My sweet little Bear Bear is driving me nuts. He is now five months old and about 55-60 pounds. All he wants to do is eat.It wasnt a big deal at first since I know most dogs like to eat. At first he would just follow you if you had food, or he would sit in front of me when I ate dinner. Well now Bear has started stealing food from us. I had a bowl of ceral yesterday on the coffee table and he started drinking the milk from it. It surprised me cause he did it right in front of me. Then this morning I was drinking coffee and I had it in a cup on my end table, I got up for a second and when I came back he had drank it! Then the worst one, the other day Jason brought home two slices of jalepeno(sp?) bacon pizza, Jason ate half of one slice and got up for a second to answer the phone, when he comes back, Bear had devoured the rest of the pizza. This is unacceptable to me, it makes me mad. Luckily Bear didnt get sick that night.
Bear has no limits and thinks he can eat or drink whatever he wants off the coffee table and the end table. If he smells food he is like a magnet and wont leave you alone. I have never seen such a hungry dog before.
I do repremand him when he does this stuff in front of me. I will give him a firm loud no, and put him in a corner in a sit stay till I say ok. But he just doesnt get it, like he forgets. Once he smells food, anything he has learned before goes out the window.
He also thinks he can run out anydoor he pleases. He hardly does it with me cause I know him and I know what he is thinking so I am ready for him, but my boyfriend and roomates are not and he runs out sometimes. He never runs off but he runs around the yard, either way I dont want him thinking its ok to do this.
Its so weird cause with the food my other dogs know, that they cant touch anything on any tables. I could leave a thanksgiving dinner on the coffee table and the other dogs wont touch it, but if I leave that around Bear Bear he would be sitting on the table eating the food in seconds.
I agree, and what I would also do is set him up. Take something(squirt bottle, shaker can, etc.) and set him up....leave food down where you know he will get it and then when he does, either squirt him or toss a shaker can(pop can with pennies in it) behind him and say "NO!" and AS SOON as he gets his attention off of the food....praise him. So, when you set him up...make sure you have a treat with you. It will take a while but he will get it.
As far as escaping, ANY TIME you take him outside, even to go play in the back yard(if you have one) make his sit and wait. Teach him that he does not go out AT ALL until you do. If he does not know sit and wait, you need to work on that first. Then apply it to ALL door ways.......every one.....every time. Have him on a leash, on your left side, tell him to sit, and then tell him to wait, walk outside, wait a second so he gets that you have not told him he can come, and then tell him 'okay'. You need a 'release' word for any command. My word is 'okay' but you can use anything. Just make sure it is the same command everytime. I will GUARANTEE that this will work as long as you train frequently. Even to go outside to the backyard, before that door opens, Chi-Ching knows he has to sit......or that door will NOT open. I have two kids, and they both know that the dog has to sit before being let out and they also both know the 'sit-wait' command when he is on leash.
Bear Bear is just a baby and food is one of the biggest temptations for them as well as the fun of being outside where there are so many fun things to do & investigate.
Katz gave you great advice! Neither one is something that you will successfully train quickly since he has been successful at them for awhile now. It will take sometime before the lightbulb goes off in that puppy mind that both of these things aren't acceptable.
Warning though that sometimes a temptation will be too great for him to withstand. Farley just turned 7 yo & Chloe 5 yo and while I can leave a plate of food on the counters or table while I am home and can safely leave the room for a few minutes I am sure if I was to leave it for too long of a period of time they'd gladly help themselves. That being said Farley absolutely loves bread, any kind of bread. It's safe as long as I'm home, even at nighttime if I'm sleeping. If I forget and leave the bread on the counter or on top of the microwave when I go out I am sure to find the empty bag on the floor upon my return. He loves it sooooo much he even learned how to open the breadbox so I have to store my bread in the microwave cuz he hasn't figured out how to open it yet.
One thing many people do without thinking about it is when they are eating or immediately after they are done whether a meal or just snack food is give their furpal a piece of whatever it is. This can easily create or worsen the problem. What I do is never, ever give them something while I'm eating. If after I am done I want to give them the plate scrapings I wait at least 1/2 hr after I am done and then put it in their food bowls.
Crating will solve the problem while you are eating but won't train Bear Bear what is acceptable as there are many times throughout a day other than when you are actually eating that there will be food temptations. You'll just have to be ever vigilant of not leaving Bear Bear with the opportunity to be successful because every time he gets something it will be a set back in his training.
Neither one is something that you will successfully train quickly since he has been successful at them for awhile now. It will take sometime before the lightbulb goes off in that puppy mind that both of these things aren't acceptable. 
