This is Emmie, the main character in the Chicken Carcass Caper. The other morning I was cooking breakfast, left the room for less than five minutes, and heard the sounds of dropping and crunching. By the time I returned, the kitchen had turned into a crime scene. The garbage container had been knocked over & the chicken carcass I had thrown in the previous evening was missing. Emmie was eating the last of it.
Dogs and chicken bones don’t mix. Cooked chicken bones are especially dangerous as they are dry and can splinter into small, sharp pieces and puncture the dog’s digestive system. At 8:00 AM sharp I was on the phone with the vet. She recommended that I feed Emmie white bread, it’s bland and would “pad” her system. I was also told to monitor her for the next couple of days: if she had blood in her stools, diarrhea, vomiting or became listless I was to bring her in immediately. Luckily, everything is OK.
At the Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota luncheon, I was fortunate to sit at the same table as Lynne Willeke, a trainer at Bark Busters. I told Lynn about Emmie’s chicken carcass caper, then asked if she had any tips to stop that from happening in the future. Our conversation evolved and Lynn agreed to appear on Talk2theAnimals Blog as a guest blogger. Below are her tips and ideas on dogs and trash containers. Thanks Lynne, for sharing your wisdom at Talk2theAnimals!
Training Tips by Lynne Willeke
Does your pooch love to dig for buried treasure in your trash containers? Then you are not alone in this problem! Try one or more of these helpful hints to solve the issue.
One of the easiest solutions is management and prevention. Invest in a container that Fido can’t open. Put the bathroom waste bin in an cupboard.
Maybe Sammie is bored. Try using mind stimulation toys like the Buster Cube, a Kong or the Canine Genius. Or play hide and seek with people, toys or treats. Does he get enough exercise?
Maybe Bella hasn’t ever been asked to follow any household rules. Teach her some basic guidelines like sit and wait for dinner, good greeting behaviors, wait before going out the door. This can help her respect what is desirable behavior in the household, plus engage her mind.
The problem is that every time your dog succeeds in getting that tissue or the chicken bones from dinner, he gets rewarded with his success. Not only does he get rewarded, sometimes he may ingest something downright dangerous to him. Every time he gets rewarded, he is encouraged to go searching again.
How to deal with Bouncer’s trash digging straight on:
- Try to catch him in the act, verbally correct the behavior and redirect him to a better choice. But some dogs are so sneaky!
- Spray bitter apple on a paper towel and place inside, on top of the trash. If he starts to dig, he will get an unpleasant taste. Hint, this will have more effect if he has had a chance to lick bitter apple off your hand previously. He’ll remember he didn’t like it!
- If you have a covered trash container that has a lid Bouncer can open, try placing a ring of keys or some chain-something that will fall off and make noise when he goes digging. Many dogs will find this surprising and unpleasant enough to stay away. You will need to repeat this more than once.
Don’t forget to encourage and praise your pooch when he is making good choices!
Lynne can be found on FaceBook and at BarkBusters. Click here to see her bio page at BarkBusters. Contact Lynne about your dog training questions!
Harmony,
Janet Roper
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