There are dogs with stronger scavenging instincts who tend to steal things, and it is not always easy to take away what they have obtained. In our video, an expert demonstrates how this can be done without force.

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I would start with a personal experience: my 5-month-old dog was quite a thief for a while, mainly targeting socks. More than once I found half a pair of socks in the end product, but they also gladly consumed other small items, mainly children’s clothes or doll outfits. Realising during a walk that there is something completely out of place in the pile I am just about to bag is, in hindsight, not so frightening, as it has already come out. But when I am trying to prevent them from swallowing it, it certainly causes a headache as to how to do it effectively. That is why I asked Viki Vass to demonstrate on my completely untrained dog what should be done in such situations.

Viki Vass, owner of DOG3 and dog trainer, demonstrates in our video below what to do if something needs to be removed from your dog’s mouth.

It Is Important That You Can Reach into Your Dog’s Mouth

The video above shows the first occasion; since then we have practised several times. Although Hamu reacted quite timidly and with strong resistance to a person they had just met, it is clear that even a distrustful dog can be worked with. As an owner, we have the advantage that trust is already there – by the second attempt after the demonstration, I was already able to remove whatever they wanted to swallow from their mouth without any force.

But why is it important that you can reach into your dog’s mouth under all circumstances? Not only tasty bites stolen from the table or the ground can end up in their stomach within moments, but in the case of dangerous objects as well – a chewed-up dog toy or discarded rubbish on the street – it may happen that the dog does not let go.

Some Foods Can Be Poisonous

Around holidays, whether Easter or Christmas, or even a birthday, foods that are particularly toxic to dogs may be present on the table. Without aiming for completeness, the most important include:

• chocolate;
• grapes;
• xylitol (birch sugar);
• raw pork;
• all types of onions;
• avocado;
• yeast dough, both raw and baked;
• alcoholic drinks;
• caffeinated drinks, and
• mouldy cheeses

can all cause serious illness, even fatal poisoning.

Of course, it matters how large your dog is and how much they consume of these, but it is better to be safe. If even a treat is not tempting enough for them to release what they have obtained, with the above trick you can empty the oral cavity, or if it is not about swallowing something but you need to look behind the teeth for another reason, you can do that as well.

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