I've got a 5 month old chocolate lab and other day she knocked over her treat bowl and I caught her in the act while trying to eat every bit that fell out of there! I'm pretty sure I overreacted and pulled her away and she did this weird stretchy thing and sticking out her tongue trying to get every crumb. On the other hand, she only eats on command and when we tell her to wait before eating she will even if we leave the room. Also when we train her we throw treats all around her and she won't eat till we give her the ok. Is there anything else we can do to control this behaviour to make sure it does not happen whether we are watching her or not?
The best thing is not to leave her treat bowl (or anything similar!) in a reachable distance of her. There is a human toddler experiment where 3 year olds are left alone in a room with a cake and told not to touch it. Because they all do eat some of it, the experiment is about how long it takes - before they do. Not whether they will. If a 3 year old toddler who can understand verbal communication can't not touch an accessible 'treat', then for sure a dog won't be able to! There is a difference between a dog putting themselves (or you putting them) into a position of control - like sit/stay/wait - and a more naturalistic situation where the dog is moving fluidly around naturally and food falls.
