# Vizsla Thieves



## Pineapple Princess (Nov 20, 2009)

Here's a fun question: who has a V that doubles as a thief????

Hobie likes to steal the following, then plays "keep away" (i.e. "chase me around the dining room table and see if you can catch me"):

shower scrubbies
bread/buns
undergarments ;D
bathing suits
paper products
shoes (duh)

The worst is when she decides to play in the middle of the night on her way back in from a potty trip.


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## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

Wow, there is not enough space to list even Penny's favorite items of thievery. It's basically anything that is of value to us, of course. Paper products (mail, napkins, notepads, etc) and cloth items (placemats, towels, socks, hats), are taken everyday. And any visitor who has left shoes on the floor instead of putting them away in the closet has learned a lesson from Professor Penny. 
Actually, this habit is one of the most annoying and sometimes stressful. She does it when she's wound up (often) or when she wants our attention at times we need to give attention elsewhere, like to dinner on the stove or to a child. 

Anyone have any luck either catching them or getting the dog to drop the item in pursuit? We've had limited success with every technique so continue to lose items that she will destroy if we give up the chase.


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## Shivangi (Jan 19, 2010)

We try and avoid the chase game irrespective of what she has in her mouth. Instead, we open her treat bag, call her over, ask her to 'leave it', and then treat her for following directions. Always works! Unless she's found a dead bird outside. Good luck with that!


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## Pineapple Princess (Nov 20, 2009)

The "treat" diversion is all that's worked for us.

Our fireplace mantle now doubles as a shoe tree....


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## Mercutio (Jan 18, 2010)

We found the "if you give it to me you can have a treat" route worked best for us. The other alternative to going around in circles around the house was to start closing doors behind him till he was stuck in one room 

I did eventually start to teach him to bring me things in the hope that he would start bringing things to me when he wanted attention rather than running away with them. It has worked inside the house but in the yard if he gets hold of a glove or pegs or worst of all something thats been dead for two weeks, then nothing works.


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## madaboutvizslas (Nov 12, 2008)

At luchtime the wife leaves 500grams of venison mince on a plate out on the back porch to defrost for dinner. Tells the Vizsla NO and goes back inside to check her email. Half an hour wife goes back out to find an empty plate and a sleeping, smiling V.

There is no evidence to convict the V and it's not going to change its story.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

I think that inquisitive thievery should be considered a Vizsla breed trait. 
I've always found it odd, that by in large, if they steal something they're not supposed to have they're not destructive with it. Of course fresh venison would be an exception, or maybe not. It wasn't destroyed it was just eaten. ;D
s
I don't have any problems with the girls, a command of "Out" and I get the object back. They see plenty of live and dead quail, do even birds aren't a huge problem, unless both of them are around. Then they're primarily trying to keep the bird from each other. Which is a bad habit and will be corrected this sumer.

A "trick" to try for folks that are having trouble getting ahold of their dog. Pretend you are Boris Karloff in the Mummy. Just keep walking at them. Dead straight lines, staring with your eyes boring holes into them. No talking, no running or chasing, no yelling. Just a flat neutral energy that they can't read, maybe just a hint malevolence.
When they give up, they will stay there and spit the object out, and when you arrive don't be surprised if you get a very submissive dog. Calmly take the object, and walk away as if it was a normal thing. No punishment, no praise, flat neutral. It may take some time the first few times you try it. Keep the pressure on them. Dogs read body language and "energy". When they can't read you it unnerves them. Be careful though because they may react defensively if you go too much over the top. Once you have the object, let the pressure off.
I'm not sure it would work with the venison though.


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## Lisa (Feb 18, 2009)

Catan will steal anything to get your attention. The problem is that he will consume it if you don't get it back. Offering a treat worked for awhile but recently he decided the chase was better than the treat. The only thing that seems to work right now is having two people go after him. He'll give up once he's cornered.
His latest trick is to take the book marks out of whatever I'm reading. He chews it up and I loose my page.


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## Shivangi (Jan 19, 2010)

LOL  Bookmarks!! Such sneaky dogs!!


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## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

We haven't had bookmarks yet, but books have been known to occasionally disappear from the bookshelf. I wish we were only dealing with the inquisitiveness that Gunnr has found, but destruction is often the goal of thievery in our case.


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## remmy600 (Nov 30, 2009)

SOCKS! No question. . . if its on the ground. . . its in her mouth in seconds!!!


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## Vespasia (Apr 19, 2010)

My Vizsla's new game is stealing bras and nipping at the shoulder straps (and breaking them!) I've lost my 4 best bras in the course of the past two weeks!


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## Pineapple Princess (Nov 20, 2009)

Oh God, if I had a dollar for every time Hobie swiped one of my bras..... I do not understand the obsession.


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## Lisa (Feb 18, 2009)

Catan's latest thing is to run to whomever is blowing their nose. He then sits beautifully and gently starts to whine in anticipation of getting the kleenex. He'll even start to fidget like when I have a yummy treat to give him. If you let your guard down at all he'll steal it. Once he realizes he's not getting the kleenex he starts barking. We have to keep all the bedroom garbage pails up on the dressers. I had some company over the other night who thought he was a bloody freak! 
What's with the obssesion with kleenex?


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## Crazy Kian (Aug 10, 2009)

Kian does the same, he steals the tissues from the garbage 
we call him the Garbage Monkey. ;D


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## DixiesMom (Feb 5, 2009)

I am sorry to tell you, but I don't think the obsession is with the tissue as much as it is with what is IN the tissue....don't you want some good wet puppy kisses now.


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## madaboutvizslas (Nov 12, 2008)

Another one of the girls hair ties dissappeared tonight off the bedroom floor probably to be deposited on the back lawn in the morning!


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## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

Oh, tissues! The ultimate object of desire. And no, not used ones. A box of tissues left within reach is devoured as fast as they can be pulled out of the box. A close second is baby wipes--again, clean ones. And dryer sheets. I often find these two later on, um, in the backyard.


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## Lisa (Feb 18, 2009)

Yes Catan likes fresh clean kleenex as well. The other day I left him in the car. He was in the very back (small SUV) behind a barrier. When I got back to the car he was in the front seat (the barrier was still in place) and he was pulling kleenex from the box as fast as he could. He wanted to make sure he got down as many as possible before I could get the door open. Still don't know how he got through the barrier!


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## Crazy Kian (Aug 10, 2009)

that boy is a contortionist 

;D


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## Pineapple Princess (Nov 20, 2009)

Lisa I think you must have your Catan mistaken with Hobie.... ;D

When she scores something that is off limits (ham, bread, paper towels) I swear her eyes bug out of her head and she scarfs it down faster than anything I've ever seen. She knows it's only a matter of time before the Alphas come!!!


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

I cannot believe I missed this thread! Yes, bras. With the bra cups in her mouth, Rosie likes to use her paws to play with the elastic straps. And she, too, loves to do this on the way back from a nighttime bathroom break. Shoes are a given; likes removing the insoles once she gets them (including prescription orthotics). We've taken to perching ours midway up the windows. She has also taken credit cards, and as I mentioned on another thread, all of my prescription glasses at different times. She also likes pens, toothbrushes, and (eww) toilet brushes. As far as things that go in one end and come out the other, her favorite is foam earplugs. They're bright green and kind of hard to miss in her poop. Oh, and Gunnr, please tell Rosie that she shouldn't be destroying the things she takes


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

sarahaf said:


> Oh, and Gunnr, please tell Rosie that she shouldn't be destroying the things she takes


 Ya' know, it's weird, I've had 5 vizslas over the last 23 years and every one of them has been the same in this regard. 
They will pick something that they shouldn't have and do a drive-by on us as if to show us what they found. If they had just stayed in the other room, they could have torn it apart and we wouldn't have known until it was too late. One of them, Silkcut, used to think he was invisible. He'd pick something up from another room in the house and come into the living room and peek around the furniture to find us. Then he would walk from one piece of furniture to the next with his head purposely turned away from us. (I guess he thought that if he coudn't see us, we couldn't see him.) He'd pause behind each piece of furniture and repeat his little charade. Unfortunately he had to make it into the kitchen at the end and that's where his act came unraveled. We used to laugh at him.


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Yeah, Rosie likes to do something similar where she takes cover behind pieces of furniture. It's very amusing to watch. Our favorite "take down" if it's something we must have is for two of us to approach from either side of the furniture so she's trapped. 

Even if we see her take the object, though, it's sometimes too late to prevent damage (e.g., the time we had her under the dining table with my brand new prescription sunglasses, got her a treat for a trade, and she somehow grabbed the treat, but kept the glasses--and then I could hear the crunch, crunch of jaws on polycarbonate; I will say despite the horrifying sound, the glasses were salvageable, though marred).


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