How to stop a Counter Surfing Bandit
Has anyone been able to stop this? I'm ready to bring out the can with pennies, I think that might work, but I doubt it. She is obsessed with the game. |
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| This may or may not work for you but I trained my dogs not to take food from the table the following way:
I placed a very tempting piece of meat or cheese at the edge of the table, while I was sitting there, at a meal. When Merlin (my first, but it worked the same with the others) started to take the tempting bit, I would correct him, even take it out of his mouth, if necessary. After a time (short interval, at first, longer as time went on and he accepted the rules), I would reward him with the treat. He learned he could only get that tempting tidbit on the table if I offered it to him. Now, I admit I was never foolish enough to leave steak on the table for a couple of hours while I was off somewhere, but actually that was more case of wanting to preserve the food from bacteria than from dogs. The principle is the same: put out something you know Stella will want to take, but correct her with no, or drop it or whatever command you use whenever she reaches for it. If she gets it anyway, go straight to her bed and take it back. I'd do this rather than shaking a can because it establishes that you control those things, that they are yours to give or with hold as you please. And start with the easy places for her to reach. The issue is what she can and cannot have, and who decides. I find it important to always be able to take anything away from my dogs, partly to preserve my belongings, yes, but also in case they get something that could be dangerous to them. THose shaggy faces can hide a multitude of sins, including dried out corpses of birds and bats, both of which I've removed from my dog's mouth, thankfully before any actual chewing had begun. No matter how much you puppy proof your house, we live in a real world and that usually includes things that aren't good for dogs, both inside the house and outside. Also, when they were younger, people things were much, much more tempting than as the dogs got older. We're working through that with puppies right now. They were terrible about chewing people things (including a brand new shoe and a pair of eyeglasses) but have settled down a lot. Over the years, we lost a tv remote, quite a few Barbies, stuffed toys, several overshoes (right foot only), a number of soccer balls and at least one brand new shoe, two pairs of eyeglasses, a few wood-handled steak knives, half a pan of gingerbread, and 16 gold foil covered fundraiser type chocolate candybars. However, those things were consumed or chewed to bits, not hoarded, which is a different behavior. None of my dogs has been much of a hoarder, although Archie does like to make piles of 'his' toys. Since they are his, it's ok, and there's no confusion about whehter or not I'm allowed to move them or touch them. ( I am, and so is any other human) |
| Wow. Good luck! I'm going to be closely watching this thread! |
It will be a year ago come September 16th that Panda flew to us and she brought along all her baggage  One of the issues was counter surfing. Grannie Annie with New England OES Rescue recommended Scat Mats in order to correct this problem and they worked for us.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_ ... catmat&N=2 Additional Info- Every time the dog succeeds in taking something they've been rewarded for the improper behavior so you have to learn to keep your kitchen counters clear and pick up all tempting things within reach. Just one of the numerous items we lost before Panda trained us to pick up after ourselves was an electric car starter that had yet to be installed... she took it off the shelf, open the box and chew up the components. Also shut any doors that don't need to be open. A crate or puppy-proofed room are safer alternatives when she can't be supervised. After the behavior has stopped, don't be fooled into thinking they've been reformed. Ours stole and ate an entire cantaloupe a few weeks ago... fruit, seeds and rind. We called the vet and she said to take her for a walk. Luckily the only side effects were a sticky floor and a dog that needed a bath. I'm always afraid Panda will get a hold of something that will harm her so we have to be very diligent. Increasing exercise might help... we couldn't do this with Panda because she has hip dysplasia. You might also consider stuffing her regular meal in food toys so she has to work for it. Mine all love it when we do this and it gives them a mental challenge. This is really the only way to prevent it from happening when you've acquired a dog with this behavior unless the dog is sensitive to training. Panda was a fearless, take-nothing-seriously, exuberant, know-no-limits, do-everything-in-a-big-way kinda girl so WE had to be the ones retrained. She has gotten so much better but it took time and patience. Good luck to you! Jaci |
| We do the same as Jaci at our house.
Dog proof as much as possible (get on your hands and knees to see the tempting things from their view - it's kind of a different world!  ) We close doors to rooms we are not in, and use babygates. The idea is to eliminate the "successes" -getting something they aren't supposed to. Everytime your dog gets something, it is a reward in the dog's mind and increases the desire to do it again.
We also "setup" situations, like described above with the steak at the table. Always make sure you get the goodie before the dog does! We teach all our dogs "leave it" right from the start. Leave it covers any thing and everything you don't want your dog to touch - your food, the dropped sharp knife in the kitchen, the dead bird on your walk. I can leave food on the coffee table, point to it and say leave it. I make eye contact with all the dogs. Then I can walk into the kitchen and get a pop or whatever and no one touchs my food. There will usually be a couple frozen in place, staring and drooling, but they know I mean it! We also teach "wait" - this means not to do anything until they get their release command - we use "alright". This works for feeding time, putting leads on before getting out of the car, anything! It is the best, (next to leave it.) It eliminates all that anxious, obnoxious behavior, because they learn that they won't get to go until they are quiet and calm. Consistancy is the key to all of this. If you only enforce it part of the time, you're sunk right from the start. |
| You know what, I have learnt the hard way - keep doors shut and leave nothing on the worktops - Ollie once ate a whole tub of butter !!!
i have to say, I find the counter surfing thing so amusing, I let Ollie do it, but obviously with nothing for him to get. |
| I've been lucky enough to catch my dogs in the act and yelled no. I guess I'm really scary because that's seemed to work with all of them. My inlaws dog is a counter surfer though and nothing they do will stop it. Maybe some are more prone than others. Good luck. |
| I think the safest method is to just leave nothing on the counter for her to get.... |
| This has become a problem for us as well. Annie was and probably still is a big counter surfer. We learned by not keeping any food items on the counters or tables. However, Foz is now a counter surfer who will take ANYTHING...rubber gloves, tupperware, dirty dish rag, napkins from the holder. "Leave it" only works when we see him getting ready to check things out.
Next step is to try the scat mat. |
I have a funny story regarding counter surfing and my Aussie China. China is two and a half years old but when she was younger I came home and found her standing on top of my kitchen table. Another time I found her standing on top of my Patio table. Now neither time had I left anything out on the table. I have no idea what she was doing up there.I knew her mother, Angel, was a "table top dancer" and she also loved to jump over fences. My friend who owned Angel, China's mother had a real hard time keeping her off the tables and on her side of the fence, so I did hesitate about bringing China home because I didn't want those problems. Angel has since retired her "dancing on table" ways and stays in the fence. I have been lucky and not had any problems with China jumping our privacy fence as of yet, and to my knowledge, only danced on the tables twice. The one problem I do have with China is if I bake a chocolate cake and leave it out to cool, by the time I walk into the livingroom, she has already taken a big chunk out of the cake. I gave up baking chocolate cake. Violet, on the other hand, has bad hips so I think she waits below to pick up anything that may fall. lol. They are so much fun!  |
| I also have a funny sheepie surf story: Phoebe was about a year old or so- we had friends over for dinner and eveyone was gone. We went upstairs to get comfy before cleaning up. I hear sound-looked over the rail down to the dinning room table-there was Phoebe standing on top of my table, helping herself to whatever she could find. It was the first and only time I left her alone with food still on the table! |
A funny Thanksgiving story. A friend of ours had several friends and family over for dinner. Everything was about done and the ham was placed on the counter to be carved. While removing something else from the oven their year old great dane gabbed the ham and ran. By the time he was caught, only a 1/2 ham remained. I've never laughed so hard. Now I'm not sure if it would have been quite as funny if it had been Chauncey and our dinner, but I probably would have. Priceless.  |
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