The other day I was given three of those mega dog cookies that kind of look like a doggie sandwich rather than a dog treat.
I gave each of my three dogs a cookie. Raider went to his bed, held the cookie in his front paws and bit a small piece off at a time. I half expected him to ask for a cup of tea to dunk it into . . . weirdo. Piper inhaled his in about 10 seconds and Zumi, well, she just lay down on her bed and rested the cookie at her side, saving it for later after her nap I suppose.
This uneaten cookie did not go unnoticed. Piper began to carefully hover around Zumi, his neck outstretched, sniffing the air above where the cookie lay. Knowing it would be far too risky to snatch the cookie from Zumi without experiencing her wrath, he created a diversion.
He went to the patio door and looked outside intently, stamping his front feet a few times and gave a low "woof." His body language said, "Look outside," but his ears gave his intent away. They were pinned close to his head and pulled back so he could hear what was going on behind him without looking, thus giving the impression that there was something outside of great interest. Knowing that Zumi is a typical reactive German shepherd, he took a calculated risk. Zumi took the bait and rushed to the door to see what was the problem. That was when Piper moved like a ninja and ran back to Zumi's bed, snatching the cookie. He was halfway finished eating it in the bedroom before Zumi even realized what had happened.
As evidenced by my story, dogs are masters at the art of thievery. If there is an object that they desire, they will indeed plot a course of action to acquire it.
Taking a lesson from Zumi, if you don't want an item taken, don't leave it unattended.
One tends to learn a different way of living in a home shared with dogs. We practise good slipper management techniques and make sure the fuzzy sheepskins are placed in the closet - not left beside the bed. We learn to be extremely tidy and place soiled laundry in a covered hamper or behind a door that cannot be shoved open with a precocious nose. Garbage is put in sealed containers or tucked into cabinets and lunch is carried in hand when answering the phone, not left on the coffee table.
One way to get around such extreme management techniques is to teach your dog a "leave it" command. On this command your dog should back way from any item that you give attention to and respect that it is yours. There are a multitude of ways to teach this to your dog, ideally when it is still a puppy, but not exclusive to that age category. You can use a clicker, you can reinforce with food or toys, or you can use spatial pressure techniques. The method is irrelevant and as long as there is no fear-based compulsion involved, your dog will happily learn to "leave it" on command.
But what if you hadn't trained the command perfectly yet, had a bad day at work, forgot to put your Italian leather shoes in the closet and when you took your head out of the fridge while looking for a beer you noticed your dog proudly carrying that loafer in his mouth like a loaf of bread.
First, don't chase your dog, no matter how fearful you may be at the prospect of losing a shoe. Instead, call your dog to you in a calm happy voice, even walking towards the cookie jar. When Fido drops the shoe for a cookie, take the shoe first then give the reward. This is not considered bribery when you have a $300 pair of shoes you are worried about.
You can practise a diversion, like Piper did, and pretend there is something really exciting in another part of the house.
Your dog may drop the shoe to follow you and, when it does, make sure you have something good to place in its mouth before you get to your shoe.
You can offer a play session by getting a tug toy so your dog must drop the shoe to engage in the game of tug.
All of these will work and the good thing is that your dog just trained you to never make that mistake again.
Joan Klucha has been working with dogs for more than 15 years in obedience, tracking and behavioural rehabilitation. Contact her through her website k9kinship.com.
