What can I do to stop this?

[Wendy Dickerson]

We bought a mini bin from Toronto to collect all the junks in our surrounding. I use to dump the household wastes in the bin. Whenever my dog sees the bin, he gets into it and eats the wastes. Every time he throws the wastes out of the bin and makes the area dirty. Last week he had diarrhoea and consulted the vet.
I am worried about the health of my Rob. How can I stop him from eating wastes? When I saw Rob eating the food wastes, I stopped dumping food wastes in the bin. But still, he continues to search and eat the garbages. What can I do to stop this? Almost every week, I should have to carry him to the vet. If this habit continues, Rob will not live longer.

 

[flowerbug]

train the dog to only eat food you give it.

it takes persistence to train animals, but that is how you get a well behaved pet.

also, don't let pet outside unless on a leash.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Wendy, What does the bin look like? Can you build a fence around it or put a top on it to keep Rob out? I'd use relatively heavy wire as he will likely try to tear it, either for the fence or the top. I don't know how big Rob is but a fair sized dog can rip and tear chicken wire. For situations like this I like passive controls that work when I'm not around. But build it strong.

I can kind of sympathize, one of my dogs would do anything within her power to eat about anything. She was a rescue, captured when she was about 6 months old. She must have gone hungry at times when she was a pup. Talk about food motivated.

 

[Nyboy]

Quick fix put a muzzle on Rob. Muzzles have came a long way they are no longer steel cages. They are now made of light weight material much more comfortable for dog to wear. He can eat something and become blocked, surgery would be needed, you don't want to have to pay that vet bill

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

One of my cattle dogs is a forager. Just three days ago he was trapped in the completely enclosed garden for over an hour. He dug under in order to eat at the smorgasborg - the compost bin. I have to put heavy wire on it now. Pain the neck for me, but keeps him outa there. and its slowed down the throwing up...at 4 a.m.......

 

[catjac1975]

There is nothing I can do to keep my dog from eating bad food-I have to keep it away from her. I have found her standing on the dining room table when no one is looking to eat up crumbs.We can never forget to leave bread and such on the counter within her stretching reach. Yes, I have a poorly trained dog.

 

[AMKuska]

I second the muzzle. A nice basket muzzle will stop him from being able to ingest random scraps until you can secure the area and/or train him not to eat strange food.

to stop my dog from getting to a place I didn't want him to go (my dining room table!) I put snappy trainers all over it and left a tidbit of something in the middle. Snappy trainers are like mouse traps that don't cause physical damage. After a few blasts of snappy trainers going off in his face, he decided the foodfest wasn't worth it and stayed on the ground.

They may be worth a try to deter him.

 

[so lucky]

My dog is really food driven, too. I refer to her as a treat whore. But, oddly, I can leave her open food bag in the laundry room (where her feed bowl is) and she has never gotten into it, even if I am late feeding her.
As far as getting into your garbage, there is the old method of putting all the garbage in bags, and pouring a healthy dose of ammonia over it before closing it up. Supposed to discourage the dog.