Jumping on Kitchen counters
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| Sheepies are hardwired to be countersurfers, there is little you can do to stop it. Most sheepdog owners have the cleanest counters in town. |
| I never had one of our 3 OES jump on the counters. Of the 4 dogs in the house that can reach a counter, only Maggie the coonhound does. She is a rescue, she was raised for the 1st year of her life tied out on a chain, and never been in a house. She has made progress in the 1 year we have had her. Now she leaves the tables and counters alone. Just the stove to work on now!
1st, you need to never let him get anything. This is a self rewarding behavior, and every time he gets something, it is 3 steps back in your progress. If you aren't there to watch him, keep the counter cleared. Teach the leave it command. Put something he likes in front of him, and say "leave it" . Don't let him touch it, then reward him. Either with a treat YOU give him or praise (I use praise). Practice this with your food too. Set your plate on a coffee table or such, then tell him leave it - reward after he ignores it. As you progress, a verbal command is all you need. Currently Maggie is at that point. I can see the stove from most of our main living area and I usually stop her before she jumps up. For sure I stop her before she actually eats anything (sometimes her feet are up). It takes consistancy to break this. If another person in the house lets him get away with it, you will have a very hard time breaking this habit. Good luck.  |
| Mulligan never countersurfs!!!! He does do a "drive-by sniffing" a couple of times per day looking for morsels in the workspace between the countertop and the island even though we have countlessly reminded him that the area is off limits. I guess he figures if he doesn't stop he wasn't there.
But he came that way, it was nothing we did to prevent it. Our first dog Jake was a wonderful surfer, and the only thing to prevent it was to not leave food on the counter. I seem to recall reading some folks here have had some success with the mats you can put on your counters that give a little correction if the pooch jumps up. Anyone else recall this? Maybe I was dreaming it. |
Well, I guess I should amend my previous statement. Tasker never counter surfs til your back is turned. He's very well behaved and obedient wne you are standing there  |
Tasker's Mom wrote: Well, I guess I should amend my previous statement. Tasker never counter surfs til your back is turned. He's very well behaved and obedient wne you are standing there
I have caught Marley surfing on a few occassions - Morgan never does (even though he would only have to stretch his neck to reach the counter tops). Marley knows it is wrong and never does it if she knows I am looking. WHen she is caught I use the leave it and then sit command and make her stay while I clean up whatever it was I shouldn't have left out any way. I would confine a dog who is not trustworthy when i am cooking - safer for all around. |
| LOL - that Tasker is a smarty!
I actually can have my back turned now. How did I find this out?? - I fell asleep in the rocker in front of the stove with the TV on. Woke up several hours later with all the dogs out. None of the food/snacks/dog treat bags on the counter were touched!! Woohoo!  |
kerry wrote: I would confine a dog who is not trustworthy when i am cooking - safer for all around. I should clarify - Maggie is surfing after meals, not while we are cooking. 
She wants to lick out the pans! It does make us put leftovers away and do dishes in a timely manner. |
| My dogs prewash the dishes in the dishwasher for me. Bella is a total mooch and stands near anyone who is eating. I was hoping she could show Nigel manners...instead he mooches now, and he has shown Bella how to chase the cat. I guess I should have said bad manners. |
| Knock on wood George has not counter surfed yet. But I don't give him any people food. We did try some raw carrots, which he plays with but doesn't eat. At this point I can sit a plate on my desk or the arm of my couch, and he won't bother it. Maybe some distant sniffing, but as of yet he has not tried to take anything, even from my son who is perfect sharing level. Of course, George doesn't seem to be food motivated. He does like his treats, but even those don't get the biggest reaction out of him. I got the weirdo........ |
| Sami is not a counter surfer, BUT the garbage we have to watch. Blue was starting to surf and we have to watch him, I smack the counter Es*$% out of him, he is our suck and that was that.... FOR NOW |
Both of mine are expert, notorious counter surfers. Last Thursday I made cocoa rolls for desert for our dinner and left them on the counter to cool while I took a shower. Naively, I thought since they were piping hot, the wigglebums wouldn't bother them. Rookie mistake.  When I got out of the shower, they'd eaten every last one of the cocoa rolls.
So, I once again had to clear everything remotely resembling food from any surface in the house they could reach. My new year's resolution is to curb counter surfing.  |
Our Bella got snapped by the mouse traps at 6 -8 months and has not tried surffing since. But we keep the counters clean anyway. We have a friend with a male sheepie named Charles that is not only a surfer but has figured out how to open cabinets. She had to install baby locks.  |
| panda does not surf....but she brazenly comes up to the counter while im cooking and sniffs her way down the counter top edge...
''whats here? oooo, whats here?...(double sniff) i like this..make more.." then she goes and lays down on her rug or lays in the middle of the kitchen floor just in case of an accident.. |
| As I am reading Darcy's post, I look up from the computer and across the house into the kitchen...
And Chewie is doing a "Panda Patrol" down the counter... The double sniff came at the spot I just got my breakfast - some homemade eggnog sweetbread! And then he ambles back, grabs a chew bone on the way, and lays behind my chair and chews on it. |
got sheep wrote: As I am reading Darcy's post, I look up from the computer and across the house into the kitchen...
And Chewie is doing a "Panda Patrol" down the counter... The double sniff came at the spot I just got my breakfast - some homemade eggnog sweetbread! And then he ambles back, grabs a chew bone on the way, and lays behind my chair and chews on it. hehehehe |
Violet nor China are counter surfers. I don't leave anything out on the counters or tables either. I learned very early on...I had baked a cake and set it on the counter to cool and China ate it in a split second as soon as I stepped out of the kitchen. Yes, it was still hot. 
I can leave my plate down right in front of them and they will not touch it, because they know as soon as I sit down to eat, I share my food with them. I call it my "two dog" diet. |
| Tucker LOVES the counter. And the table. And the coffee table. And the desk. Anything that may have food on it, or at one time might have had food on it, looks like deliciousness to him. Of course it's always my fault (I tend to forget to put things away), but that doesn't make it less frustrating (more, actually, because then I"m thinking "oh that dog!" AND "Oh I should have put that away!"). |
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