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My 7 Month old Puppy is Counter-Surfing – How Do I Stop This?
Tips on counter surfing! Not much has worked 100% on 7 month old Corso pup who is testing her status! I’ve put a box next to kitchen for when I’m
I’m there . So she has to sit and wait for my attention. I will treat her when she’s quiet and doesn’t leave.. Sometimes it works well but then she’ll sit and start barking . 2nd when I’m not around she’ll surf and I’m
Worried she’ll get hurt. I’ve tried keeping leash on her and doing training near counter with treats but it’s when I’m
Not there or if she’s sitting nicely on her box she’ll will bark.
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7 Replies
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@dogmama Hey there – nice to “see” you again. I moved your post to the Puppies channel so it wouldn’t get lost.
Different breeds of dogs are going to need different levels of “security” and some breeds who have long been successful at “opportunistic scavenging” may have such strong instinct to “grab all the food now!” that they may never be able to resist the temptation, no matter what training you do.
That said, I don’t trust my dogs to make good choices until I’ve completely “brainwashed” them (about 2 years) – that is, they do not, EVER get the opportunity to grab anything off the counter because I simply don’t give them access. Period. If I’m not going to be in the kitchen, there is NOTHING tempting on the counters. I put it all away, wipe the counters etc before I leave the room. I take the puppy with me. I keep them with me or put up a gate so they can’t explore on their own. By the time they are 2, they start getting short amounts of uncrated, unsupervised time loose in the house.
But then, back to my first point, I have Aussies. If I had Basenjis or hounds or any other breed not bred to read my mind, I would not give them as much freedom.
They are dogs, after all. Check out the Trash post Virginia made, for more thoughts on this.
Anyone else have some winning strategies?
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I see this is an older post but saw it as I was perusing the topic designations. I’m assisting on a training case where the client is being instructed to do the tried-and-true “show her what you want her to do instead.” When the puppy puts her front paws on the table/counter, the client is directed to hold a treat near her face and then lure her down and several steps away, then drop the treat on the floor to reinforce staying on the floor. It’s only been a week, but it seems to be helping. That and, of course, management (as Catherine discussed).
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There was a study with monkeys where they found the opportunity or the possibility of getting food was much more gratifying then getting the food itself. They found that the dopamine levels skyrocketed when the monkeys were pressing the lever vs actually gettin getting the food. Teaching a dog to leave it or other method will probably not be as effective when a dog thinks he might have the opportunity to find a sandwich on the counter. Plus many methods used for counter surfing require you to be present so you can say leave it for example. Leave it won’t work if your dog is downstairs and you are upstairs sleeping i think teaching cue’s like leave it is good to do but I don’t think it will work when you are not around. Here are some tips that have worked for me with counter surfing. 1. Stop free feeding your dog. Don t leave the food out all day long. Leaving the food out becomes boring for a dog. It encourages the dog to look for food and possibility of finding something better. Play games to encourage dog to work for food. Make the dogs think that finding food on the ground is more rewarding then the counter. I like the cupcake tin where you put treats in the tin and cover them with tennis balls. Also the scatter game where you put treats or kibble in the grass and let them sniff and work for food. Don t reward near counters or tables. Throw the treat away from places where the dog countersurfs. Sometimes i will hide a food puzzle in another part of the house on the floor. Hope this helps
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I also agree with Catherine. Management also has to be a part of the solution
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This is wonderful information about the powerfully reinforcing aspect of seeking, @bmacwatt . ???? Thank you for sharing.
If anyone wants to do a deep dive, check out the work of Jaak Panksepp, where he identified seven primary emotional systems, one of which is the SEEKING system.
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✔ Great advice here, @bmacwatt – I hadn’t before correlated the free feeding vs a “seeking” opportunity like this before; makes great sense.
At our house, we’re experimenting with the addition of more raw foods. This morning, I threw the girls’ raw chicken drumsticks out into the “back 40” leaves so they had to hunt for it. ???? (We don’t have guarding issues; totally would not recommend this with dogs who guard food from each other!) It was interesting watching them find it then completely relax into munching down.
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????????Yesssss, good pro solutions right here @bmacwatt
For surfers, I also use the technique of making the counters LAME (devoid of rewards) while making the floors become interesting (with food puzzles to be found in different places). That has to become a regular pattern by the people for the dog to change where they seek.
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