Greedy?

[Darlene Woods]

Kassidy is a very well fed girl but every time we leave home, she goes into the kitchen and gets whatever food she can get from the counter. We've lost pizza, hamburgers, bacon etc., as well as raw chicken, ground beef and bacon. When we're home, she's not allowed in the kitchen but as soon as we're gone, she begins the hunt. I've actually video taped her doing so. We've learned to leave nothing on the counters but today we left chicken thawing and of course, she ate it from the ziplock bag. She's had issues in the past because she swallowed a chipmunk whole. I'm afraid she'll hurt herself.
Does anyone else have this issue? What else can we do?

[Jen W]

Well, quite simply: don't leave anything out.  It won't prevent a chipmunk being swallowed whole, but you can prevent the rest.  If you really need to leave something out while you are not at home, block off the kitchen.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I totally agree.  I defrost meat by just putting it in the microwave or oven (not turned on)....they can't get to it there.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I'm certain Oscar would do the same if given the chance. I simply don't give him the chance. No food is ever left unattended on the counters. Period.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

We recently had a discussion on this issue in the Training group. Here is a link.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/the-dreaded-counter-surfin...

You're right to be concerned about this because the consequences can sometimes be dire. Hope this helps and  if not you might try searching under "counter surfing" as the subject seems to come up quite often here on DK (so you're not alone!). You're also welcome to join the Training Group!

[Wendy and Myla]

We've never had this problem with Myla but when we picked her up the breeder told us that doodles are known to counter-surf.  She basically told us to do exactly what is shown in the You-Tube video on the link Ricki and Tara(doodle) just gave you - except she told us to string hotdog wieners with fishing line and at the end attach empty pop cans but it's the same effect.  I would definitely give it a try!!!  Good luck!

[Darlene Woods]

Thank you Wendy and Myla!

[Darlene Woods]

Thank you Ricki,

I like the concept and I'm going to try it immediately.

[Deborah Brown]

Lots of us have this issue.  You will have to train yourself to never leave anything out.  Believe me, counter surfers can never be trusted.  If I have anything out, I either put it on top of the fridge or in the microwave with it turned off.  We also can't leave shoes out or dirty clothes on the floor - just a fact of life with a doodle.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We have lost bread and hot dog buns to Ned, who is only 17" tall! 

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

My Sasha is a counter surfer so I do not leave anything out within her reach.  She can only reach in about 6 inches from the edge of the counter so if I push it back she cannot reach.  We constantly work on her manners but this one is a hard one to break.  Now my Oliver he can reach anything he wants and does not counter surf at all !!!.  I don't chance anything - just for their safety !!!

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

Bentley is not a counter surfer, but Maserati is. We have had to be extra diligent about making sure there is nothing that would potentially interest M on the counter. 

One of our training lessons the past 2 weeks we've been working on has been eliminating jumping/counter surfing. We are 80% there! Today, I've we've set him up for failure several times but he has been raised his paws off the ground. We will continue working on this behavior until we can trust him 100%. Even once we trust him we will make sure the counters are clear. 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Its funny, when I originally posted my response, I wasn't even thinking about 'counter surfing'. Only Lucy did that as a pup (Oscar never), but its Oscar I would be concerned about as he's so very food motivated. He always knows when there's food sitting on the counter (he's pretty tall and just sticks his nose up to counter level). We've never seen him jump up though. I just can't trust him when it comes to anything food (or paper, or socks, or ???) related. He will eat anything that will fit down his throat! There are several counter surfing deterrents, all of which use surprise and scare tactics, but for the really food motivated pup I wouldn't trust them 100%.