Lucy has developed the urge to open the fridge door when i go out!!!! she doesnt steal anything from the fridge - just opens the door!
i am thinking
a) she may be too hot and has sussed out how to get some cool air
b) there is often a little water at the bottom of the fridge so she may be thirsty (i do check that she has water in her dish before i leave her.)
c) the fridge is right next to the caravan door - maybe she thinks its an escape route to get to me????

she isnt chewing anything while i am out which would be an obvious sign of separation anxiety. she isnt peeing or pooing either. she seems happy enough when i come back and doesnt always get too excited to see me - i sometimes get the waggy tail, where's my treat face or the 'oh your back then?' quizzical face! am not overly worried about her but curious as to why she may have started this odd behaviour. if she were stealing food from the fridge it would make more sense!

She likes watching you scratch your head and close the fridge door?

haha,,,very funny! thanks Ann....hehe....its got me baffled i must say!

Could it be that she's figured out how to do it so just does? Maybe it's a game to her? It would be interesting to set up video and see when she does it, what she does once it's open, etc.

I agree on the video idea! Its also one recommended method to see if your dog really has Sep Anx. but from what you describe I don't think that is the case.

Are you sure nothing is missing from the fridge? It seems surprising that she wouldn't go for something that smells tasty?

If you want to prevent her from doing it I've got two suggestions.

One, put the behavior on cue. Teach her the trick to opening the fridge and give it a name. Reward her like crazy for doing it but make sure she understands that the treats come from you and not the fridge.lol.

Two, you could look into getting a fridge lock, just google that and see if you can find something that suits your circumstance. I found a link to an example of one: http://content.onestepahead.com/assets/images/product/detail/11795.jpg

Hope that helps!

yeah Steven.,..she really doesnt steal anything from the fridge (is this foody labrador pullin my leg or what?). I'm not thinking sep anx either - she used to chew mercilessly when i first got her but has grown out of that thankfully because we have the 5 minutes cue!!!!
(for those of you who dont know what that is - i taught her that i would be gone for 5 minutes, hand raised open palmed, went out of the room, came straight back in, and gave her a treat. i gradually lengthened the time i was out of the room over a period of about 6 weeks until she could be left without any chewing whatsoever). i think a fridge lock is the best option - although difficult to fit on a caravan fridge....i am working on that one! hehe

hmm interesting and quite funny...just hope she doesn't run up your electricity bill, lol.
not sure why she's doing that..maybe it is to confuse you and get some attention, lol

Le us know if you find a solution or if something else comes up! Clever Lucy

i havent managed to get hold of a video camera yet but am hoping to be able to set my small camera up which has video on it....i am just so curious now as to what she is up to. i could understand it if food was going missing!!!!

lucysnewmum wrote:

i havent managed to get hold of a video camera yet but am hoping to be able to set my small camera up which has video on it....i am just so curious now as to what she is up to. i could understand it if food was going missing!!!!

Hehe lets catch her red handed! I'm also curious as well.... I can't find a good explanation to this other than maybe she wants a source of cold air...but you guys have pretty cold weather so it can't be that!

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