Black lab - 1 yr

Question

Sheba   QUESTION: My lab loves to bite her toenails.  She also loves to steal laundry from the laundry room and bring it to us to say look what i did.  I am at my wits end with this.  HELP!

ANSWER: Dear Patti,

Sheba sure is cute!  But I'm sure the stealing is annoying.  The solution is twofold:  

1)  Keep the laundry door closed, and laundry baskets inaccessible if they are not in the laundry room.  A dog who has discovered the joys of laundry-stealing will continue to have fun with it until she has gotten out of the habit.  Keeping her away from the laundry will ultimately break the habit.

2)  Don't give her any attention for stealing laundry when you forget to close the door.  Sheba knows she is going to get attention when she brings you something -- even negative attention is better than none -- so you are inadvertently reinforcing the behavior by scolding her or chasing her around when she does so.  Ignore all stealing unless it is absolutely life-threatening (rocks, sharp objects, strings or stringy items).

You can also teach her to Drop it by doing the following exercise:  Every day when she is chewing on something APPROPRIATE, casually walk by with a really great little treat (much better than what she has), hold it in front of her nose and say "Drop it" once.  Wait until she spits out her toy, give her the treat, and then give her the toy back and walk away.  Do this as many times as you can daily for 2-3 weeks, and she should be starting to really look forward to you asking her to spit out what she has in her mouth.  Once you've gotten a solid 3-week base of behavior, now you can command "Drop it" when she has something innappropriate like laundry.  No treat needed, but do your regular "drop it" exercises a couple times weekly to keep her guessing.

Good luck and thanks for writing.
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysUSA.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What about the toenail biting?

Answer
I've heard that some dogs just "trim" their own nails this way, but you should ask your vet about this.  Barring any medical problem, allergy, etc., you could definitely spray a taste deterrant on her toenails to get her to stop (available at your pet store), but if it's not hurting her to bite her nails, I'd just let her be.

Thanks!
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysUSA.com