Frankielab/lucy and attention seeking
Hi I thought I'd start another thread as the other one was hard to read for some reason. Lucy wrote We tried putting hot chilli powder in the bin when we went out. It worked for a couple of days then we just had a dog with a very upset tummy because he decided it wasn't enough to stop him going through the bin Now when we go out the bin gets shut in a room Frank does not have access to. I was determined that I would not move it and that Frank should learn to leave it but with an increasing bump and sore back it is easier to move the bin then clear up every time I come home. Something interesting we have discovered is that he only does it when I am the one to leave him, if my husband leaves him he does not touch it I find this bit very interesting: Something interesting we have discovered is that he only does it when I am the one to leave him, if my husband leaves him he does not touch it that is just like something that happens in my home too. Boney will steal tubs of butter off the worktop (hubby leaves them there grr) if I have taken Poppy out without him. This doesn;'t always happen but I am definitely aware that the food stealing is linked to him feeling upset and frustrated - or some other negative emotion. Poppy is pushy and attention-seeking and Boney is quite jealous of her... but bes-*test*-('") buddies with Dex. if I take Dex out without Boney, no food stealing. So with frankie, maybe the bin thing is linked to him being more upset and unsettled and venting his frustrations if you have left. What you are doing by removing the bin is known as 'management' in dog circles - you are just stopping it happening, not curing the root of the problem. In many cases management is the best and easiest option - and it is always the starting point for any behavioural problem, anyway. One thing you might like to consider is for your husband to take on some more 'primary caring' duties with frankie - walks, feeding, petting, grooming etc in the hope that frankie might be gradually weaned off a possible higher dependency on you. Another option would be just to get one of those bins with clips on the top, so he just can't knock the lid off. Stupidly obvious, I know, but it can be effective. if he tries repeatedly and fails to get the lid off, he will probably just give up. However, this is a good in as much as it would be breaking a habit - but if the desire which drove the habit was to console himself because you have left him, then you need to look at helping him on that score too. I decided that with the baby coming it would be helpful to have a few more commands learnt/taught. The first being leave We have had huge success. Last week someone had scattered a packet of coockies over the grass at the park and i managed to walk Frank literally over the top of them without him picking one up No easy task for a stomach led lab. The other is wait, stay just did not work I decided that I needed a way to get him to sit on the doorstep and wait to be let in after a walk without him taking off as getting in with a pram and a dog will be a bit tricky. I can now tell him to sit then wait, take his lead off then unlock the door, walk in, then turn round and tell him to come in that's all great stuff - so glad you are seeing results :D

I don't know why the other thread was posting like it was. The strange thing with Franks behaviour is that he is very much a mans dog. I might be the one who is with him a majority of the time and I feed him about 95% of of the time, but when my husband is in it is most definately him he wants to be with. He would take a greater role in caring for Frank but mon-fri he is out of the house for at least 14 hours a day. Frank on his bed trying to pretend he hadn't been touching the bin lol>I just like this piccie.

hilarious pic of Frank wearing the bin lid :lol: :lol: how does frank behave when you have gone out and your husband is with him? and vice versa? is frank settled just as normal, or does he look at the front door for example, or pace around? that might hold a clue

I honestly don't know how he managed to get the bin lid over him. I certainly couldn't squeeze it off over his head I had to take it backwards and I'm sure he didn't back into it :lol: When one of us goes out and leaves him with the other he is perfectly ok. He will go to the door as you leave, but I think that is more hoping that you're going to take him. He will then settle near whoever is left. I have been noticing lately that he is more likely to go and lay in his bed then stick to whatever room we are in.

there is another possibility with the bin - that you have caught frank in the act and told him off or stopped him, and he thinks that it's safe to raid the bin if you are not there. Dogs don't understand right and wrong - only safe and dangerous. I guess he may think that it's not safe to raid the bin if you are around. :?