This blog feature amusing and heartwarming stories about our late Leonberger dog Bronco, as well as other Leonbergers. It also has a lot of information about the Leonberger breed, the history, care, training, Leonberger organizations, etc. I also wrote a Leonberger book, which I am featuring in the sidebar.
A Food Theft Warning Has Been Issued Over Thanksgiving For All Owners of Large Dogs
Large dogs are sometimes expert counter surfers. Our Leonberger Bronco sometimes stole food, and he could certainly eat a lot. Once he sneaked into the kitchen during the night and ate a 2lbs bag of dog treats, a box of pastries, bread, a grilled chicken, a container of mash, a key-lime pie, and whatever was on that empty plate. He still wanted breakfast. I should mention that he was on a diet, and that’s when stuff like this happens.
A screenshot from my FacebookBronco and our Pug Daisy are sharing a gingerbread house. Bronco opened the gate to the kitchen using his paws and nose.
But how about Thanksgiving and large dogs?
Thanksgiving is a day of thanks, and a day of temptation for large dogs. Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com
Our Labrador Baylor could not eat as much as Bronco, but he was an extremely skilled food thief. Combining speed, patience, stealth, and the element of surprise, he could steal almost any food. Once he made off with the Thanksgiving Turkey. As soon as I realized what had happened, I went looking for him in our backyard. I chased him around and was able to get the Turkey from him. I cleaned it off and asked my wife what the best way would be to serve it after what happened. She told me to forget about serving the remaining Turkey.
A close up of our Labrador Baylor
Would you have served a Turkey half eaten by a dog?
My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.
View all posts by thomasstigwikman
54 thoughts on “A Food Theft Warning Has Been Issued Over Thanksgiving For All Owners of Large Dogs”
LOL well I might have cut off the bitten parts and saved the parts of the turkey that weren’t eaten by the dog. It’s too adorable how skilled dogs are at stealing food, even if it can be frustrating in the moment.
Yes that was what I was thinking. But my wife said that his slobber may be all over it and he dragged it all over the backyard, so she prefered to throw it away. We got some chicken instead, but it seems like a waste.
I would have cut off the part the dog got to and still eat the rest. But I’m not very squeamish. I can understand why others would want to throw the whole thing away.
Same here, but some are more squeamish. My wife was saying that his slobber was all over it and he dragged it through the backyard and that it wasn’t appetizing to serve what he left us.
Ha, they are a danger with food around. Cocker spaniels are renowned thieves too – too many losses to mention. The piece de resistance though was an Irish Wolfhound – looked round from the dining table to see her closing her jaws on the leg of lamb on top of the cooker!
I did not know Cocker spaniels are renowned thieves too. That is funny. I can imagine an Irish Wolfhound, they can pretty much reach anything. A leg of lamb, that’s a lot to lose. It reminds me of when Bronco finished off a big plate of roast beef, five pounds for a dinner party we had. Luckily, he saved us the carrots and the broccoli.
How funny!!!!! I can’t believe how much he ate. Wow!!! Cats are expert thieves too. Every night while I prepare dinner there is a cat sitting in the sink, hovering next to me, waiting for me to look away so she can steal some of the food. The thing about cats is it’s all about the heist. They will steal food they have no intention of eating just for the thrill of it. lol!! And NO. No way I would serve a turkey half eaten by a dog. I can only imagine the look on your wife’s face when you asked her that. lol!!! I love your doggo stories. Thanks for the big smile you just gave me, dear friend. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Thank you so much chihuahuagirl3. I did not know that about cats. I am allergic to cats so I haven’t been around them much. Yes I think that is a difference between dogs and cats. Dogs steal what they want to eat, cats play around. I suggested to my wife that we rinse the turkey but she still did not want to serve the Turkey. On another occasion our Leonberger ate the roast beef that we had bought for a dinner party, all five pounds of it. It was a very large plate. Luckily he left us the broccoli, carrots and the dip, so the guests had something to eat. Happy Thanksgiving to you too.
That’s so funny!!! Again, thanks for the big laugh you and your Leonberger just gave me. Five pounds of toast beef? Wow. Amazing!! 🤣 Hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving. We went out to my fav buffet. Outstanding as usual. Did your dogs get anything special for Thanksgiving dinner this year? At our local Humane Society shelter, all the 100+ dogs were given a special Thanksgiving meal this year of turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, and a dollop of whipped cream. One of the local charities provided it. I used to treat my cats to canned cat food on holidays. But not this year. A few have delicate stomaches now, so they stay on the dry food that agrees with them.
Thank you very much. Yes we had a great Thanksgiving. We just got home from our in-laws. Our dogs love going there, perhaps because they always get something extra when we go there. They got turkey, sweet potato, carrot and a little bit of bread. It is great to hear that you had an awesome thanksgiving dinner. You said “At our local Humane Society shelter, all the 100+ dogs were given a special Thanksgiving meal”. I love that. That is so wonderful. Humane Society is doing so much good.
The food thievery had me laughing. We had a cat once took off with an entire rotisserie chicken, right from the counter. It was an incident that caused utter chaos and hilarity as the kids, the Mister and I ran all over the house, trying to catch her. LOL 😀
LOL That is funny. It’s amazing how cats can do that too. They are much smaller. It made me think of another incident with Bronco, when he ate the roast beef that we had bought for a dinner party, all five pounds of it. It was a very large plate. Luckily, he left us the broccoli, carrots and the dip, so the guests had something to eat. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too.
Our Tucker was a very deft thief as well. He was very small for a vizsla but would find any way onto the counter that he could, and he had no shame ― if you caught him mid-thievery he would just look at you like, Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me? 😁 Happy Thanksgiving!
I can totally relate. We have always had big or HUGE dogs, and they always counter surf and have helped themselves to many things. 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving.
Yes the big dogs can be skilled counter surfing. Our small ones can steal as much. It’s difficult to watch them all the time and they are so quick. Another incident with Bronco, was when he ate the roast beef that we had bought for a dinner party, all five pounds of it. It was a very large plate. Luckily, he left us the broccoli, carrots and the dip, so the guests had something to eat. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too.
🙂 🙂 🙂 Last night, after our guests had gone and we were cleaning up, we turned our back for just a second and Dorrie decided to help herself to the turkey we had on the counter, before we had a chance to put it away. 🙂
A kind of disaster at the time, now just a really funny story to tell. Thanks for the laughs. Our Basset hound was a thief, too. They are short on legs, but tall when they raise up on hind legs, enough to steal birthday cake from the table, and a whole hamburger out of a person’s hand (while they were standing up) … Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. 🙂
Thank you Barbara. The hamburger story is amazing. Our Labrador did that to me but with sandwich. I can’t even figure out how it happened. Amazing. And you are right. You can laugh about it afterwards but it is not funny at the time. Another incident with Bronco, was when he ate the roast beef that we had bought for a dinner party, all five pounds of it. It was a very large plate. Luckily, he left us the broccoli, carrots and the dip, so the guests had something to eat. But we had to apologize to the guests who went home mostly hungry. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too.
Lololol. This is so funny. Happy Thanksgiving!
Kersten Rettig
People Newspapers Food & Travel Columnist
@KerstenEats
Les Dames D’Escoffier International
Thank you so much Kersten. People Newspapers is a great magazine. Claudia says Hello to you and Clarke. We wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Dogs are expert thieves. I’ve seen innocent-looking chihuahua steal a steak off a hibachi grill. And cats… pieces of chicken—pizza—hamburgers with the stuff they didn’t want (bun, pickles, tomatoes, etc.) strewn all over the kitchen floor. One cat, who had white fur in her face, sampled some grape juice I was drinking. She tried to look innocent, but the grape juice was dripping off her chin.
He was a very determined little guy. His owner later cut up the steak into tiny pieces for him (she wasn’t going to eat it after he slobbered all over it and dragged it through the grass) so he wouldn’t choke on it.
Our big dogs didn’t get into too much trouble with food. It was our son’s beagle that was the problem. After Christmas dinner one year, we found him on top of the dining room table eating the Christmas cookies! He used to be so mischievous. Now he is 14 and doesn’t hop up on things anymore. I still give him (dog) cookies!
LOL I did not know beagles were great counter surfers. They all get old. Our old Pug (15) can no longer jump up on anything. We had a great Thanksgiving I hope you did too.
Just look at those faces. You can’t even be upset, but worried over the amount of food ingested. And possible bones. Although as all dog owners know, there’s always “stuff” our pets eat without our knowledge, mostly sourced from the great outdoors. And it’s better we don’t known what it is.
That turkey was probably so very delicious. 🙂
Thank you so much Patricia. Yes, it is difficult to be upset about their food thievery but the enormous amounts that Bronco ate caused us to worry. It is dangerous. However, he showed no signs of discomfort. On another occasion he ate a box with chocolate gnomes filled with whiskey, rum, vodka and cognac, and chocolate is toxic to dogs. All that happened was that he threw up a little bit.
Thank you Roberta. You are right stealing food is something dogs do whenever they think they get away with it. Well there are some really well behaved ones, not in my household though. They always trick me. I never learn.
Leonberger Life 
LOL well I might have cut off the bitten parts and saved the parts of the turkey that weren’t eaten by the dog. It’s too adorable how skilled dogs are at stealing food, even if it can be frustrating in the moment.
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Yes that was what I was thinking. But my wife said that his slobber may be all over it and he dragged it all over the backyard, so she prefered to throw it away. We got some chicken instead, but it seems like a waste.
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Yikes well maybe there’s a good point to that. LOL such skilled thieves.
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Ha ha maybe, but I think I still would have been OK with eating parts of it, but she said no.
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Adorable! 🥰 Happy Thanksgiving.
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Thank you Jennifer. Happy Thanksgiving.
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I would have cut off the part the dog got to and still eat the rest. But I’m not very squeamish. I can understand why others would want to throw the whole thing away.
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Same here, but some are more squeamish. My wife was saying that his slobber was all over it and he dragged it through the backyard and that it wasn’t appetizing to serve what he left us.
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Ha, they are a danger with food around. Cocker spaniels are renowned thieves too – too many losses to mention. The piece de resistance though was an Irish Wolfhound – looked round from the dining table to see her closing her jaws on the leg of lamb on top of the cooker!
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I did not know Cocker spaniels are renowned thieves too. That is funny. I can imagine an Irish Wolfhound, they can pretty much reach anything. A leg of lamb, that’s a lot to lose. It reminds me of when Bronco finished off a big plate of roast beef, five pounds for a dinner party we had. Luckily, he saved us the carrots and the broccoli.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How funny!!!!! I can’t believe how much he ate. Wow!!! Cats are expert thieves too. Every night while I prepare dinner there is a cat sitting in the sink, hovering next to me, waiting for me to look away so she can steal some of the food. The thing about cats is it’s all about the heist. They will steal food they have no intention of eating just for the thrill of it. lol!! And NO. No way I would serve a turkey half eaten by a dog. I can only imagine the look on your wife’s face when you asked her that. lol!!! I love your doggo stories. Thanks for the big smile you just gave me, dear friend. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
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Thank you so much chihuahuagirl3. I did not know that about cats. I am allergic to cats so I haven’t been around them much. Yes I think that is a difference between dogs and cats. Dogs steal what they want to eat, cats play around. I suggested to my wife that we rinse the turkey but she still did not want to serve the Turkey. On another occasion our Leonberger ate the roast beef that we had bought for a dinner party, all five pounds of it. It was a very large plate. Luckily he left us the broccoli, carrots and the dip, so the guests had something to eat. Happy Thanksgiving to you too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s so funny!!! Again, thanks for the big laugh you and your Leonberger just gave me. Five pounds of toast beef? Wow. Amazing!! 🤣 Hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving. We went out to my fav buffet. Outstanding as usual. Did your dogs get anything special for Thanksgiving dinner this year? At our local Humane Society shelter, all the 100+ dogs were given a special Thanksgiving meal this year of turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, and a dollop of whipped cream. One of the local charities provided it. I used to treat my cats to canned cat food on holidays. But not this year. A few have delicate stomaches now, so they stay on the dry food that agrees with them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much. Yes we had a great Thanksgiving. We just got home from our in-laws. Our dogs love going there, perhaps because they always get something extra when we go there. They got turkey, sweet potato, carrot and a little bit of bread. It is great to hear that you had an awesome thanksgiving dinner. You said “At our local Humane Society shelter, all the 100+ dogs were given a special Thanksgiving meal”. I love that. That is so wonderful. Humane Society is doing so much good.
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What clever thieves! 🐾🐾
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Yes they are. Thank you Luisa.
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You’re most welcome ❣️
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Good one! Happy Thanksgiving!
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Thank you Kaushal. Have a great rest of your week.
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The food thievery had me laughing. We had a cat once took off with an entire rotisserie chicken, right from the counter. It was an incident that caused utter chaos and hilarity as the kids, the Mister and I ran all over the house, trying to catch her. LOL 😀
Happy Thanksgiving!
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LOL That is funny. It’s amazing how cats can do that too. They are much smaller. It made me think of another incident with Bronco, when he ate the roast beef that we had bought for a dinner party, all five pounds of it. It was a very large plate. Luckily, he left us the broccoli, carrots and the dip, so the guests had something to eat. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too.
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Oh no! And it was for a dinner party! LOLOL Bronco knew what he liked. haha 😀 Of course he left you the veggies. That was sweet of him. 😀 😀
I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.
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Thank you so much Kymber. We had a nice Thanksgiving. I hope yours was nice too.
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Thank you. It was very nice. 🙂
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A feast of laughter. Thank you for this, Thomas!
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Thank you so much Stacey. Have a great Thanksgiving.
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Our Tucker was a very deft thief as well. He was very small for a vizsla but would find any way onto the counter that he could, and he had no shame ― if you caught him mid-thievery he would just look at you like, Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me? 😁 Happy Thanksgiving!
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Thank you James. Ha ha, that sounds like our Labrador, our premier food thief. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
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I can totally relate. We have always had big or HUGE dogs, and they always counter surf and have helped themselves to many things. 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving.
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Yes the big dogs can be skilled counter surfing. Our small ones can steal as much. It’s difficult to watch them all the time and they are so quick. Another incident with Bronco, was when he ate the roast beef that we had bought for a dinner party, all five pounds of it. It was a very large plate. Luckily, he left us the broccoli, carrots and the dip, so the guests had something to eat. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 🙂 🙂 Last night, after our guests had gone and we were cleaning up, we turned our back for just a second and Dorrie decided to help herself to the turkey we had on the counter, before we had a chance to put it away. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ha ha, Dorrie is a skillful thief. Luckily it was after Thanksgiving. Maybe Dorrie saved you all from eating leftovers for the next two weeks.
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A kind of disaster at the time, now just a really funny story to tell. Thanks for the laughs. Our Basset hound was a thief, too. They are short on legs, but tall when they raise up on hind legs, enough to steal birthday cake from the table, and a whole hamburger out of a person’s hand (while they were standing up) … Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you Barbara. The hamburger story is amazing. Our Labrador did that to me but with sandwich. I can’t even figure out how it happened. Amazing. And you are right. You can laugh about it afterwards but it is not funny at the time. Another incident with Bronco, was when he ate the roast beef that we had bought for a dinner party, all five pounds of it. It was a very large plate. Luckily, he left us the broccoli, carrots and the dip, so the guests had something to eat. But we had to apologize to the guests who went home mostly hungry. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lololol. This is so funny. Happy Thanksgiving!
Kersten Rettig
People Newspapers Food & Travel Columnist
@KerstenEats
Les Dames D’Escoffier International
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you so much Kersten. People Newspapers is a great magazine. Claudia says Hello to you and Clarke. We wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving.
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Dogs are expert thieves. I’ve seen innocent-looking chihuahua steal a steak off a hibachi grill. And cats… pieces of chicken—pizza—hamburgers with the stuff they didn’t want (bun, pickles, tomatoes, etc.) strewn all over the kitchen floor. One cat, who had white fur in her face, sampled some grape juice I was drinking. She tried to look innocent, but the grape juice was dripping off her chin.
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LOL those are funny stories. I cannot believe chihuahua stole a steak of a hibachi brill. My hat off to that chihuahua.
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He was a very determined little guy. His owner later cut up the steak into tiny pieces for him (she wasn’t going to eat it after he slobbered all over it and dragged it through the grass) so he wouldn’t choke on it.
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That is a very nice owner
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before I forget: Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
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Thank you Denise and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family
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So funny! That is a lot of food to eat!
Our big dogs didn’t get into too much trouble with food. It was our son’s beagle that was the problem. After Christmas dinner one year, we found him on top of the dining room table eating the Christmas cookies! He used to be so mischievous. Now he is 14 and doesn’t hop up on things anymore. I still give him (dog) cookies!
Happy Thanksgiving!
.
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LOL I did not know beagles were great counter surfers. They all get old. Our old Pug (15) can no longer jump up on anything. We had a great Thanksgiving I hope you did too.
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That’s funny!
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Thank you Dawn
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Just look at those faces. You can’t even be upset, but worried over the amount of food ingested. And possible bones. Although as all dog owners know, there’s always “stuff” our pets eat without our knowledge, mostly sourced from the great outdoors. And it’s better we don’t known what it is.
That turkey was probably so very delicious. 🙂
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Thank you so much Patricia. Yes, it is difficult to be upset about their food thievery but the enormous amounts that Bronco ate caused us to worry. It is dangerous. However, he showed no signs of discomfort. On another occasion he ate a box with chocolate gnomes filled with whiskey, rum, vodka and cognac, and chocolate is toxic to dogs. All that happened was that he threw up a little bit.
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Yes, we do worry like they are our children.
Because they are 🙂
Hm, your boys eat only the good stuff!
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Yes you are so right Patricia, they really are, and our dogs have all been a bit spoiled.
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Hi Thomas, I think this is the funniest thing ever. And the two dogs look so completely innocent in that photograph. Now you know to be more careful.
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Thank you Roberta. You are right stealing food is something dogs do whenever they think they get away with it. Well there are some really well behaved ones, not in my household though. They always trick me. I never learn.
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I am a bit of sucker with my pets too, Thomas.
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