Sorry to hear this!
But this can be avoided if you take precautions to train your dog:
My dogs were trained since young NOT to eat anything (anywhere, even on their food plate, unless they see one of us put it there and give it to them) around the house or provided to them.
We used a very spicy chile in some of his favorite foods and placed them all around the house, including the garbage bins.
We also had strangers swing some juicy meats over the fence directly onto them.
Needless to say, after a few hit and misses, they got the message!
The worst offenders were the small dogs. I seriously was thinking they liked their food extra spiced or something, but later we learned it had to do more with the smell of the foods used to entice them.
If they see food on their dishes, they will not touch it, unless we first pick it up in their visual field and place it in front of them.
We test this every 6 months to reinforce their memory.
But this can be avoided if you take precautions to train your dog:
My dogs were trained since young NOT to eat anything (anywhere, even on their food plate, unless they see one of us put it there and give it to them) around the house or provided to them.
We used a very spicy chile in some of his favorite foods and placed them all around the house, including the garbage bins.
We also had strangers swing some juicy meats over the fence directly onto them.
Needless to say, after a few hit and misses, they got the message!
The worst offenders were the small dogs. I seriously was thinking they liked their food extra spiced or something, but later we learned it had to do more with the smell of the foods used to entice them.
If they see food on their dishes, they will not touch it, unless we first pick it up in their visual field and place it in front of them.
We test this every 6 months to reinforce their memory.
