How to stop your pet's stealing habit
Cute, adorable and our best pals are some of the adjectives which we use for our pets, especially dogs. They stay with us, guard our houses, entertain us and what not, what we often love the most is to pamper them. But, sometimes our pets tend to inculcate some bad habits which become a play for them but a headache for us. Barking unnecessarily, digging holes all around the house are not the only problems which we daily face, the most serious of all is stealing.
Most dogs love stealing, its a fun filled activity for them, from food to slippers they love to steal everything and finally create a total mess around the household. To stop this unpleasant habit of our pets, a few things should be kept in mind while proper training must be provided to them. To start with, here are seven steps to stop your dog from stealing:
1. Teach basic obedience
“No”, “Don't”, “Leave It”, “Drop it” are a few of the commands which we must teach our dogs as part of basic obedience rules. Next time you see your dog running around with that favourite slippers of yours or sneak around in the kitchen to pick up that bread loaf lying on the table instead of running around behind him just command him to “leave it”.
2. Pay constant attention to your dogs' habits
Supervision and constant attention to the daily activities of your dog can help you in curbing away his unpleasant activity of stealing. To train him with the basic commands to have to have a keen eye on your pet so that every time he tries to sneak out that sock of yours from the shoe you can correct him that very instant which will make him feel that he was about to do something undesirable, hence it will discourage him to repeat that activity in the future.
3. Indulge in a playful activity with your pets
Boredom is sometimes the root cause of stealing. Lack of exercise and entertainment activities coax our pets to indulge in the act of stealing. For them, stealing is just a sport to keep themselves entertained round the clock when no one else is paying attention to them. So why not take them to the park, pamper them, play with them so that they never have the urge to steal again.
4. Do not run around your dog
If your dog has stolen something instead of running behind him all around the house and trying to win the tug of war to get the stolen item back, be calm. Running around will make your pet feel that even you are enjoying his activity and instead of dropping the thing off he will try to make you a part of his entertainment spree. Use the basic command rule and get the things back from your dog.
5. Reward your dog
We all punish those who do mistakes but we should not forget to reward someone when something good has been done, same goes with your pet as well. When you pet obeys your commands and does not steal when food is lying around, reward him with food, pat his back, this will encourage him not to steal even when you are not around.
6. Keep food out of your dog's reach
Temptations build up mostly when all things are accessible to you or at the tip of your fingers thus, try keeping things out of your dog's reach. This will keep him away from stealing.
7. Feeding your pet
Hunger sometimes is the reason which make our pets steal. The smell of human food tempts them to do the wrong doings. Feed him right and full, this may completely solve the problem of your pet stealing.
Someone has rightly said 'a stitch in time saves nine', a small effort now will definitely help you make your pet an obedient, free of all unpleasant habits.
