Cat Ballou is as bold and inquisitive as any dog could be.  I like that.  That means she's awake, alive to her surroundings.  Dogs like that are easy to help train themselves.  It all comes down to positioning.

When I moved into the old farmhouse, I inherited an open kitchen trash can.  That's not ideal for a house with dogs in and out, and I surely don't recommend it.  Secure trash and recycling bins are the only way to go. Chicken and turkey bones are deadly to dogs and, as anyone who empties his or her trash as infrequently as I, extremely odoriferous.

But none of the other dogs, even the live-wire pointer, Harper Lee, had shown  interest in the can (actually, it's rubber) beyond the sniff.  Enter the redoubtable Cat Ballou.

The trash was just irresistible to her.  She sniffed.  She sneaked a peek.  Finally it happened; she tipped it over, causing a ruckus and a real mess all over the kitchen floor.  I growled at her, then put her on "sit" just outside the realm of clean-up while I gathered, swept, and wiped.  When I was done, I went to her, slipped on her chain collar, and did some "heel/sit" drills right there in the kitchen.  Then it was "sit," while I sat down in the rocking chair; "sit" while I opened the door and let her regular accomplice Della in from outside; "sit" while I put Della on "sit" and offered her a half-biscuit, then "sit" while I dropped the other half of the biscuit on the floor and made both dogs wait until finally I released Cat, making sure Della stayed put.

Then I praised Cat, petted her up, then asked her first, then Della, to go into their crates.  I had a trap line to run.

This was a short fix, but one that has carry-over into other things.   Remember our philosophy in all of our work with dogs: we will protect the dog from itself.  Even though I was certain Cat, like Boots, Finn, Harper, and Della, could easily learn not to bother the trash,  we will soon have a far more secure set-up.  

But in the meantime, a dog like Cat, willing to rise up on her back legs and pull over the trash, one who studies everything I do during the dogs', and my own, food prep on the countertops (and no, I never, ever feed them tidbits from prep like that) is likely, sooner or later, to try surfing the counter for goodies  So we will further our four-on-the-floor agenda by making it uncomfortable to stick that black nose into places it does not belong.

I took a half dozen or so mouse traps out to the farm shop and drilled a hole in each one, just under the bait platform.  I cut eight-inch sections of string, knotted one end through the hole in the trap, then tied the other end off on some heavy washers I had lying around.  When I got back in the house, I carefully set the traps (catching myself only twice #$%^&@) around the rim of the rubber trash can, the anchors dropped down inside.  I got Della and the Cat out for chores, then brought them back in for their evening feed (right now, Cat and Della are eating three small meals a day, as I'm using each feeding for short obedience stuff).  Once they were finished, we went into my study so that I could work, the dogs settling in...at least for a while.

I didn't even hear the Cat leave the room.  But I sure did hear what she had gotten up to do.  Snap!  Skittering nails rattled the linoleum and here she came through the kitchen door, head and tail down, ears flat. She came to the desk, and I ignored her, as if nothing had happened.  She went to work on one of her toys for some time and again, I didn't hear her slip into the kitchen.  This time it was two snaps - Bap!  Bap! - and again, she was back in the study.  This time, I got up and went into the kitchen for a bottle of water.  I was standing at the sink drinking when I looked down.  There was the Cat, sprawled on the floor, eyeing those mouse traps with deep suspicion.

We've not had a trash episode since then.  When the new container comes, it will wear Pit Bull traps taped to hang horizontally 'round the top 'til we all get accustomed to the new equipment.

Now let's get to the disclaimer...USE COMMON SENSE.  The traps were deliberately hanging down along the can.  Even had she gotten her paws on the rim, the traps would have fired in places where there was no risk of Cat catching so much as a toe in them. The Cat is a large, confident animal.  The surprise of that trap leaping and snapping was enough to discourage her without her flipping out.  The sensation was uncomfortable; she wanted no more of it.  UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD I USE THIS METHOD WITH YOUNG PUPPIES OR TOY BREEDS. Evan a mouse trap could break a toe on an animal so small; certainly it could traumatize a puppy or other ultra-sensitive animal as well. Caution, caution, caution...and more caution.  When in doubt with any training method, don't do it before consulting a reputable pro trainer or dog-savvy veterinarian about your situation.