So Not On

[MrSnappy]

So Red Dog is on steroids, for his autoimmune issues, and unfortunately cannot be tapered down or he can't walk. The steroids have side effects; he has a pot belly now, and has started sometimes peeing in his sleep. Which, though gross, is also kind of funny because he wakes up in the morning and gives me this look like "dude, someone pissed in this dog bed!" Okay, whatever.

 

They also make him ravenously hungry, so we have some food issues with the other dogs popping up, but those are manageable. The latest thing was busting into the garbage can while I was out and eating whatever he could get his mouth on. He hasn't broken into a garbage can since he was a puppy! No big deal, the garbage can lives on top of the deep freeze now. Fine.

 

So tonight I came home from dinner with a friend, after feeding them their own dinner AND giving them beef bones to chew on .... and found garbage strewn all over the apartment. Huh - must've forgotten to put the can up before I left ... except the can is still up there, lid still on. And I didn't eat the feta cheese that Red dog Fan brought over the other day, yet the empty container is on the floor. So my eyes wander over the room, since my apartment is essentially one big room, and come to rest on the open refrigerator. Yes. Red Dog has learned to open the fridge and go to town.

 

Not ONLY did he learn to open the fridge in the few hours I was gone, he also figured out how to slide open the vegetable bin, which does not contain vegetables but rather dog meat. Specifically, two breakfasts worth of dog meat, dinner, and recreational bones. He also ate most of my strawberries and MY dinner which was thawing for tomorrow. And it looks like he tried to open a can of Pellegrino, but the pull tab thwarted his no-thumbedness.

 

At this exact moment he is as big as two Red Dogs and is burping up a distinctly Greek smell.

 

I am so not impressed. I mean, I am kind of impressed because he can open the fridge, but I am really.not.impressed.

 

So besides duct tape, how do I keep the fridge shut??

 

And for your troubles, a photo of an orange salmon fighting his way upstream

 

 

RDM

[WyoBC]

Aww poor Red dog. He's just hungery But I will admit he's pretty good to open the fridge like that.

 

What about bungie cords? or a lock type thing that would fold over the one edge and lock on the other side?

[sluj]

Wow.

 

Baby latches? If duct tape really doesn't do it for you?

[tualizzy]

Oh poor Red Dog, and poor you.

(But he is a talented guy isn't he....wow, he opened the fridge, I'm impressed!)

 

I wonder of a tie down would work to keep the fridge closed? I'm thinking of the kind you might use in a truck that cinches tight with a ratchet. May be able to wrap it around the fridge and then tighten down. He would need a thumb to unlock the ratchet and loosen the strap to get the fridge open.

 

I hope this gets better for both of you. Good luck, I'll be thinking about you.

 

Oh, and that orange salmon.... he is a spectacular specimen.

Much nicer than the slippery little suckers we find around here.

What do you use for bait?

[shanni and kingsley]

i feel really bad for red dog.

 

poor guy... but overeating cannot be good for him or his joints..

 

try these cabinet/fridge locks?

 

http://www.safetots.co.uk/item--BabyDan-Ad...k--BDfridgeLock

 

ETA: here's one from amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Safety-First-Refrige...2371&sr=8-1

[Beth G]

Baby latches would be good I bet. Wow he is one smart cookie.

[MrSnappy]

I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks! Red Dog is going on ELEVEN. Yeesh!!

 

Someone just informed me they make child proof refrigerator locks. Now since we all know border collies apparently share an intelligence level with three year olds, this might be the ticket.

 

The expression on my face when I realized he had gone shopping in my personal meat department looked something like the look on Lars' face:

 

Imagine me making that sound that Scooby Doo makes when puzzled.

 

I am still pretty amazed.

 

RDM

[SoloRiver]

Is there any way to gate off the kitchen altogether?

 

I have sort of a galley kitchen with a breakfast bar and a doorway that, theoretically, could be gated off if need be. I'd probably have to stack two gates. That might remove the temptation of being right in front of the fridge and being able to put his hands and teeth directly on it.

 

I'm really sorry about RD's troubles. Your relationship with him reminds me so much of mine with Solo that I can't help but feel it a bit personally when you have a setback.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Um, yes, there are child locks for refrigerators. We know this because my big brother, who is profoundly mentally handicapped, used to raid the fridge at night. I say used to, however, not because the child locks worked (they didn't), but because my mom and dad finally put a stop to it by installing a flip latch with a keyed lock. I mention that just in case the child lock doesn't work.

 

Which it might not - remember anything plastic can be chewed pretty easily. Which we learned when Doug the Dog was on a short course of steroids and became an eating machine - he chewed into the Dog Cabinet and ate 200 vitamin B tablets among other goodies.

 

In other words, I feel your pain. A few times over.

[Guest pax]

I velcroed my fridge shut because mine was a standard door swinging open kind and I couldn't find a lock for it.

 

If you go into any place that has fabric..Joann's, Michael's, Wal-Mart, etc...they have velcro with a sticky back. Stick that to the fridge. Then use another sticky back piece to make a loop around the handle of the fridge. Whole thing cost maybe a dollar and worked like a charm for years. If you want to be highly motivated, you can stick a pretty piece of matching fabric on it so it "goes" your kitchen, but I didn't.

 

My kid used to bring her pony in for carrots out of the veg bin.

 

My Dad eats in his sleep. My step mother BICYCLE chained their fridge shut.

 

I had a dog with food issues, she would hide stuff. I came home one night and found most of a pizza under my pillow.

 

I'm sorry Red Dog is having a bad time of it. Can he eat veggies? Maybe it's worth just strewing a big bag of carrots around when you're leaving.

 

Also, we had one dog on steroids who left the rubbish alone if his water was cold enough. I know that sounds strange, but he needed constant water, as cold as we could get it. Half ice cubes, half water in the bowl, refilled whenever there was no ice left. It was the ice that did it for him. Maybe Red Dog would like that. You could make it out of broth, if you were really highly motivated. I have no idea why it worked but it worked for Boo.

[PSmitty]

Aww, poor RD! Oh, yeah, poor you, too. I love feta! Anyway, I have no better advice than what you've gotten, just wanted to wish you luck and admire your salmon.

[Lenajo]

We've got 2, 16 year olds, and though I hate to do it the dignified elder ones, is a crate an option? an xpen with a top where he can move around a little? It sounds like it's just going to progress - get one thing locked, then something else, etc until he hits on to something that will hurt him.

[Guest WoobiesMom]

Aw, poor RD! I think the heavy duty Velcro installed up at the top of the door would probably be the least expensive first option. You might want to jump ahead and install child proof cabinet locks now before he learns how to operate the can opener! LOL

 

Good luck!

[rosefarm]

See now you know what its like to have two old beagles (without the super smart refridgerator action Thank Gawd!)

 

I can NOT keep weight off my two for the life of me, because even though I feed them less they break down doors to get to the garbage, yesterday I nearly died when I came home and they broke into my pantry where I keep the garbage can.

 

I think I high up baby lock would be a good bet, though as determined as he sounds, he will find something else, I can relate I get the screaming hungries from time to time too.

 

--Denise

[bc friend]

Sorry but I had to laugh when I read about the fridge raiding! When Sara was about a yr old, I kept coming home to find a scene similar to what you described. It was driving me nuts - I couldn't figure out how she was getting into the fridge - no towel on the door for her to pull, etc. I finally saw caught her using her nose to break the seal at the bottom of the door which would pop the door open! I put a toddler lock on the fridge door - eventually she stopped trying to open it.

 

As for steroid induced hunger, I have just added green beans to the dog's normal ration. It adds fullness w/o extra calories.

[MrSnappy]

Thanks for the tips and sympathy! Even the giggles are appreciated I DO put ice cubs in his water and I DO add things to his meals as fillers. I recall a friend had a dog on medication for seizures that had a similar effect and her perfect dog chewed through a cabinet to get to the dog cookies. I would certainly expect this of one of the other buggers, but not my perfect boy! I fully expect him to go online and start ordering grocery deliveries with my credit cards next.

 

This morning in the elevator he burped something so foul it smelled like he was rotting. *puke* And I had to ride down 9 more floors with that smell. I almost lost my lunch.

 

My kitchen is like a loft kitchen, wide open, so there will be no gating it off, and there is zero room in for an XPen, literally. I think I will go shopping today and find something that will keep the fridge shut.

 

*sigh*

 

RDM

[Allie Oop]

My sympathies to both you and Red Dog, RDM. Poor boy!! This post made me a bit sad this morning. Steroids suck -- but they do help. Hang in there!!

[smileyzookie]

I just wanted to add Im sorry about RD's troubles. But you have to admit that is pretty funny that he learned on his own to open that fridge. Makes me wonder how many of our (boards) dogs can do that and other things we think is beyond them...

[borderlicious]

Clever RD! Days like that tend to lift their spirits a bit, but still. Poor guy.

 

 

RDM

 

Lars? Tweed. Sorry RDF, but I think you and RDM share this dog.

[ShoresDog]

Oh, man, poor old Red Dog. I'm so sorry to hear about his problems. It sounds like you are going to have to go to orange-level security around your apartment. I hate to say it, but I've seen padlocks on refrigerators.... But the main thing is, it's just too bad for your old boy and I wish his poor old joints didn't hurt him so.

 

At this exact moment he is as big as two Red Dogs and is burping up a distinctly Greek smell.

However, you have to admit you have a vivid and funny way of putting things. Watch your cupboards too! That comment brought to mind what happened when Tundra got into a cupboard and ate a whole bag of cat hairball treats. The kind that gum up the hairball so that the cat can pass it, that the cat is only allowed to have 3 per day.... Well, Tundra looked like an inflated balloon of Tundra and was making all kinds of rude balloon noises out both ends for a day or so.

[MrSnappy]

Lars? Tweed. Sorry RDF, but I think you and RDM share this dog.

 

See? SEE?!?!?!?! I have been telling him this, but he refuses to acknowledge that they are onedogsamedog.

 

RDM

[red dog fan]

ok, to the differences between the red dogs

 

1. Lars has a normal sized head

2. lars does not bite the Woo

3. Lars can be trusted not to move his bed(crate) clear across the room overnight as tweed does (whilst inside it)

[Rosanne]

Get some dark red hair color and dye Lars' front leg. That'll get him.

That's the only difference I can notice.

 

And I'm good from years of picking out different BC's in random agility pictures.

[Lenajo]

last resort....could he be basket muzzled? I really would be worried that the next choice of food items will be worse for him than those breathing his breath.

[Rosanne]

Well he can't jump up . . .

 

 

 

Clearly you just need to put your refrigerator up on the counter. Duh!