# Stealing!



## h_crichton (Feb 12, 2015)

Hi,

Our cockapoo Murphy who is now 1 year old, is a little thief!

He constantly steals socks, gloves, car keys (!), basically anything we forget to pick up from the coffee table or low counters. I was wondering if this is something that he should grow out of when he gets older, or if it’s something we should focus more training on? When he does steal, he normally bolts outside with it and knows he’s doing bad as he avoids us so he can chew it in peace! He has plenty of his own toys which he also plays and chews so it’s not from lack of choice. It's also near impossible to get the thing out of his mouth without prying it out!! He normally understands the drop command when playing fetch, but he will not drop a stolen item when asked.

Any help/tips appreciated!

Thanks


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## Annabellam (Nov 3, 2015)

Hehe!  He seems interesting. Anyway, what i think is that he's probably playful and loves to play. You should get him toys to keep him stimulated.


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

Bribery! Have treats to hand all over the house, so when he steals something you can swap it for a treat.


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## Puzzle (Oct 17, 2015)

Cat 53 said:


> Bribery! Have treats to hand all over the house, so when he steals something you can swap it for a treat.


That's what I do. We play swaps!


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Sounds like a typical cockapoo trait to me - normal expected behaviour!
Especially if you are ignoring them.....
A game of chase for a sock, remote, mobile, glove etc is just soooo exciting!
My Ralph swallowed a couple of socks in his younger days!! 
Still likes to steal them, 3 years later... sneak the odd one & loves too greet you at the door with a sock, a tea towel will do if he can't find a sock!!


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

sounds normal to me try teaching your self to put things away and then he will not steal them, ok that is what we do with ginger .she will steal any thing and then sit and teas you with it ( like saying catch me if you can )so to avoid any had ships between you and your puppy just keep them out of his reach simple ...good luck


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## Humspoff (Aug 26, 2014)

We have the same issue with Obi... Pest!!! Treat swop isn't always the best option. Four pieces of kibble and four mini bone treats and he still wouldn't drop the tampon he had stolen today!


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

Haaaaaaaa Haaaaaaaaaa. well that is another fine mess you got your self in to. ,but all kidding aside .you have to keep things out of there reach. why cause they will take them and once they have some thing they know is not theirs they will not give them back with out a fight. it is a poo that your talking about here a very smart poo ,OK


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Dot has always been a kleptomaniac since she was a tiny, tiny pup and 'Dot what have you got?' is still constantly being asked in our house. If anything goes missing (shoe, wallet, keys, etc) the first place to look is in a dog bed - she has magpie tendencies  
When I come home from work and she has been home without people company for a while there is almost always a nest of socks by the front door and she will greet me with a mildly smelly sock held gently in her jaws as she moans her delight at being reunited - she obviously amuses herself by going on sock hunts and with 5 of us at the moment at home there are usually plenty to find particularly as children (12-22) apparently are confused by the concept of putting dirty socks in the laundry box and *shutting* the lid. Still it could be worse, I know some dogs with a thing about knickers .... but thankfully Dot has never been a Knicker nicker. She does not destroy things that she hoards. Also fortunately she has no guarding tendencies at all - and I'd like to think that this is at least in part due to the fact that she has never ever been chased or manhandled to recover stolen things, but always praised for revealing her treasures to us and rewarded for giving them up.
An early pic of Dot and a sock this from the days when she would take them dashing out into the garden and before she learnt that when she brought them to me she would be abundantly rewarded.... next time I find a sock nest I'll take a picture of it.


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## Lindor (Feb 3, 2014)

Maggie is a sock thief too. She does it to get me to chase her and if I don't I'll find it discarded on the floor somewhere. She also likes to help me put the laundry away. I give her a pair of my socks and then ask her to follow me to the dresser and drop them into the sock drawer. So cute.

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## h_crichton (Feb 12, 2015)

Aww I love the stories of the sock thief's! Unfortunately Murphy is a knicker thief and they're his definite favourite. Which is great when we have people over and forget to shut the utility room door...!

At least I'm not alone then, and I used to offer him a treat to persuade him to drop whatever he had, which did always work. But I spoke to a dog walker in our local park who said I was encouraging him to steal as he knew he was going to get a treat, and it was best to ignore him. But ignoring him meant he would destroy whatever he had stolen! I might go back to the treat option as it worked every time without fail.

It's impossible to be mad at his wee face when he greets you at the front door with knickers in his mouth, almost smiling at me!!


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Rufus steals nothing and I have to agree with the woman in the park. We worked diligently to avoid chances of theft (doors closed, shoes on door handles, trash cans all elevated) and ignored any thefts that did happen. He also had plenty of yummy bones and things that were totally his. We reinforced his playing with his own toys by giving him lots of affection and playtime when he brought us one of them.


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