Counter surfer - need help!

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

Ok DK'ers I need some ideas. My Doodle keeps taking things off the tables and counters.  It doesn't need to be food but napkins, Magazines, pens, childrens toys, coasters, remote control...the list goes on.  He's getting so much bigger and now can get the things we were trying to keep out of his reach.  He knows "off" but the things on the tables seem to be a bigger draw then his own toys.  My trainer said that I should put something spicy inside rolled up balls of bread and line them up along the counters edge and that should start to deter him but I'm not too keen on that idea.  He's only 4 months and we keep him on leash but it is definitely a daily struggle.  Any suggestions would be fantastic.  Otherwise I feel a bad tv sitcom episode coming on,you know,  where the dog takes the thanksgiving Turkey...What was that My Three sons? or Brady Bunch? or maybe Christmas Vacation....

 

[Stacy, Bruno, Molly and Gracie]

We have a counter surfer. I have tried several things. At one time we got a can and filled it with coins, tied a piece of string to it and then tied a piece of food to the other end. When Bruno grabbed the food the can cam tumbling off the counter scaring him. He ran without eating the food and that cured him............ for awhile.

He will not attempt counter surfing if any one of us is near. Now I line the counter with mouse traps. One went off and he ran from the kitchen. Seems to be working when I am not in the room. Unfortunately (or fortunately :) my son was counter surfing and he got pinched!

I will say being consistent and us not feeding him people food helps. Good luck!

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

Thank you!

[Stella]

We had a counter surfer.  This one worked for us!  Set the dog up by placing toast at the back of the counter (smells good, but not a disaster if the dog does get to it).  In front of the toast place an empty pizza box with the front edge of the box hanging over the edge of the counter.  On top of the pizza box place a couple of empty pop cans with pennies in them. Leave the room.  The idea is that the dog will jump up, hit the pizza box and the cans will fall, rattling and spooking the dog.  The cans won't hurt him, just make a lot of noise.  It is best if you are not in the room, as you don't want the dog to associate this with you.  It should be a cause and effect thing!   We only had to do this twice and our LD was cured!!  (We also got better about making sure we were careful about what we left on the counter).

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

My trainer taught me something similar for Sophie's habit of stealing the dish towel. I think it's brilliant.

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

Thanks so much!  At least these stories all have one thing in common they all say "had" a counter surfer...so there is hope for me yet ; )

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

The cans DO work for many other things too!

[cheryl & oliver]

that bad sitcom actually did happen to us several years ago at thanksgiving.  Our old aussie Token stole the turkey leg right off the counter after we had finished dinner.  He was so fast, all I saw was the turkey moving along the counter and then he was gone!!!!...That was a looooong night.  He was so sick, with diarrhea, and such, I was up all night with him, keeping him on the tile floors so I could clean up easily when needed.  We went to the vet in the morning, and everyone got a big chuckle out of it, with the exception of me and Token....He was fine in the am, and I was told to watch for signs of problems with the bones, but thank goodness we never had any.....My only advice to you might be that I believe I heard this from someone on DK's take a metal baking sheet and let it fall to the floor, the noise might scare him, it did mine, and that was the end of counter surfing.  It took a couple of times, but it did work for me.

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

Thank you for sharing!

[Richard Crowe]

Before we had our Goldendoodle, Holly, we shared our home with a darling German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Wolf who weighed 85 pounds and had long wolf legs.  Her head was level with all the counters in our home but, she never took anything off a counter - EXCEPT ONCE.

 

We had the family over for Thanksgiving meal and after the guests left, Judy and I went to the bedroom to change out of our dress clothes and into clothing which would be suitable for cleaning up the dishes. 

 

We left the turkey carcass on the counter, never thinking that our obedient and well behaved dog would grab it.  When we returned to the kitchen, we found our big dog happily eating the meat off the bird which was on the kitchen floor.  Surrounding our big dog were our four Maltese, all enjoying the feast.  It was too funny to get angry.  Luckily, none of our dogs got sick from the turkey. Also lucky that we returned to the kitchen while there was still a lot of meat on the bird and before any of the dogs injested bones.

 

An empty Coke can with a few pennies in it thrown towards the area of any transgression usually prevents most dogs from repeating the transgression.  Our little champion male Maltese had a habit of nailing the edge of the fireplace.  We threw a can with the pennies near him while he was in the process and then placed the can where he liked to pee.  He never returned to that spot again.

 

It does look kind of tacky to have a coke can laying around but, it is effective.

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

Holy cow part wolf!! Did you take a picture??? That would be epic a big huge dog surrounded by a bunch of small dogs eating Thanksgiving turkey LOL!  Thank you for sharing your story ad I appreciate the advice!

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

this is timely. we had our first food-related counter surfing issue just tonght. I turned around and found Sophie's entire face in the container of grated parmasean cheese that I had left open on the table. I can't blame her really, but I have much better cheeses in the fridge. Like mommy like doodle.

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

Now that's funny! I'm with you on the cheese ; )