How to stop a dog learning??

Is it even possible ?

Kiara (3yr old gsd x bc) seems to learn from watching me do stuff!

She can now open cupboard doors, the dog gate (if it's not completely shut), normal doors with handles, kitchen bins only last a few weeks before she figures them out, I've had to buy a fridge with no handle so she can't get into that and now last night she opened the oven door and scoffed the cake I had cooling in there which could've been really dangerous had the oven been on - I'm now imagining her trying to pinch the sunday roast and burning herself

How can I stop her from learning all this stuff???

She only does it when I'm out of the house so it's difficult to stop her, there is now nothing edible in my lower cupboards, the fridge has an inlet in the side as the place to hold the door to open it, and the bin is taped around the top and the flip thing is so stiff I'm sick of trapping my fingers in it!! And now I'm obviously not gonna be able to nip to the shop and leave the oven on !!

She gets a good walk 1hr + every day and some play time in the garden with her ball too, she's one of 3 so she can't be lonely !!!

Aaagh she's driving me mad !! Any ideas Please????

I would enrol her in agility or HTM or even Obedience - she's obviously clever enough - use it to your advantage.

A Nina Ottoson game would be useful and maybe a kong. And perhaps look into baby products so she cannot get into the lower cupboards.

The best way to stop a dog learning, is to get it to shut down, and the best way to do that is to punish it.

But is that a route you want to go down?

I sincerely hope not.

Instead of focusing on your dog's "faults" why not look at the problem from a different perspective?

WHy not ask yourself, "how can I manage my environment in a way to avoid the risks of (insert relevant hazards)?

EG

Fit child locks on your cupboards
replace door handles with knobs
Fit a fridge lock
Fit an oven lock

do something good with her for mental stimulation e.g. agility..

and seeing as she does it when you are not in, buy a crate for when you arent there, or have an area where she can be securely fastened.

i wouldnt want a dog that stopped learning.

Never!! I only have to look at her and she knows anyway!!! I've never raised my hands to any of them

Hmmm might do some investigation into obedience classess tho . . .

Go for the obedience and if she gets that quick then maybe Heel work to music. Or you could get her to do assistance dog work, like taking clothes out of the washer (when asked) and putting them in a basket, or turning on/off a light (when asked).

She has so much potential! I would love a dog that could learn like that. Check out Heather Hammond's dog trick training. I think it was a fiver from "the works" - but this was before Christmas. But you could get her to hold and carry things, get you a tissue when you sneeze...

You can buy child locks for cupboards and the fridge. And leave the bin outside. (A friend has that problem and that`s what she does).

Found a website that does tricks in easy to follow lessons - starting with easy then intermediate etc - because of my job (foster carer) I find it dfficult to sign up to a set time/day for a class as you can guarantee the kids will play up so I think I'll give this a shot and see how she does

We've already passed level one! Sit, Stay, Stand, Down etc so we'll see how it goes
I've had a read through and it seems to promote good practice and a reward based training ethos so here goes!!

There aren't any obedience classes close by

With the Heather Hammonds book, you receive a DVD also that shows you how exactly to do it - the pictures in the books aren't that informative, so the DVD is brilliant, especially if the person doesn't have a clue on training.

Keep us updated on all the new *good* tricks she can do and definitely buy some child locks lol.