Talkin' Trash

I hate to be a snitch but DixieLee is in trouble again.  We understand.  Before she came to live with us, she lived on the streets and didn’t have anyone to give her food so she had to find her own.  She said the best place to find yummy food was in people’s trash bins and sometimes she didn’t eat for days because she couldn’t find any bins and was hungry for days.

When she came to live with us, she didn’t realize we get good food and treats all day long and she would go into the trash because there was food there.  She was sneaky about it and only did it when she thought Mom and Dad wouldn’t see her so it was hard to teach her not to go in the trash and of course she wouldn’t listen to me.

I can see how frustrating it was for Mom and Dad to come into the kitchen and see trash spread all over the place.  DixieLee especially likes to eat paper towels so she would hide paper towels in her crate.

Mom bought trash bins with tops, but DixieLee figured out how to get into all of them, until, Mom found a bin with a top that could only be opened by stepping on a thingy on the bottom.  As smart as she is, DixieLee couldn’t manage the stepping on the thingy part.  She tried just knocking the whole thing over but the top still stayed shut.

We thought she was cured of her dumpster diving but recently she started trying to get into the little bin in the bathroom.  A dog has a sense of smell that is a gazillion times better than a people’s sense of smell so I can see why she would want to get into the kitchen trash where food goes.  I sometimes get tempted when I smell chicken bones but I know how bad going in the trash is.  So I asked DixieLee what was so interesting in the bathroom.  She said not much but she gets bored easily and getting into the trash is just something to do.

If your house has a trash can bandit there are a few things you can do to keep the peace.

1.  You can buy trash bins with tops.  There are several different kinds and you may not need the super metal ones with the step on thingy like we have.  They work best for us and they come in lots of sizes so we use them in the kitchen, bathrooms and Mom’s workshop.

2.  Keep your trash in a cabinet or closet.  That didn’t work for us since DixieLee learned how to open all the cabinets.  We even have a child proof lock on the cabinet that holds our dog food.   It’s not too bad when you only have to open it a couple of times a day but having to unlock it several hundred times a day gets old fast.

3.  Place the can out of reach.  This is sort of like using a cabinet or closet.  Mom keeps one bin in our studio on top of her work station.  It’s convenient for tossing ribbon ends and other trash but too high for DixieLee to reach.  Your garage is a great place for your bin if you have a door right in your kitchen.

4.  If your dog is getting into the trash because she’s bored like DixieLee, the best way to stop her is to find ways to make her not bored.  More walks or toys like a Kong with peanut butter inside are good ways to keep any dog from getting bored.

Let me know if you are a recovering dumpster diver and what your humans did to help you break your habit.

Your friend,

Zeva

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