“It was my pork chop. But that's okay. I ate his dog food.” – Bam Bam Bigelow
“I go out to the kitchen to feed the dog, but that's about as much cooking as I do.” -- Betty White
Does your dog counter surf? If he does, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about. If he doesn't....well, suffice it to say we're not talking “hang 10” here. I'm referring to that frustrating, infuriating, and let's face it-- expensive-- habit that some dogs have of putting their paws up on the counter and helping themselves to whatever they want. Naughty, naughty! I have heard several clients complain about their dogs counter surfing, so of course, I wanted to learn how to curb this mischievous behavior. NOTE: If you didn't read my previous blog on “leave it”, that is the precursor to this one. You can find it here: http://tailsuppetcare.com/tails-up-blog/leave-it
First and foremost, I think it's important that we understand why dogs counter surf. The obvious answer is: they want food. But it really goes deeper than that. It isn't that your dog is trying to misbehave, it's that getting food for a dog is instinctual. Anyone that owns a dog knows that, for most canines, food is THE #1 motivator, the prize of all prizes. Praise is nice, pets are excellent, but food is the ultimate reward. If a dog notices food routinely being left out on the counter, they have no idea that the food is not for them. They know it's going to be there, and their brain tells them to go for it! It's really evolution at work. Additionally, your wrath does not outweigh the satisfaction your dog gets from eating the food. But let's face it, we don't wanna share our steak or birthday cake with our pooch and, quite frankly, it would be so easy for your dog to eat something unsafe from the counter.
Never fear, there are solutions! Prevention is always a great idea. When at all possible, don't leave food out. Now, I personally realize this can be a challenge. Anyone else have a small kitchen? I bet a bunch of you are raising your hands right now. So, do keep food pushed back or off the counters as much as possible. But sometimes you have things cooling, your kids leave something out, your phone rings and you get distracted and forget, or just plain old human error comes into play. Boy, do I get it. Ding, ding, ding, insert the perfect opportunity for theft by canine! So we're not only going to reduce the temptation, we're going to teach your dog that items on the counter are not theirs for the taking.
As a side note, and before we talk about training, it's important that your dog knows that they are not human, and thus have no rights to your food. In other words, don't feed them from the dinner table.
According to my research, the best way to teach your dog not to counter surf is to first teach them to “leave it” (hence my previous blog). Now we're going to apply the “leave it” training and principles to counter surfing. Put a small piece of food on the counter; this is your “teaser”. If your dog goes for it, say “leave it”. When the dog leaves it, give them a treat, but not the one from the counter. Always give your dog a treat from your hand. This is their reward for ignoring the food on the counter, so make it a good one. If the naughty pooch doesn't stop at “leave it”, be sure to cover the teaser with your hand. Not for him! If your dog accidentally gets some food from the counter during training, don't get discouraged. Mistakes happen. You'll need to work with different food items in varied areas of the kitchen, but remember to keep your practices short. Like kids, dogs have short attention spans. After your dog has learned to “leave it” on the counter when you are close by, you're going to up the ante. Start out by putting the teaser on the counter and then turning your back on your dog. Scary, I know! If your dog doesn't jump on the counter, give him a treat and lots of praise. The next step in the training is even more frightening. Put the teaser on the counter and walk away, pretending to look distracted. Read a magazine, file your nails, text your dog handler to brag about your success....but keep one eye on the dog. If your dog ignores the teaser, then a treat and LOTS of praise are definitely in order. If they jump but react to you saying “leave it” (surprised that you are actually paying attention!), you're definitely getting somewhere, right? Remember, that this is all going to take some time and lots and lots of patience. Don't try to go too fast in your training; this is a marathon not a sprint.
(I'm a visual learner, and I think this video is very helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYsdozy4fVc )
Call me crazy, but I'm actually chomping at the bit (no pun intended) to start teaching “leave it” to a certain naughty but oh-so-sweet pooch I love. Pass the dog treats.
http://www.training-your-dog-and-you.com/Counter-Surfing.html
http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-training-article-counter-surfing-stealing-food.html
https://bestfriends.org/resources/counter-surfing-dogs-how-keep-dog-kitchen-counter
https://www.thesprucepets.com/stop-dog-from-counter-surfing-1118233
“I go out to the kitchen to feed the dog, but that's about as much cooking as I do.” -- Betty White
Does your dog counter surf? If he does, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about. If he doesn't....well, suffice it to say we're not talking “hang 10” here. I'm referring to that frustrating, infuriating, and let's face it-- expensive-- habit that some dogs have of putting their paws up on the counter and helping themselves to whatever they want. Naughty, naughty! I have heard several clients complain about their dogs counter surfing, so of course, I wanted to learn how to curb this mischievous behavior. NOTE: If you didn't read my previous blog on “leave it”, that is the precursor to this one. You can find it here: http://tailsuppetcare.com/tails-up-blog/leave-it
First and foremost, I think it's important that we understand why dogs counter surf. The obvious answer is: they want food. But it really goes deeper than that. It isn't that your dog is trying to misbehave, it's that getting food for a dog is instinctual. Anyone that owns a dog knows that, for most canines, food is THE #1 motivator, the prize of all prizes. Praise is nice, pets are excellent, but food is the ultimate reward. If a dog notices food routinely being left out on the counter, they have no idea that the food is not for them. They know it's going to be there, and their brain tells them to go for it! It's really evolution at work. Additionally, your wrath does not outweigh the satisfaction your dog gets from eating the food. But let's face it, we don't wanna share our steak or birthday cake with our pooch and, quite frankly, it would be so easy for your dog to eat something unsafe from the counter.
Never fear, there are solutions! Prevention is always a great idea. When at all possible, don't leave food out. Now, I personally realize this can be a challenge. Anyone else have a small kitchen? I bet a bunch of you are raising your hands right now. So, do keep food pushed back or off the counters as much as possible. But sometimes you have things cooling, your kids leave something out, your phone rings and you get distracted and forget, or just plain old human error comes into play. Boy, do I get it. Ding, ding, ding, insert the perfect opportunity for theft by canine! So we're not only going to reduce the temptation, we're going to teach your dog that items on the counter are not theirs for the taking.
As a side note, and before we talk about training, it's important that your dog knows that they are not human, and thus have no rights to your food. In other words, don't feed them from the dinner table.
According to my research, the best way to teach your dog not to counter surf is to first teach them to “leave it” (hence my previous blog). Now we're going to apply the “leave it” training and principles to counter surfing. Put a small piece of food on the counter; this is your “teaser”. If your dog goes for it, say “leave it”. When the dog leaves it, give them a treat, but not the one from the counter. Always give your dog a treat from your hand. This is their reward for ignoring the food on the counter, so make it a good one. If the naughty pooch doesn't stop at “leave it”, be sure to cover the teaser with your hand. Not for him! If your dog accidentally gets some food from the counter during training, don't get discouraged. Mistakes happen. You'll need to work with different food items in varied areas of the kitchen, but remember to keep your practices short. Like kids, dogs have short attention spans. After your dog has learned to “leave it” on the counter when you are close by, you're going to up the ante. Start out by putting the teaser on the counter and then turning your back on your dog. Scary, I know! If your dog doesn't jump on the counter, give him a treat and lots of praise. The next step in the training is even more frightening. Put the teaser on the counter and walk away, pretending to look distracted. Read a magazine, file your nails, text your dog handler to brag about your success....but keep one eye on the dog. If your dog ignores the teaser, then a treat and LOTS of praise are definitely in order. If they jump but react to you saying “leave it” (surprised that you are actually paying attention!), you're definitely getting somewhere, right? Remember, that this is all going to take some time and lots and lots of patience. Don't try to go too fast in your training; this is a marathon not a sprint.
(I'm a visual learner, and I think this video is very helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYsdozy4fVc )
Call me crazy, but I'm actually chomping at the bit (no pun intended) to start teaching “leave it” to a certain naughty but oh-so-sweet pooch I love. Pass the dog treats.
http://www.training-your-dog-and-you.com/Counter-Surfing.html
http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-training-article-counter-surfing-stealing-food.html
https://bestfriends.org/resources/counter-surfing-dogs-how-keep-dog-kitchen-counter
https://www.thesprucepets.com/stop-dog-from-counter-surfing-1118233
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