Can you leave food out when your dogs are about?

Just as the title says really

I had a conversation with a fellow dog walker this morning and they mentioned that they cannot leave any food out at all, not on the kitchen side, coffee table, anywhere without their dogs getting it.

I had never really thought about it before but I never think to move food from wherever it is left, probably because the dogs don't steal anything

What about yours?

Hhmmmm, difficult one this!

I would say, in the main, yes.... stuff can be left out. I might find the boys lying down next to the table/plate etc 'waiting' for the food, but generally they are ok.

Occasionally, they might try and steal crusts etc left on plates, but not very often.

However, I don't often leave food lying around, as it's not fair to tempt/tease them.

Ben is too polite
Mia was a stray and had food issues so I worked hard with her, in the main I can leave food out - although I wouldnt leave it all day

Like anything else its just a training issue - some dogs never try and some need trained

ETA: YES I could leave the biggest bowl of salad on the floor and they would give it a wide berth all day....lol

but if its meaty eaty things, it depends, yes I can if im kicking about, but if I were to go out, then all bets are off, one of em would have it,

Same here- or the OH would have it if not the dog!!

I hadn't thought of it like that - interesting point

There is a packet of biscuits (shortbread ) on my coffee table that my daughter put there on Saturday and the dogs haven't so much as glanced at it so I guess that they are not tempted?

On another point, has anyone had to 'train' their dogs to leave the food cos I guess I have told them to leave in the past if they went to sniff it but can't say that it has taken much more than that.

Do you think some breeds are worse for food theft than others?

does he blame the dog though.

I do think some breeds are more foody than others, labs spring to mind, rotties are foody as well but only the nice stuff,
it doesnt make them worse, it just means you have to do the training,
inklis EBT eats anything,

I train the 'leave' command using food from when they are little. They have successfully 'left' freshly cooked sausage on a plate on the floor

I find if they can leave food, then leaving other things (rubbish, dead animals, etc) is usually ok.

The only thing my leave command doesn't work on is live animals (birds, chickens etc) and the only thing that works is physically removing them or the other animal...

I reckon dogs biscuits would be safe from your lot too judging by the way they spat them out in disgust when they realised I wasn't giving them meat No wonder Stumpy follows you around on our walks...you're the mega treat supplier

We had to work quite hard with Hoki and with Tip, less so for Stumpy. Our first rescue, Kip, was good as gold, would not touch anything not given to him.

So OH got a bit of a shock when we got Hoki. He put some soup and bread on the coffee table, nipped back into the kitchen to pick up his cup of tea and came back to find all the bread had disappeared

Tip was a really bad counter-surfer/bin raider when we first got him, but he seems to have got the message now.

One thing that does make me wonder though is whether the dogs that are more prone to stealing get less in the way of treats and things. Ours do get quite a lot of treats/biscuits through the day (though of course they get less dinner), and I can't help thinking that this has helped to remove their desire to help themselves.