I have a problem. I'm assuming I'm not alone. Every time I leave my house, my dogs would knock over my garbage can and I'd walk in to find garbage strewn all over the house. Everywhere. Under the bed, on the bed, on the couch, up and down the hallway, under the kitchen table...

I tried those fancy metal cans with a spring-loaded lid that you have to open by stepping on a pedal, but that didn't work. If you knock it over the damn lid pops open and before it closes, my dogs would have stepped on the lid to hold it open...

But I solved that problem by screwing the can to the side of the counter. Now my problem is that, even though it's been a few weeks and they haven't managed to get the garbage out, the damn dogs keep trying, in in their attempts the edge of the bag, which is folded over the side of the can, gets completely shredded, making it impossible to remove the bagful of garbage without the bag falling apart.

So, I have a solution. A motion sensor near the garbage can that activates a recording of our vacuum cleaner, to be played from a subwoofer mounted on the cieling above the garbage can. My dogs are terrified by the sound of a vacuum cleaner. The motion sensor is activated/deactivated by flipping a switch near the front door, so I can turn it off when I'm home and turn it on when I leave. I really think this would work. What do you guys think?
-- 21 Quest, Feb 21 2009

close the kitchen door.
-- po, Feb 22 2009


Kitchen doesn't have a door, po. It's open to the whole living room / dining room area. It's all one big open space, the kitchen is defined only by the counter and a bare floor. And my dogs can jump over pet gates, even if I got one long enough to completely enclose half the kitchen. Yes, I can lock it in the bathroom, which I have done many times, but I forget to sometimes.
-- 21 Quest, Feb 22 2009


[21Q] give this a try: cut piece(s) of cardboard 6" wide and the inside circumference of your trashcan long. Now fit it inside the can and duct-tape the bottom to the inside walls.

When you go to put in a new garbage bag, drape it over the cardboard instead of over the side. You should now have a trashcan with a completely enclosed bag.

Either that or buy a trashcan with an inner-can... same thing, less duct-tape.
-- FlyingToaster, Feb 22 2009


Hmm... I do love a good excuse to use duct tape... Thanks, I think I'll give that a try!
-- 21 Quest, Feb 22 2009


Sounds as if your solution should work fine,[21 Quest], but in the meantime wouldn't it just be easier to increase the size of your dog rations? I've never known well-fed dogs to raid the garbage.
-- jurist, Feb 22 2009


Then you haven't met my dogs, jurist. I've caught them in the act of trying to snatch food from the table when nobody's looking, when they're standing less than3 feet away from a full food bowl.
-- 21 Quest, Feb 22 2009


I just ate breakfast at someones house and when we finished and were cleaning up in the kitchen the poodle jumped up on the table and starting eating the leftovers. (sorry my used laptop has one flaw...no comma key.)

Ha. Errr. Yuk.

Oh yeah the idea. My roomate has 3 trash eating dogs. She keeps the trash under the sink and it's got an inside catch that is dog proof. It's easy to use for us humanoids too! Maybe you try this?
-- blissmiss, Feb 22 2009


That would work if there was room under my kitchen sink for a trash can that's not so small I have to empty it every day.
-- 21 Quest, Feb 22 2009


Uhm...Aren't you supposed to take out the trash everyday? Sometimes we have to take it out more than that when I cook stinky fish or something else smelly.
-- blissmiss, Feb 22 2009


Well yeah, there's special occasions, but normally, I can go a week before the can gets full. I use the Glad* OdorShield* ForceFlex* bags and they contain the smell wonderfully. I can't stand wasting a garbage bag by taking it out when it's less than full. Usually, if I'm cooking something that's gonna stink up the house, I take it out immediately in a Wal-Mart or Safeway shopping bag. Same goes with chemicals. I know what the obvious-sounding solution is, that the dogs are attracted to week-old smells. But it doesn't matter how much is in the can, or how long it's been in there! I've changed the bag, immediately thrown out a few soda cans and a bag of chips, ran to the store to pick up a newspaper, get back home and the can's knocked over in the 10 minutes I've been gone.
-- 21 Quest, Feb 22 2009


Ok then you asked for it...

Insert dogs.

Tie bag tight.

Take out trash.

Finis.
-- blissmiss, Feb 22 2009


//Insert dogs//

[Marked-for-Tagline]
-- 21 Quest, Feb 22 2009


Train the dogs not to raid the bin? Raised voice, cold water, electricity, or a good old fashioned beating should do the trick.
-- Texticle, Feb 22 2009


Yeah, I've tried all of those, sans the electicity. Doesn't work.
-- 21 Quest, Feb 22 2009



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