# expensive counter surfing



## marshab1 (Aug 28, 2006)

I need some help with counter surfing. Tinkerbell has been able to reach the counters for some time. Pushing her down a few times and telling her off seemed to work. Then she actually tried to grab food off the counter pushed her down and told her no a couple of times it seemed to work. A couple weeks ago she decided to try again only this time it was for paper. One of her fav things. We've been trying what worked before. With no luck. Today she ate a $50 bill. Now I should mention that this all happens while we are right there. She doesn't touch the counters when we are not home. I have left food on the counter came back in an hour and it is still there.


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## AtticusJordie (Aug 15, 2006)

We bought some of those mouse traps with the soft plastic flaps (paddles) attached to the metal mechanism that snaps shut. We just arm them and lay them on the counter near any food--then walk away. After a few minutes, you'll here a 'snap', and maybe a small yelp.

After a few times, the dogs stayed away from the counters.......and the flaps do little more than just scare them--it doesn't injure them.

SJ


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## vrocco1 (Feb 25, 2006)

Wow, don't leave any money on the counter! The only way your are going to do it is to hand out some punishment when you catch her up there. A huge NO! will probably do it after a couple of tries. The other alternative is the small mouse traps you get in the grocery store.


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## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

Cans with pennies inside strung along the edge of the counter often helps. They knock the cans off....and it scares them.

However, we have Newfs who can reach anything we can reach. We just learned to keep the counter clean. And the sink.


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## Jazzys Mom (Mar 13, 2007)

AtticusJordie,

Where did you find the Snappy traps??? I have been looking for those for several years. Even went on the net and from what I could find out they are not made any longer. I would LOVE to find even one! I understand they work wonderfully!!

Jazzys Mom


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

AtticusJordie said:


> We bought some of those mouse traps with the soft plastic flaps (paddles) attached to the metal mechanism that snaps shut. We just arm them and lay them on the counter near any food--then walk away. After a few minutes, you'll here a 'snap', and maybe a small yelp.
> 
> After a few times, the dogs stayed away from the counters.......and the flaps do little more than just scare them--it doesn't injure them.
> 
> SJ


I used it,too and it worked great for me.
I've also used the spray water bottle or a metal can full of stones that I drop on the floor when she is lurking.It scares them and they stop.


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## GoldenShamus (Feb 26, 2007)

Please don't laugh at me,  , but I had a very bad countersurfer myself when Shamus was a pup. What finally worked were lemons, he hates, and by the way he hates, citrus fruit. Lemons are like his arch-nemesis!

I would split them open, and even leave a little juice on the counter (this is only when I was cooking/grilling because it was the only time he surfed). The first time he jumped up and got the lemon taste he hated it. He then barked at the counter. After 4 or 5 days of this he got very frustrated...he jumped up, took the lemon and brought it to his dog bed. He laid there and did a western style stare down:doh: ...he then barked at it... well that was it. From that point on, he didn't countersurf anymore.

I still would not trust him if I had a big piece of meat on the counter or something but he learned. I don't know why it worked, but it did. I've been told by others before that I just got lucky (and maybe so) but if your dog hates lemons, you might give it a go.

(By the way, I hated the idea of putting lemon juice on my counters, it's sticky, but you know what,. it worked in a short time and was well worth it)


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

What I also did, was live some stuff on the table for them,to get and put tabasco sauce on it.It worked like magic.


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

Ha ha Marsha....I guess you could wait for 'change'.....:yuck: Sorry, I couldn't resist. Like GLOTI said, lemons can work. But the only sure thing is diligently keeping it clear...hard to do with kids and spouses.... 
Hugs to Tink aka 'the reverse ATM'


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## gold'nchocolate (May 31, 2005)

Biscuit puked up a $20 dollar bill once. I didn't even know that he had eaten it! I washed it and exchanged it at the bank for one that didn't have tooth holes in it : 

Now, Biscuit was a terrible counter (and table) surfer. He mainly doesn't do it anymore unless I turn my back while making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches--he's really fast and he'll grab the peice of bread with the peanut butter on it.

My cure for countersurfing dogs:

I took a long peice of string (approx 3 feet long) and attached one end of it to a _*favored item*_, in Biscuit's case--anything cloth, whether sock, stuffed animal, rag or dishcloth, etc. Then along the length of string I also attached some cooking pan lids and my metal spaghetti colonder which had several aluminum cans in it. I put the stuffed animal at the edge of the table and set the other items that were attached to the string along the table benind it and then we just sat around waiting. It only took a minute and as soon as he grabbed the animal everything else came clanging along with it!!! It was so-o-o funny to see him running and skidding around the room because he kept coming back to get the stuffed animal again and again but everytime he tried to take it with him the other things came along for the ride. *NOTE:* I wouldn't do this if the pup is fearful at all as it may traumatize him/her but Biscuit is not fearful of anything so this worked for him.

I left this booby-trap set up for several days. I would change the item it was tied to and I would also change the location of the booby-trap and eventually I could leave anything on the edge of the counter or table and he would leave it alone. I did have to repeat this every few weeks or so but eventually all I had to do was to put a pan lid on the counter and he would keep away. He's still not 100% cured but he is 99.9% better.


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## marshab1 (Aug 28, 2006)

You know the bad part is that I was standng on one side of the island with my mom and counting Girl Scout cookie money so we had money and order forms spread across the island. Tinkerbell loves paper and so she reached up on the opposite side of the counter and snatched it and started chewing. We ran around the island to get to her and she started swallowing. I got 1 small piece out of her mouth. Apparently I just bought another $50 worth of girl scout cookies. Not what I needed right now.

So I will be trying some of these remedies.


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## Sunshine Goldens (Oct 31, 2005)

GoldenShamus said:


> Please don't laugh at me,  , but I had a very bad countersurfer myself when Shamus was a pup. What finally worked were lemons, he hates, and by the way he hates, citrus fruit. Lemons are like his arch-nemesis!
> 
> I would split them open, and even leave a little juice on the counter (this is only when I was cooking/grilling because it was the only time he surfed). The first time he jumped up and got the lemon taste he hated it. He then barked at the counter. After 4 or 5 days of this he got very frustrated...he jumped up, took the lemon and brought it to his dog bed. He laid there and did a western style stare down:doh: ...he then barked at it... well that was it. From that point on, he didn't countersurf anymore.
> 
> ...


Christi - that is one of the funniest training stories EVER!!! I LOVE it!!! 

Petey is my counter surfer - we keep the counters clean because he truly is like a crackhead...he will have paws up, tongue out, head to one side trying to get a little taste...all the while eyes looking at me like "I can't help it!" It's pretty pitiful!


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## KatzNK9 (Feb 27, 2007)

There are some great ideas on this thread! Thanks everybody! I do hope you're able to retrieve what is left of that $50 that hasn't been digested. Eeekgads ... couldn't it have been a $5 bill instead? Yikes.


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Vigilance is the only solution I know to definitely work and all we have ever used.

If she swallowed it whole there is still a possibility that it will come out pretty much intact in tomorrow morning's delivery. The digestive tract is short and so transit times are quick and the dog's digestive enzymes will not be able to breakdown the fibers (that is if the money making process leaves the cotton fibers whole) but don't know if the fibers will be able hold together... probably will if the eaten bill got wadded up. Let us know if it 'turns up' tomorrow... bring a couple of forks with you on the morning walk.

I've heard the one about using mouse traps before, however you must put something like newspapers on top of them so the dog sees the movement and only hears the snap and not actually 'feel' it... you don't want to add vet bills to $50 already gone.


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## Jazzys Mom (Mar 13, 2007)

When my Flirty was with us I had baked a batch of cookies and the cookie sheet was sitting on the island counter cooling. Flirty LOVED cookies and kept pacing around the island. All of a sudden she sprang straight up in the air and landed ON TOP of the island to get the cookies, of which she managed to snag a few before we got her down!

Someday when I have more time I'll tell you all the story of Dakota --- who ate $500.00!!!

Jazzys Mom


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## goldencrazy (Dec 15, 2005)

Tabitha's a surfer, especially the island. She thinks it's her sworn duty to check out what's new on the counters. There's a couple of ideas in this thread I'm going to try out.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Tucker is a counter surfer. I got lazy and rather than train him to stay away, I just put everything up where he can't get it. The downfall to that? Well, how about a bag of Honest Kitchen! Dry! Ugh......

I know I could put a scat mat on the counter that makes noise, but Tucker is sound sensitive. It would be the cure to the problem, but I don't want to cause any emotional damage. He's deathly afraid of our smoke detectors and will even try to get outside (nearly broke through the glass panes of our back door) if he smells something burning off the coils. He knows with smoke no matter how little, comes the sound. He's better now, but when we first got him, it was awful to see his reaction to the smoke alarm.


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## GoldenShamus (Feb 26, 2007)

moverking said:


> Ha ha Marsha....I guess you could wait for 'change'.....:yuck: Sorry, I couldn't resist. Like GLOTI said, lemons can work. But the only sure thing is diligently keeping it clear...hard to do with kids and spouses....
> Hugs to Tink aka 'the reverse ATM'


See, that's the thing, though, my counters have and always are clear of food. It was only when I was cooking dinner that there was food on the counter and my little bugger would steal it right out from underneath me.


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## TRISTANSMOM (Feb 26, 2007)

Lincoln is our counter surfer. Back in October he ate some butter right off my counter while I was cooking. I have a small kitchen and I turned from the counter to the stove and boom the butter was gone. Then a few weeks later he ate about 3/4 of lb. of raw bacon while I was right there. That was some expensive bacon, cost us $145.00 at the emergency vet and he was fine.:doh: In December we got a check for Christmas and he ate a $50.00 check. It was kind of embarasing having tell my uncle that the dog ate my check. We use the can of pennies which he doesn't really like but, it does work.


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## Jazz's Mom (Feb 26, 2007)

Jazzys Mom said:


> AtticusJordie,
> 
> Where did you find the Snappy traps??? I have been looking for those for several years. Even went on the net and from what I could find out they are not made any longer. I would LOVE to find even one! I understand they work wonderfully!!
> 
> Jazzys Mom


Wish I could remember where we got ours. Probably PetSmart or Petco. We had no luck with them. We'd set them off ourselves trying to set them up. Jazz never seemed to make them go off.


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## Jazzys Mom (Mar 13, 2007)

Oh, you didn't have any luck with them, huh? Well, maybe I'll try the lemons. So far Jazzy hasn't stole anything off the counters but I will come up the stairs from the family room to the kitchen and catch her with her front paws up on the counter and those eyes are searching the WHOLE counter, so I know its just a matter of time. SunnyRose got hubbys pill container off the counter several years ago and ate 4 days worth of pills! 4 Arthritis pills, 4 cholesterol pills and 4 Nexium pills for heartburn! The 4 arthritis pills irritated her stomach lining and the Nexium pills took so much of the stomach acid away that she was a very sick little girl. Very expensive little girl too! Several vet visits and counteractive medications later she was ok.

Jazzys Mom


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