I have HAD IT with my Lab/Rottweiler.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Lately he has been completely unabashed about stealing food. He has PLENTY of food of his own. Good food. Canidae, Chicken Soup, often feed him wet food too and still you can't turn your back on him for a SECOND without him stealing your food or getting into the garbage. I locked him out of the house. He just jumped up on the sliding door and whined till I said screw this and I locked him in the kennel tonight - in three years we've always let him come in and out of the house, never chained him up, never stuck him in the kennel - but lately he has just become insufferable and I have no clue why it happened. I had him checked for worms. Other than that I have no idea why the sudden change but it is completely unacceptable. I'm really just not sure what to do about it.

[Tab]

1. I don't know about the "sudden change"

so there might be something there
but my boxer/hound mix does this stuff. Turn your back for a second, food's gone. I now place food on top of the fridge or anything six feet or higher.

One day he took a pack of store-wrapped sausages and ate them all. We bought a roast chicken to replace it (for dinner, I mean). 15 minutes later, he and his little partner-in-crime shih tzu were having a picnic on the lawn with a whole roast chicken. We finally ordered a pizza, and he managed to get the last two pieces of that.

The other night we had a large pizza, ate about half, and then I found he dragged the remaining half - wax paper and all - into the living room for his own little TV dinner.

[Sanity Claws]

2. Any weight gain?

Has he stolen enough food to expect weight gain? If he has stolen that much food and not gained weight, he might have a hyperthyroid. That would also show up in greater activity.

[dgibby]

3. Any chance

Any chance he has diabetes? Is he drinking more, urinating more? You might want to get his blood sugar checked. How old is he? Is it possible he's experiencing a growth spurt?

[IndyOp]

4. It could bet that something/someone "taught" him it was okay to go for people food...

Could someone in your home have given him people food as a treat? A family member, friend or other guest? It is so "fun" to treat a dog that people indulge themselves (and the dog) without realizing that the long-term ramification is that the dog suffers because he now expects this new treat and gets in trouble when he tries to get more.

Another possibility is that some incredibly enticing food item was left where he could get at it when no one was around -- after he experienced the incredible reward of helping himself now he is going to go for any chance he gets.

If this happened, then you'll have to "retrain" him to leave people food alone. I suggest that you get a trash can with a lid and that you train yourselves to put food up out of his reach unless someone is right next to the food and can correct him if he starts to misbehave. Keep in mind that many small corrections (sternly saying "No!" once to him and then repeatedly saying "No! No! No! at the item that he directed his behavior towards -- the food he tried to grab or the trash can) can be more effective than a "BIG" correction (yelling at him or locking him out of the house after a transgression). You might want to put him in a crate in the house when you are unable to watch him - when you are asleep or in the shower or leave the house.

It sounds like he has been a very well behaved dog for a long time -- I wish you good luck figuring out what is going on and helping him understand what you expect from him.

:hug: