counter surfing!

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Quincy is 3 and has only recently begun to counter surf.  We quickly learned to scan the kitchen before leaving so that the butter container is put away (got that one early on) and of course, no food items left to entice him.  But the stinker has chewed up an emory board, eyeglass case, back scratcher handle, card board carton and other non edibles. I can always tell when he has been up to no good.  He hides when we come home instead of greeting us at the door.  Any ideas to discourage this?  

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Boy do I empathize.  Roo never steals anything or counter surfs.  Tigger is a complete thief. 

When I am working with food in the kitchen I have trained Tigger to lay down away from me.  He will steal if I just turn away for a second, has absolutely no guilt or second thoughts about doing so, but he will stay in his place while I cook.  Other than that I just clean up meticulously. I have tried tinfoil, Tigger ate it.  I have tried a long string of noisy metal measuring cups.  Tigger dragged those around for several minutes so proudly, before he laid down to chew on them.

 

I have a large rubber band around the two doorknobs on the doors under my bathroom sink where the trash is - that does has him baffled.  The trash in the kitchen slides under the counter and if closed properly Tigger can't open it as it is too heavy.

I have decoy socks in front of the my shoes ( can't close that area) and he goes for the socks and brings them to me.  Only gives them up for a cookie, though. Tigger has eaten a disposable razor, two pairs of sunglasses, quantities of paper towels, napkins, Kleenex, my nephew's pill container and all the pills (trip to vet for he and Roo to induce vomiting  and most recently the corner of my husband's briefcase.  I told him he was playing with fire to leave it in the dining room instead of putting it in the hall closet!!

Tigger was easier to get his CDC, learn tricks, than Roo.  But Roo comes and Tigger comes if he wants too,

It is just who Tigger is.   If anyone has a foolproof way to keep dogs off of counters, I would be willing to try it

By the way, the remedy for eating non poisonous, but dangerous -like the disposable razor_ things is to feed as much wonder bread as possible and watch the poop.  Tigger managed to eat almost two whole loaves and passed everything nicely.

Both my vet and my trainer just smile and tell me "once a thief and chewer, always a thief".  The reward of the food, trash, socks is just too great to overcome for some dogs, I guess.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Oh boy!  Recidivism! I guess that's why the are so cute...

[Cathy, Josie and Piper]

This discussion comes at the perfect time. When we first brought our puppy home at 5 months she would counter surf a couple of tines then stopped for a couple of months. She is now 9 months old and has recently increased her bad habit. She grabs things off the counter and the kitchen table. We don't leave food around so she grabs other items, reading glasses, papers, pens. She's smart and does it when we aren't in the room, though we have caught her a couple of times with her front feet on the counter and even had her feet on the kitchen chairs checking out the table. We have an open concept too, so we can't block her out. My trainer suggested to take newspaper, drape it over the edge of the counter with most of it hanging down, held in place with pop cans that have some coins in it, taped shut. Put a treat behind the cans, then when she gets the treat she will pull the paper down and bring the cans to the floor, making alot of noise and hopefully scare her. You have to be home to do this and pick up the cans because otherwise she will come back to the kitchen and start to play with the cans and then it becomes a game. I'll try this and let you know if it's successful.

[Kelly]

Jaxon is a constant "Counter Surfer" ! every time I turn around he's swiping something! I will have to try the idea of cans with coins.. Although I'm not sure scaring him off will work because he's knocked glasses off before that have broken and the loud crash sound certainly didn't prevent him from being onset again. Lol.. Love his inquisitive personality even if it has cost me a few side sandwiches and dishes..

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Lori, have you had any joy with keeping Quincy off the counters?

[Sally M]

Penny can't reach the counter good enough, yet, to counter surf. Does table surfing count?