5
Answers Home
» Behavior & Training
» Methods of Training
Can anyone give me positive training methods for teaching a dog not to raid the trashcan?
Treader did that tonight and found a chicken bone. My dad took the opportunity to make fun of my positive training methods. He believes that "pain teaches" and thinks that that works best with dogs. He says that he appreciates that I don't like to do that with dogs, but his way works better. Yeah right, back when I used negative training with my dogs, they had an "are we done yet?" attitude. Now they actually ENJOY their training sessions.
I don't know of a positive method to use to stop dogs from raiding trashcans. Does anyone else know one? I'd only use negative training as a last resort.
Asked by
Gray Dawn Treader
on Apr 7th 2008
Tagged
in Methods of Training
Status
- This question is closed.
Answers
that's a tough one! i am new to this dog training stuff but i could give you a couple of ideas that maybe pain-free enough for you.
-you could get a better garbage can with a lid that the dog can't get off. when he realizes he can't get to it he will give up.
-you could put bitter apple on the garbage for a week or so and the next time he takes something from there it will taste really bad and he will learn not to go in there. this would be more difficult bc you would have to keeep putting bitter apple on all your garbage.
good-luck, and i look forward to seeing what ideas other people have!
tiki kabooki
answered on 4/7/08.
Helpful? 
/
0
It's a little bit of a trick question because by definition "positive reinforcement" *increases* behavior. With the trashcan raiding you want to *get rid of* the behavior, and that is the realm of "punishment" (positive or negative). And outside of operant conditioning there's just "management" (which I use heavily for this very self-rewarding behavior).
Instead of going in to it here with the character-limit and having to give the information short shrift, here's a link: forum.dog.com
That's to another dog forum that I used to be a member of (you'll recognize Marlowe in my avatar as the user "houndlove") where the positive trainers on the forum were challenged on this very issue. It's a long thread (86 posts) but very informative and offers a lot of different perspectives on how to deal with this exact problem. If you have any further questions about what you read over there, you can PM me.
Marlowe, CGC
answered on 4/8/08.
Helpful? /
1
To keep Miss Buddie out, I keep it out of her reach. Our can has a lid and it's kept in a pantry closet with the door shut. Sometimes the smells in the can are just more than a dog can resist, so I just take temptation out of the equation.
Miss Buddie
answered on 4/8/08.
Helpful? /
0
I had the same problem and as others have posted I bought a new trashcan with a lid on it. My dogs have not gotten into it yet. Sometimes when I put things like chicken bones in there, just to be "safe" I will wrap them in plastic bags like the ones you get from Wal-Mart, not sure if it actually helps but they haven't gotten into the trashcan. Good Luck!!
Bear and Bambi - Mommys Angels
answered on 4/8/08.
Helpful? /
0
Since most trash-can raiding is done when humans aren't around, removing the temptation is the best answer. Get a can with a lid, put it in a cabinet or closet where it's out of reach, empty it often, etc. If he gets into the trash & you come back minutes or hours later, any sort of "pain" or punishment won't do any good. He has no idea what you're punishing for. You have to catch him in the act to use any sort of correction. Prevent it if you can, and if you catch him doing it you can correct with a "no" and a redirect to a better activity. If you don't catch him, just clean up & move on.
The only thing pain teaches is fear. You cause a dog pain, the dog learns to fear you. Not to stay out of the trash, but to fear your presence, not knowing the reason for the pain. Correction is one thing, pain is another. You wouldn't pinch a baby or toddler when they do something you don't want them to - it does no good. Especially if you did it with no explanation hours after the "offense."
Loki
answered on 4/8/08.
Helpful? /
0
I had a westie that used to get into the trash. I would either put the can in a closet when i left the house, or i would take the bag to the outside trash can when i left for work in the morning. She was trash happy whenever i left her alone. Then i would leave a radio on for her, that helped alot. But she did this as a puppy. After a year i didn`t have to worry about the trash anymore. Good luck!
Stretch
answered on 4/8/08.
Helpful? /
0
