Dog keeps eating from the bin!

SarahNeedle1872

Hiya all, I hope you can help me with something....

I have an 8 yr old Lab who has starting to root through the bins in the kitchen, and I can't figure out why. He can't be hungry because he gets fed twice a day (and the bag of food is right by his bowl, so if he was hungry, he'd know where to go) but still he is eating any food/tissue/kitchen roll in the bin - and an old pan scourer! This morning, despite the bins being turned around so he couldn't get his head in, and both being emptied, he knocked them over in an attempt to get at something.

He's at home all day with my OH (who works nights, so spends most of his day sleeping with the dog on the bed!), the back door is always open except for in extreme weather, and goes out for a walk every day.

I'm starting to get worried because its making him throw up a lot.

Could any of you advise as to why he may be doing this?

Thanks

Sx

Penny_Watcher

Can't really help with the why your pooch is a bin raider (other than him being a Lab), but I think I have the kitchen bin thing solved.

My kitchen bins are three of these Ikea storage boxes stacked on top of each other. One for general waste and the other two for recycling. They fit neatly under the kitchen worktop.



I've found them to be dog proof so far. My dogs can't knock them over and they still haven't worked out how to lift the lid to get in.

SarahNeedle1872

Thanks Penny! That gives me a great excuse to go to Ikea

Sx

snowman2_2

Lab's are natural scavengers and it may just be normal behaviour. I have to put my bin in a cupboard with a child lock on the door to stop my dog

SAMHP_2

Agree absolutely - Labs = scavengers (or 'opportunists' as my OH likes to say!)
We beef up our Labs meals with rice and loads of veggies - especially carrots - so they feel fuller but without the probabilty of them putting on weight. Hide chews are good as they are calorie free but unfortuately once a Lab (or maybe any breed?) has a bin-fetish, they will always have the urge to 'check it out'
If you can't stop them doing this, it is obviously imperative that they can't find anything horrid in the bin - I'm a bit alarmed about the being sick - but, on the other hand, being sick is the Labs in-built mechanism to get rid of anything that might harm them, as far as I can tell!
SAM

SarahNeedle1872

Thanks everyone. SAMHP I think the sickness as from the kitchen roll he'd eaten that I'd used with anti-bacterial spray! I will certainly try padding out his meal with rice, and see if that helps

Sx

Penny_Watcher

Just have a look and see which breed of dog this is :rolleyes:

Puppy eats whole alphabet of fridge magnets

POSSETTE

we had this with our spaniels..we gave in and got rid of bin..we now have a carrier bag on a hook just above draining board,and empty it everyday.

patchwork_cat

Our Golden Retiever thinks the bin is great. TBH I think you have been lucky your dog has not done it before! She also eats tissues, it is gross and we have half bits of chewed tissue on the carpet. I invested in waste paper baskets with lids and it took her about 5 mins to work out how to lift the lid with her nose! Sorry not helpful, I have resigned myself to it.

ka7e

My last dog was a bin-raider (yes, another Lab) and would get into both flip-top and pedal bins. The only thing that outwitted her was the Brabantia 50l touch-sensitive bin. They are horribly expensive, (though Amazon sometimes does special offers) and huge, but have a 10-year guarantee.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Change your bin or put it somewhere the dog cant get to.