My dog keeps taking things

[mtblaura]

This is my first post here. I have a one-year old pound pup, Maddy (retriever mix). She shows a lot of excessively submissive behavior (licking, rolling over, etc.) and we are working on those things currently - we got her at about 4 months of age. She is a very well-behaved girl.
However, recently she has taken to getting into things that are not hers (last 4 weeks). Usually it is not destructive, but sometimes it can be. She never did this previously. She has lots of toys which I keep control of and rotate so she will not get bored. Any advice on how to correct and stop this behavior? I have tried "no" and she knows the command "drop it" but it doesn't seem to help. She has very clear boundaries for most everthing in the house and seems to know and respect those. I know it's not a huge problem, but its very out of character for her, and we are big on the boundaries (lots of Dog Whisperer, I guess!).
Thanks!

[pipersmom]

Maddy is a gorgeous girl. I don't know that I have any good advice. The only thing I can think of is that if you catch her "in the act" of having something that is not hers, is to maybe take if from her with a firm "no" and replace it with something that is hers (favorite toy, treat), with positive reinforcement when she accepts that which is hers.

Any other more experienced PTer's out there who might have better advice. Anyone who knows my babies and me know that I'm not an expert on behavior mods. ;)

[Jessika]

My only suggestion would be is that if you are setting boundaries, then she should know that anything below a certain level is hers' and anything above that level is off-limits. This basically translates to -- anything on the floor is hers', anything on the table is yours.

If I leave something out on my dogs' level and they get into it or destroy something, its my fault for leaving it out where they can get it.

BUT if you're talking about leaving stuff out where they know is off-limits OR is out of their reach (ie: table, counters, bed, etc) then that's a different story altogether.

[mtblaura]

Aha! Yes, the things she thinks are "hers" are always on the floor. Unless her beloved frisbee is up on a chair where she can reach it, she never oversteps that boundary. So, as with about 95% of "dog" problems, it was really an owner problem. :p I'll try to be more careful about what I leave on the floor. Probably good practice for when we have kids anyway. Thanks!

[ashleycat]

I just got a 4 yr old shelter aussie. I don't know if it's jealousy or not, but he takes my 17 month old daughters toys and chews them. Most of the time he takes it right out of her hand.

I take it from him and give him his bone or sock. He doesn't seem to be interested in doggie toys.

My mom's ex says to swat him with a newspaper and put him in his time out spot. But that seems a bit weird to me. Any other ideas?

Is NO all I really need?

[Jessika]

First off where are her toys when he gets into them? Are they laying around the house, or in her bedroom??

A dog's mentality is this: if its on the floor, its mine. So if you don't want him to get into something, make sure its not laying on the floor!

It they are in her bedroom and he gets them off of her bed or something, then either gate her bedroom, or keep her bedroom door closed.

You are doing the right thing by replacing the stuffed animals with something of his! You are telling him, "this is not ok to chew on, but this is". He WILL get it eventually, and once he learns the meaning of "no" (or the meaning of YOUR no) then he will get it.

Swatting with a newspaper I never recommend.. physical pain never teaches a dog anything except fear. A time-out though is more than acceptable. Some use a bathroom for time-out, so whatever works for you!

[Corinna]

If there is any boxer in her that could expalin it they just LOVE to swipe things, (as I'm finding out with Tyson) . He will take something just to hide it in his crate.

[ashleycat]

He also likes to take things right out of her hand. Is this jealousy? Like, sometimes when I'm sitting in the chair with my dd, he'll come up and get in my lap too! lol. Tho, maybe it was just quincidental. He is a big old sweety. :D

[IRescue452]

Maybe some more together time so she doesn't feel the need to go hoarding your things.