I don't know what the hell is going on, but all of a sudden Bandit is OBSESSED with garbage. And he's not just eating one thing out of them; he's shoving his head in there and eating everything within reach. Its not just completely grossing me out, its really pissing me off! We feed him 2x a day, 1 1/2 cup each time, PLUS we give him treats when we're home at night, but he is still eating garbage like we're literally starving him. Also, its not just garbage that he's eating; he choked down a baby sock last weekend when he saw me walking toward him.

Beyond being angry about this, I'm genuinely concerned that he's going to make himself sick. What can I do to stop this? We keep as many doors shut as possible, tell him NO and put him outside, and if he won't stop then we swat his butt.

Baby lock on the garbage? put it in a cupboard with a closed door? They sell locks for garbage lids for kids, I am sure it would help deter Bandit.
All ours have lids and the big one with food is behind a door. It keeps Ripley out of it, she has stuck her head into a bag that I was in the process of filling to put out and stole an ear of corn, but that was my fault.......and kinda funny.
Good Luck
Kelly

This is a constant issue in our house with Zoey and Ares. They're so bad about it.

Honestly I think the only way to fix the problem is to get a garbage can with a lid that closes and only opens if you step on it.

Jennet&Embry, have your dogs ever gotten sick from eating out of the trash?

No we haven't had that, but they've just had really bad diarrhea, especially from all the paper towels and napkins they eat.

Luka used to eat socks. I have the no show kind that i wear with toms or converse and he would gobble them up like candy. he would then proceed to puke them up on my bed at night. FUN. not.

About a month ago he started getting into our roommate's bathroom trash. He got really sick last time and i thought we were going to have to make a visit to the emergency vet. He threw up and had diarrhea from eating makeup remover wipes, plastic feminine products (gross, i know), and q-tips. I called the vet, they recommended i give him pedialyte to keep him hydrated and if he wasn't better in 12 hours bring him in.

He wound up being fine but ever since then the only thing i can recommend is to keep your trash out of reach or get a can with a lid. it's not worth an expensive vet bill or even worse, a sick puppy. :/

I've grown up with dogs and i can say it's not just a breed thing, if the dog has access to the trash they just can't help themselves. It's like telling a starving man he can't eat at the all you can eat buffet. This is one of those things you really can't train you just adapt and remove the temptation.

and i agree it's super gross lol

We keep the kitchen garbage in the cabinet under the sink. Sabaka knows what opening that cabinet sounds like and he comes running from where ever he is in the house in order to try to push his way past us and gobble up anything yummy in the trash. Most of the time he fails, but it does irritate me! Since he has just recently been given free run of the house (when we are home!) he has started swiping tissues and dryer sheets and other things that are fun to shred from the other trash cans in the house. Even though I haven't done it yet, I think I'm going to spray a little bitter apple on the contents of the trash cans for a few days and see if that will stop him. Even though Sabaka would chow down on the kitchen trash, he never actually eats tissues and paper products...he just loves to rip them up and make huge messes!!