# Dog raiding the bin



## JessIncaFCR (Oct 1, 2012)

One of my flat coated retrievers (my youngest, aged 2.5yrs) has always been a bit of a thief. She started being a thief from pretty much the moment we got her home (Something we weren't prepared for as out other flattie has never been a thief)

She would (and still does) steal stuff! When she was a pup, she stole and chewed my mum's Ray-Ban sunglasses, ruined some Bang & Olufsen headphones....the list goes on! She also used to steal stuff of the side. She stole a loaf of bread, sandwiches, a gammon joint....(She wasn't all bad when she was a youngster....I promise! )

We had to make sure that nothing was within her reach. But then....she discovered the bin! We have a push top bin, and through watching us, the clever little thing figured out how to open it herself. She knew she shouldn't do it....you could just tell. She was very sly. She would push it gently with her nose, and if you walked in the room, she would move away. If you weren't there, she would empty the contents of the bin, eating anything she could. This was very dangerous of course, and we had to ensure that we put nothing poisonous or harmful for her in there. Goodness knows what she ended up eating 

When she was around 18mths old, she finally stopped raiding the bin. Her obsession then became socks, and she builds up little piles of socks at the top of the stairs. She's such a typical flattie, always liking to have something in her mouth.

Anyways, the other day (Wednesday), there was a bit of steak in the bin. We thought nothing of it as she hasn't raided the bin for around a year. She had opened the bin and eaten all of the steak. Since then she has been caught numerous times doing the same thing.

It is really annoying, but most importantly I don't want her to eat anything that is going to be harmful for her. Thankfully so far she hasn't, but if for example there was a chicken bone in there, or some chocolate, she could be in real trouble 

We're stumped. How should we go about stopping her from raiding the bin?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

The only solution I have found is to put the bin in the cupboard. I have one door in the house that Ferdie cannot open, behind which resides the dog food and the bin. He has also managed to open every single bin we have ever had.


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## Bagrat (Jun 4, 2012)

Keep the bin somewhere she can't reach it is the easiest solution. She is getting mega rewards for raiding it so can't see an easy way of dissuading her.
We used to have a beagle who raided our fridge ( and the neighbours if he escaped). Our fridge was protected by having a belt tied round it - very elegant.


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

Only solution I've found is to have the bin where they can't get it. I've had dogs work out every bin I've owned.


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## Owned By A Yellow Lab (May 16, 2012)

She sounds just like my friend's Flattie girl, Nefertiti 

Nefertiti is a total kleptomaniac - honestly I think she could be trained to pinch anything! She darts up to folk at the park and nicks their biscuits, gloves, scarves, hats, ball throwers, dog toys.....if it doesn't move, she'll take it!

RE THE BIN:

I had this with my Lab so I got a small table and put the bin on that so it was too high for him to reach. He's a pretty tall dog so we had to keep it up high but it worked


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## JessIncaFCR (Oct 1, 2012)

Thanks guys! I'll definitely do that  I am so glad she doesn't go in the fridge!!


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

I've not had a bin for errrrr around 8 years!

Ben was a nightmare for raiding it (don't think he'd been fed properly before I got him ) - I did try putting it in the downstairs loo but he taught himself to open the door  - so I started using a supermarket carrier bag & took it out to the bin whenever I left the house and / or last thing at night.


Maisie's not quite as bad and I probably could get away with having one - although she is a thief too ....

I have to say ... pretty much any dog would try their upmost to get into a bin with something like Steak or Chicken in! so anything like this is much better put in a carrier bag and put straight into the outside bin so there's no accidents


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## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

I have a bin with a lid you can pull a tab on and lock; it was pricey but Kilo worked out our push top bin on his second day home with us .

It was from Lakeland, made by 'Simplehuman'.


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## laurahair (Apr 21, 2011)

I got rid of the bin, I kept forgetting to move it out of the kitchen and Tess kept raiding it. If it's not kept in the kitchen it's useless to me anyway, so I do the carrier bag thing too-it goes to the wheelie bin whenever I go out or at bedtime.
I also have to wedge a heavy chair against the fridge and freezer and cupboard where dog treats are kept as she has broken every lock I've tried. Just as well she's cute :rolleyes5:


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## penguin (Jan 2, 2013)

Have you tried the baby proofing stuff you can get?


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## Megan345 (Aug 8, 2012)

I just put the bin outside when we go out. I don't trust myself to remember not to put something in there they might want - meat wrappers etc.


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

JessIncaFCR said:


> One of my flat coated retrievers (my youngest, aged 2.5yrs) has always been a bit of a thief. She started being a thief from pretty much the moment we got her home (Something we weren't prepared for as out other flattie has never been a thief)
> 
> She would (and still does) steal stuff! When she was a pup, she stole and chewed my mum's Ray-Ban sunglasses, ruined some Bang & Olufsen headphones....the list goes on! She also used to steal stuff of the side. She stole a loaf of bread, sandwiches, a gammon joint....(She wasn't all bad when she was a youngster....I promise! )
> 
> ...


Why on earth put the steak in the bin in the first place? It should have gone in her bowl, where it belongs.

You'll have to get a lockable bin, or put it in a cupboard she can't open.


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