Does your Shiba eat food/treats from Strangers?

Comments

• ljowen123

  February 2009 edited November -1

  Jazz will take treats from some, not all. Sometimes, she'll look at me to find out if it's okay. Where this can be a bad thing is if your dog has major allergies or other health problems and truly can't handle some treats.
• obuk

  February 2009 edited November -1

  Mochi will take treats from strangers but sometimes on the maybe 3rd try. Sometimes he's more unsure, so I instruct the strangers to first drop the treat, see if Mochi takes it, then drop it closer to the stranger, and then finally from the hand, maybe 5-10 times (sometimes it takes even more treats) and then they are maybe allowed to pet him even... lol Other times he just walks up to people and lets them pet him. Some even get a tail wag which is very rare so I always let those people know they are special :)
• sunyata

  February 2009 edited November -1

  Mine will never take a treat from someone they have never met before. But if they have met before, and the treat is good enough, they will chomp away! I would definitely not punish your pup from taking treats from strangers. This could cause all sorts of problems. (say, Kelly somehow got loose and was wandering the streets, and you have enlisted help from people who she may not have met to find her... if she shys away from taking food from them, you may never get her back.) Just keep an eye on her while she is at the dog park. Unless she has a bad allergy, a few treats of questionable quality should not hurt her.
• JessicaRabbit

  February 2009 edited November -1

  You can't really punish a dog for taking treats considering that is how you initially shape a dogs behavior. Really you as an owner just have to be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to other dog owners. Having a dog suspicious of people leads to far greater liabilities than an upset tummy. I certainly have stopped my fair share of folks from giving my dogs treats.I just this morning had to stop our houseguest from giving Piglet corn bread.
  I try not to get angry at people for trying to be nice to my dog. I just calmly explain that my dogs have food allergies and I would greatly appreciate that if, just as with ones children, they check with me prior to giving my dogs anything.
• kojichan

  February 2009 edited November -1

  I actually try to encourage Koji to take a treat from a stranger as part of his socialization, but that has been limited to my treats that I hand to the person, and where I assure Koji that it is OK, that he can trust the person. Even then, he's cautious. Outside of that situation, he's never shown any willingness to get that close to a stranger, treat or no treat. At most, he gets close enough to sniff their outstretched hand, or their leg if they are not facing him, but that's it.
  
  I think it's good that Kelly is trusting/comfortable enough with strangers to accept treats from them. Along the lines Jessica states, you just need to be more vigilant about other people actions, since many take their behavior toward others' dogs for granted. So just be ready to control situations you will encounter at places like dog parks.
• Calia

  February 2009 edited November -1

  Both my boys would probably eat anything anyone would give them, but when it is from someone I don't know who didn't ask, I can get really cross with the person. Too many people that I have known has had a cat or dog die from poisoned treats, even at the dog park. I keep a bag of my own treats with me when we take them somewhere, so if anyone wants to give them a treat, the person has to give them one of mine.
  
  There's a guy that goes to the dog park, my friend has nicknamed him the "dog park pedophile", who comes with pockets full of treats and hands them out by the handful. Any dog that realizes what he has will follow him around, including Tetsu. It frustrates me having to constantly pull Tetsu away because the guy won't listen when I tell him that my dog isn't allowed to have treats.
  
  I hate having to constantly tell the same people that the pups can't have treats. Even my boyfriends dad argues with me because he wants to give them people food, trying to give excuses as why pretzels (or whatever food he wants to give them) is good for dogs. Since most people don't understand the idea of "because I don't want them to have it", I've resorted to saying "because it gives them some really bad runs". Even giving a major medical reason, doesn't stop some people.
• JessicaRabbit

  February 2009 edited November -1

  Calia, if someone disrespects my request of not giving my a dog a treat, I will get BEYOND CROSS, bones will break. That is beyond disrespectful. There used to be a crossing guard at a corner where I would walk Moto and Piglet, who tried to fight me about giving the dog treats. I finally had to say to her, "If you try to give either of my dogs treats again, I will make a point of not letting you near my dogs again." She loved them so much that that was threat enough.
• lindsayt

  February 2009 edited November -1

  Jessica, you are a very awesome dog mom. Agreed, if someone can't respect your request not to give your dog a forbidden treat especially because of medical reasons, that crosses the line. On the flip side, it doesn't stop Beebe from begging for treats from whom ever she sees (which I greatly prefer over her growling/barking/being spooky of strangers). Ike was finally comfortable enough to take some treats from the male judge at the fun match and I was very impressed that he was able to overcome his fear a little. It would be terrifying if he slipped his lead and was too frightened to be caught by anyone.
• obuk

  February 2009 edited November -1

  ohh i just read you first post and agree, i don't care how old the person is, if they feed my dog without permission, i get annoyed and will let them know. If i see that Mochi is being given treats without having to work for them, i try to stop that person right away and letting him/her know that he has to at least work for his food. Usually i do ask what kind of treat it is but Mochi is not really allergic to anything so it's not that bad. honestly, i would probably just put my dog back on a leash and leave that dog park for the day and just take the dog for a nice walk instead.
• wliu003

  February 2009 edited November -1

  perhaps the word "punish" was a bad choice of words, but I was thinking something along the lines of saying no or drop. When Kelly tries to eat Ace's (my roommates husky) food I can usually get her to stop by saying no, or drop if the food is in her mouth.
  
  hopefully kelly will exercise some more precaution because she is so motivated by food that if I am not there to stop her she will consume without question.
• JessicaRabbit

  February 2009 edited November -1

  Still I would strongly encourage you to instead of discouraging your dog from taking treats from strange people (which can lead to an aversion or fear of strangers which will lead to potentially dangerous problems) and instead bring your own treats and ask people to instead give Kelly one of yours.
  
  Then practice "leave it" exercises at another time.
  
  You want your dog to be happy to meet people. If you teach your dog to be cautious of new people, that can grow into fear. Fear and aggression go hand in hand. Many of us have had to give strangers treats to give our dogs so that our dogs stop being cautious of new people.
  
  A simple leave it exercise is to place a treat on the ground, and hold another treat. Using the command "leave it" when it is left and you can get the dogs attention on you, reward the dog with the other treat.
• lepercann

  February 2009 edited November -1

  There is an old lady in my neighborhood who used to have a dog that died years ago. She loves dogs and carries hard milk bone treats with her when she walks. Triton took them from her but I avoid her now because I would hate to hurt her feelings and I don't like him to take treats that I didn't provide. You never know what is in them and with his sensitive stomach, I try to limit the treats anyway. The people food thing is an interesting situation. T gets NO people food because I believe that it isn't good to give dogs people food as their bodies were not meant to digest what we eat. My mom's Shiba eats a lot of people food and so do a lot of dogs that I know, but I don't believe in it.
• KFontaine04

  February 2009 edited February 2009

  I feed my dogs "people food" all the time, it's just certain people food. I know people cook ("people food") for their dogs and every once in a while I will make some yummy sweet potato for my kids since they really enjoy it. Im actually looking into the whole "Cooking for your dog" thing, I think it would be so much better for them than just eating the dry kibble. Still in research phase though.
• sunyata

  February 2009 edited November -1

  I agree with Kristin, I feed my pups 'people' food quite often. Just not from my plate or the table. They get baked sweet potatoes, frozen broccoli, frozen raspberries, carrots, pumpkin, peanut butter, and other fine goodies for special treats. To me, people food really just constitues junk food. Because, in the wild, dogs would dig up roots to eat, munch on grasses and other veggies (especially in the stomachs of their prey), and what not. In the wild, they would never eat gravy, potato chips, or other 'junk' food. So therefore, they get none of that (and neither do I!).
• lepercann

  February 2009 edited November -1

  That makes complete sense. I guess I just don't like to see dogs fed from the table (meat, etc.) or fed gross food that they probably shouldn't have. I hate that whole thing of, "I didn't eat this, here, clean off my plate"! Or, "here is a turkey carcass that you can gnaw on".
• asia

  February 2009 edited November -1

  I am confused as to why people feel the need/want to give other people's animals food, unless they are good friends with the dog and owner. You never really know how they will react. Why can't they be happy watching or petting the dog? It baffles me. Growing up on a farm, we never had this issue - at least with the dogs. Visitors would want to feed the goats or the donkey or the geese or the horse... This was almost worse, since the possibility of something bad happening there was higher (they animals can get a little over-zealous and start nibbling fingers). Now, I only run into the problem when I have my sister's kids in tow. Apparently the compulsion happens with both animals and children.
  
  When I do get my nihon-ken, I am excited to try the "cooking for your dog" thing. Mostly, it's because I am always cooking for one - which means I don't really cook. If I can make something for someone else, it would be nice. And, if it's something we can both eat - like sweet potato, that's even better.
• Shiba-Kun

  February 2009 edited November -1

  My shiba has no fear of people and enjoys being with humans. So taking food from anybody that offers it to him would be SOP for him. He doesn't beg, but he won't turn down a treat either. =
  
  He's not a "snapper" so my friends actually like feeding my dog. He won't take the treat until commanded and doesn't bite down, but tries to hold it in his teeth before transferring it completely to his mouth. Two steps basically.