Help with bad things outside??

[DiegosMom]

Sorry I didnt know what to name this topic. I need help with Meeka eating bad things outside! Inside I can take bones/food/anything away from her or reach for/open her mouth with no problem. Outside on walks she always finds something she shouldnt have! Usually a chicken bone or something I cant identify. Chicken bones bother me most because as she chews I can just hear them cracking into little sharp pieces. When I try to take the object away she goes crazy! She jumps around, makes weird noises at me, and tries to bite my hand! She never acts like this other times and has never tried to bite besides this situation. I can never get it away so she ends up just eating it. Any advise/tips for what to do to get things away from her?? Thanks!!

[etzbseder]

Maybe a slight bit of water from the hose?

[Duke]

Good time to teach the "leave it" or "trade" command. You should do this by having irresistable treats on hand. You can begin teaching this command with just about anything Meeka enjoys. You say "leave it!", put your foot over the object before it gets in her mouth and give her the yummy treat instantly. I learned to use the "leave it" command in Duke's beginner obedience class. My explaination probably isn't as good as some of the experienced B-trainers here. But soon enough she will associate the command with something better and that you don't want her to have whatever it is.

[JazzysMom]

@DiegosMom:

Sorry I didnt know what to name this topic. I need help with Meeka eating bad things outside! Inside I can take bones/food/anything away from her or reach for/open her mouth with no problem. Outside on walks she always finds something she shouldnt have! Usually a chicken bone or something I cant identify. Chicken bones bother me most because as she chews I can just hear them cracking into little sharp pieces. When I try to take the object away she goes crazy! She jumps around, makes weird noises at me, and tries to bite my hand! She never acts like this other times and has never tried to bite besides this situation. I can never get it away so she ends up just eating it. Any advise/tips for what to do to get things away from her?? Thanks!!

Make sure you have really yummy treats in your pocket before you set out on your walks. When she has something you're not sure about or don't want her to have, show the treat/let her smell it.
Make a trade with her and toss the yucky stuff!

[Quercus]

@JazzysMom:

Make sure you have really yummy treats in your pocket before you set out on your walks. When she has something you're not sure about or don't want her to have, show the treat/let her smell it.
Make a trade with her and toss the yucky stuff!

ditto the above…and/or keep her on a shorter leash. It is hard to condition a 'drop it' response for something as appealing as a chicken bone.

Do you usually see the thing she is about to dive for before she goes for it? If so, you can train a 'leave it' command, and stop her before she gets it.

[BaMica]

I have had to teach my Mica to leave things and she is better than she was now. But it required and still requires carrying yummy treats to train her. She came out of the brush in the winter one time carrying a real bunny carcus (sp?) that some animal had buried there. It was like a prize when she bounded over the tree logs and I had to let her carry it a few hundred feet in the middle of a winter walk until I took it as a trade. She was soo proud, like look what I found! I always trade now but sometimes she still gets things. She has found bunny legs, and spends a bit of time hunting, stalking, digging, running up the side of tree trunks for squirrels and throwing moles up into the air until they die of fright. (She chases flying birds at the dog park) But I have learned to always watch her sniff and smell. So yesterday we went and got a small bad of "raw" lamb at the dog store and a tiny bag of treats and she must have known what was in the bag when we walked home. She ran up to me and "stole" the bag and was running with it like she had caught the "animal". She was so proud. Look ma! look what we got for breakfast! Than she ripped the plastic bag open and carried the "lamb" bag like a catch and was so proud of it - and here I am running behind with the pully leash fully extended, picking up the ripped bag and the small treat bag. LOL. This animal never ceases to amaze me.:D
BaMicas mom

[wizard]

One of the neighbors throws old moldy bread and cupcakes for the birds out onto the boulevard and of course EL D finds them - sometimes recently dead bird or squirrels.
Most of the time he'll respond to my serious "no trash", or to "trade" (special treats set aside just for this), or last resort I'll simply grab him at the muzzle (before he knows what I'm doing) with both hands, open and pull out whatever it is. The "no trash" seems to be taking hold now after a couple of months of training and he'll usually not touch whatever.

[Tayda_Lenny]

what about bringing a water bottle along and giving her a squirt when she goes for the "bad thing?"

[DiegosMom]

@Quercus:

ditto the above…and/or keep her on a shorter leash. It is hard to condition a 'drop it' response for something as appealing as a chicken bone.

Do you usually see the thing she is about to dive for before she goes for it? If so, you can train a 'leave it' command, and stop her before she gets it.

No I dont usually see when she's about to get something.. she just looks like she's going about her normal sniffing (she sniffs a lot!) and then she will snatch something.. half the problem is all the random food in the neighborghood, i dont know why so many people have bones and crap in their front lawns.. and at night its hard because the street is not well lit so its hard to see.. she does love her treats though, so i think i will try the trading and see how that works.. thanks everyone!

[kng]

I think my girl can find food where ever she is. I taught her the command "drop it" which she does, but I also know I have to watch her when we are walking because she will try to get it eatten before I can tell her to drop it. She can be pretty quick.