My Doodle steals a variety of foodstuffs!

[Marla Norton]

We confine Zoe to the family room, mudroom and kitchen when we are not home.  Notwithstanding her rather small size (25 lbs), she is quite the thief, stealing things from the island, counters and pantry, when the door is open.  Within the past 6 months, the items she has stolen and either eaten or distributed around the family room include the following: 

our parrotlet's birdfood (which does not digest as it travels through a dog's digestive tract)

a box of teabags, individual teabags ripped open and scattered about

1/2 a tub of Shedd's Spread (yuck)

an avocado (with no ill effects, notwithstanding its alleged toxicity)

a box of Kraft mac and cheese

a bag of apple cider donuts

several loaves of bread

a package of English muffins

a prime steak cooked with Montreal seasoning

a raw steak

numerous used feminine products (stolen from the bathroom trashcan certain times of the month)

a package of slivered almonds (also do not digest)

a head of broccoli (more shredded than eaten)

a package of loose tea

a package of pizza seasoning

dried beans

raw chicken breasts (did not seem to like these once distributed all over the family room rug)

a slice of pizza

a container of greek yogurt

strawberries

blueberries

1/2 a banana (left the skin)

a package of raisins

 

You would thing my family would learn to put stuff away in the fridge and not leave the pantry door open.  Sometimes we are merely in another room. 

 

Anyone else have a doodle that loves to steal?

 

 

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

You might want to put an end to all that. She hasn't gotten hurt or sick yet, but it is only a matter of time. You might also want to get insurance if you don't already have it.

[Kyoko]

:- o    I have a baby gate at the entrance to the kitchen for this very reason.... It's kinda scary and unsafe....

[Jennifer and Jack]

OY Vey... So many of those things could have killed your dogs, it is the avocado pitt that is deadly from my understanding it causes paralysis and they can't even take a breathe in, it is horrible when you can't breathe and I would imagine a very painful scary death for the dog.

Raisins are toxic as well, very toxic and while you don't see any effects now that doesn't mean it won't happen down the road.

Greek Yogurt if it was plain and unsweetend would be okay.. artificial sweetener can kill also,.  

Onions.. garlic all these things are dangerous... It is our job to protect them from it.... SOunds like you have a dare devil doodle.. all the more reason to have a family meeting and let everyone know the rules and  how they can kill this dog by not being careful.

Jack once chewed a hole in my underwear.. gross .. Your doodle is adorable too! Lets keep him safe!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If anyone here has a dog of any breed who would not "steal" steak or chicken breasts if they were left unattended and within the dog's reach, I'd be very surprised. 

It's just not this hard to put food away. Seriously, you are very very lucky that your dog didn't get seriously ill or worse. Many of these things are toxic to dogs, others can cause pancreatitis which is often fatal, and some can just start a lifelong incurable GI disease. There are so many of us here with dogs who are seriously ill and others who have lost their precious dogs despite doing everything we could to keep them safe, it would be awful for a tragedy to occur that is completely preventable.

I agree with Amy, unless some changes are made on the part of the humans in your home, it's only a matter of time. And I agree with getting insurance too, but that will only spare your wallet, not your heart.  

[F, Calla & Luca]

Absolutely true. Calla has stolen a few things in her time and would definitely take meat. I do like to think I've trained my doodles to prefer their meat well done : ) Yet Calla was licking a bare flank on the last baby rabbit the doodles got : ( I am super cautious about leaving certain things, like raisins or chocolate any where a doodle could get hold of them. But the above list is far too long. I also love knowing my dogs are safely crated when I am out.

[LeAnn & Loki Doodle]

Wow...I thought our Doodle was bad! BUT we learned very fast that the cupboards have to be cleaned off at ALL times or he would eat everything he could get. I dont even lay out a loaf of bread to thaw, i always stick it in the microwave or oven so its out of reach. The sink even has to be cleared of dishrag, sponge, dishes, towels ect. Loki has eatin several items that Im surprised passed through his system safely.

[Pam & Trixie]

It is funny how much a counter cruiser can eat & what they will eat.  But like others have said it can be very dangerous.  And some of the items your cute Doodle has eaten are poisonous, so you are lucky.

I had counter cruisers for 20 years.  We learned to keep food off Every counter.  Breads & Baked goods were kept in the microwave.   If a food was cooling on the stove..The door was left ajar until said food was put away.

We did not leave plates with food on the table un attended.  We kept all Garbage cans behind cupboard doors.  The kitchen cupboard we had to put a child lock on our they would open it up.  Kids bedoom doors were always kept shut...One never knows what a teen might leave out.

 

Of course our dogs were experts & they still found the occasional missed food.  My Sister once brought me over 10 full size homegrown tomatoes.  They were in a target bag.  I put them on the kitchen counter & went to walk my sister to the door...My expert Counter Cruiser ate every tomoatoe in less then 2 minutes...all that was left were a few seeds.

My Husband also had to do the Himlich on this same dog...as she grabbed a chicken bone as it was being thrown away & was choking on it.

[Marla Norton]

"Counter cruiser" -- I love it. My last dog would never have done any of this. Zoe is just so darned agile. It's less about training the dog than training the ADHD boys in the house!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

We keep all food at least 6" away from the edge of the counter (that's as far as she can reach).  Luna won't steal anything if we're around, but as soon as we're out of the room she thinks the kitchen is fair game!

I don't blame her... she's a dog, they're always looking for food!  I think it's important that we be vigilant for her sake.  No amount of training is going to keep her from being opportunistic.

[Marla Norton]

All good advice. After the avocado incident I showed my husband and son a list of foods that are toxic for dogs, in hopes that they will be extra careful with those items.

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

I agree with the others here...you are VERY lucky that you have not seen any ill effects from the "counter cruising" .  It can be extremely dangerous, if not, fatal.  I would not just be careful with those listed toxic items, I would be careful with all items..you never know what can trigger a pancreatic episode.  We went through that..very scary.

[Marla Norton]

Thanks. i do get it. I am constantly reminding (some might and do call it nagging) them to be careful. I stressed the toxic stuff because my 15 year old finds it all very amusing and I wanted him to understand that it is NOT funny and can be dangerous. Once he sits down at the computer he is oblivious to what goes on around him.