Stealing items

**Chris13069** · 09-21-2011, 01:46 PM

Hi,

I have an 18 month old male lab that loves to steal things and was wondering what I could do to stop this behaivor. He will take anything that isn't nailed down and then proceeds to destory it. He knows the command drop it, but that doesn't seem to work. I was wondering how I can break him of taking things that don't belong to him.

Thanks for your help

Chris and Tucker.

**Spike's Mom** · 09-21-2011, 04:09 PM

Spike does that in the morning with dishtowels. Drives me nuts but I KNOW he's looking for attention. But at 6 a.m. with only a few sips of coffee in me I'm so not in the mood. I'll be interested in the ideas posted

**Boston** · 09-22-2011, 09:48 AM

Stoli also does this. It was bad as a puppy then stopped. Since the baby was born though she is doing it again, mostly with her toys. I also look forward to any help correcting this behavior.

**SharonaZamboni** · 09-22-2011, 11:38 AM

I've decided that Bean is just totally bored when he starts stealing. He literally starts "looking for trouble"- cruising around the house looking for something he shouldn't have, then waving it in my face. I'll do some basic commands (sit, say, leave it, etc.) for a few minutes, do some indoor fetch, anything to occupy his mind for a while. The stealing really increases when Bean hasn't gotten enough exercise.

*Also, I call him over to me, then tell him "give it". Then thank him for bringing me the item. Unless it's a cellphone or toilet paper. Those need immediate attention, LOL.

**Samson** · 09-22-2011, 11:59 AM

Baby proof your house and train yourself not to leave valuable items in reach.

It takes a long while for them to train us but eventually you will get the idea !

Forget about training them to leave things when you are not around particularly food related items.

Most Labs eventually get the message !

**Tanya** · 09-22-2011, 05:00 PM

first thing - do not run after him when he has something. this is his game, and if you have done it in the past, he may be grabbing things just to start a game of chase.

find something high value, but it food or another toy they really like. and walk AWAY from them pretending that what you have is just the BEST thing in the world. trade them for what they have in their mouth and thank them.

If you have been playing the chase game for awhile you may need to start with having a short leash on her so you can step on it (though again, don't chase her).

and yes, keep things out of reach as much as possible.

**Fender2011** · 09-23-2011, 10:21 AM

The command drop it doesn't work very often with Fender however we have found trade it to work every time. Of course the trade always involves a treat. I also work on him with "show mom" so everything he picks up he brings to me to check out - depending on what it is I'll take it, look at it and then give it back. If it is something I don't want him to have I'll trade him with a treat. Just to reinforce the "show mom" command I will often give him something fun and then have him "show mom" several times so he gets it back and I'm not just constantly taking something. This seems to be working really well...he traded me a dead fish for a treat the other day....I was quite happy with that....although I think he got the better end of the deal. I have many things delivered to me throughout the day as he does tend to show me a lot of stuff, however I have never had to chase him to get anything away from him so I am happy about that.

**d&chloe.** · 10-18-2011, 11:05 PM

Originally Posted by Tanya

first thing - do not run after him when he has something. this is his game, and if you have done it in the past, he may be grabbing things just to start a game of chase.

find something high value, but it food or another toy they really like. and walk AWAY from them pretending that what you have is just the BEST thing in the world. trade them for what they have in their mouth and thank them.

If you have been playing the chase game for awhile you may need to start with having a short leash on her so you can step on it (though again, don't chase her).

and yes, keep things out of reach as much as possible.

thanks for the idea! i will try this with my youngster. she seems to LOVE stealing my cell phone...

**Sophiesmama** · 10-18-2011, 11:19 PM

LOL! Sounds like our Sophie! We can tell when she gets in one of those "prowl-the-house-see-what-I-can-get-into" moods! She is big enough to reach the back of the kitchen cupboards now. She loves the chase game, and will stand looking at us, making sure we see her so that we'll chase her! It is funny, but I often feel too old for that crap! hahaha! She will drop it some of the time, but when she wants to play, its "game on"! We have tried ignoring her, but she chews it up! I am a softie and its hard to punish her when she is so obviously wanting a rise out of us! Thankfully, she only does this in the late evening when she's bored...

**BigBrownDog** · 10-19-2011, 07:27 AM

Originally Posted by d&chloe.

thanks for the idea! i will try this with my youngster. she seems to LOVE stealing my cell phone...

If you know she likes to steal a particular thing, you need to make sure that it is always in a place where she cannot access it. Puppy-proof your house.