to delegate someone to always be on puppy-watch when he is not crated, so he can't do it unexpectedly. He's obviously learnt that this behaviour gets your attention; and is great fun - the best way to break the habit is to prevent it happening rather than expecting him to resist tempation at such a young age 

Its like having a toddler - you have to watch them all the time unless they are confined; I remember wishing I had another pair of eyes and two extra pairs of hands - I had a toddler and a pup at the same time 

There are no magic solutions; patience, time and consistency - but personally I think that three veterinary interventions in 3 months is a lot for his little body to have to deal with

[nosferatu666]

woody likes to steal socks and bury them
strange dog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pain in the bum tho
i got all odd socks

cookie lynn n woody bear

[Tracey Jane]

woody likes to steal socks and bury them
strange dog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pain in the bum tho
i got all odd socks

Milly's favourite things are socks - she literally takes my hubbys socks off him when he comes in from work (he's just as daft as she is ) 

He was looking for a pair of socks a few weeks back and laid FIFTEEN odd socks on the bed.  We've no idea where the other ones are !!! We think Milly has a secret stash   

[Uncon]

more of a hoarder than an eater, but does have a passion for picking up my underwear and running off while I am in the bath or the brats pants when we are getting ready in the morning. He seems to think that if he practices his best pedigree strut we wont actually notice. He also lays on his back and tries to persuade me that he needs to wear my sons bob the builder pants.