# Counter Surfing Prevention and Food Issues



## CharlieBear80 (Oct 13, 2013)

IMO, with counter surfing, and ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It's self-reinforcing, so make sure she never finds anything on the counter that will make her want to continue checking out what's up there. As for barking or being rude while you are getting her food ready, one of my GSDs is very vocal and if he starts "talking" to me while I am getting his food ready, I simply stop in my tracks and don't proceed until he's quiet. He'd rather get fed faster than talk to me while I prepare his food, so that usually settles him down instantly. 

If she's bothering you while you are eating, there are a few things you can do. One is to make sure you never feed her while you are eating, but I assume you aren't doing that anyway. Another is just to crate her or use gates to keep her out of whatever room you are in while you are eating. You could also teach her "place" (which is really just a solid down stay) and make her go there while you eat.


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## CharlieBear80 (Oct 13, 2013)

Oh, I also make my dogs do a sit stay and make quiet eye contact until they are given a release command any time food is coming... outside of the context of an active training session. I think that helps.


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## Wenderwoman (Jan 7, 2013)

My dog is HIGHLY food motivated. She will counter surf and especially likes to check out the sink. We just keep telling her to get down. A squirt bottle will work too if it's handy. 

As far as food goes, I am training her to lie down whenever we are eating. It might be better not to give her any food like a lot of people do but, I like to share and give her treats so I wanted to teach her how to "not" beg. 

I command her to lie down and periodically treat her throughout the meal. I think this has worked well for me. She's now 12 months and will automatically lie down when we sit down to dinner or even eat chips on the couch. 

The counter-surfing is harder to control because she is sneaky about it.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

One of the first things we teach our trainees is the "out" command. When we are in the kitchen preparing food, the dogs are out of the kitchen. No ifs, ands or buts. They could trip us and cause us to spill something hot or drop a knife on them, so for safety's sake, when we are preparing food, they aren't allowed in there. 

That works for two things, the safety issue, but also they learn that they aren't allowed around our food while we are handling it.

Next thing we train them is "wait". They have to sit, or down, and wait for release before eating. That helps them with their self control. It takes time. At first, I usually have to hold their collar, say "wait", put the dish down and then give the release word at the same time I am releasing their collar.

Ella is old enough to learn both commands and I think you will find it will make your life much easier!


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## ktkins7 (Jul 20, 2013)

Ella is in the process of learning stay right now. That seems to be one of her more difficult commands to learn. I think she understands it but doesn't always listen to it yet. I hadn't thought of trying "out". She is so people loving that she doesn't like to be in a different room. You get up and move 10 ft and she follows. I'll give it a try. The only time she is really willing to be separate is that when I'm getting her food ready and she is jumping and going nuts, I've been trying that if she doesn't calm down and stay on the floor I'll ignore her and walk away until she calms down. That isn't working at all so far. Even though I push it to the back of the counter where she can't get it, she stays in the kitchen and jumps like a jumping bean. I'm afraid she is going to slip on the tile floor and ending up hurting herself. At least she hasn't been able to get anything off the counter yet because I'm making sure nothing is near the edge. Not sure where she got this begging from because so far she hasn't really gotten anything for people food, so she shouldn't be expecting it.

Thanks for the help. I'm going to keep working with her on this and try to train her with it before it becomes a problem when she gets bigger.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Stay is harder for them to learn than "out" and "wait". With "out", you signal with your hands (whatever signal you want to use) and say "out", and then use your body to usher them out. Understand that you may have to do it 25 times the first time, 20 times the second time, 10 times the third time and so on. Suddenly, you'll see the lightbulb go on in her head.

Trust me, you aren't going to hurt her feeling or make her less attached to you. It's a command that I feel is very important for them to learn for their own safety. I would never forgive myself if I spilled something hot on one of my dogs!


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

fostermom said:


> One of the first things we teach our trainees is the "out" command. When we are in the kitchen preparing food, the dogs are out of the kitchen. No ifs, ands or buts. They could trip us and cause us to spill something hot or drop a knife on them, so for safety's sake, when we are preparing food, they aren't allowed in there.
> 
> That works for two things, the safety issue, but also they learn that they aren't allowed around our food while we are handling it.
> 
> ...


We do this too! It began with "go to your crate" when I went to get his food ready, and it evolved to "wait" when I put his food down. He has to wait for his release or he gets put right back where he started. 

We also use the "out" or as I like to say, "GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN! ALL OF YOU!!!" cause both Bear and my two cats like to hang out in the kitchen. The cats would fish food out of pots if we gave them half a chance. 

Another is teaching your puppy to go to it's mat while your eating.


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## siulongluiy (Apr 25, 2012)

Oatmeal too has now developed Counter Surfing =(

He will only do it when no one is around; guess the only thing to do now is to ensure that there is nothing left on the counters! He does not even put his paws onto the counter when there are people there, so I dont know where he is getting this from. He is 2.5 years old now and just started to do this saw a week ago...what to do?!?!?

Anyone have experience with this and have had this behaviour corrected???

He doesnt get too excited when we are eating ourselves...I just only see the destruction when I get home from somewhere and just wrappers and garbage is on the floor...


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## ktkins7 (Jul 20, 2013)

Ella is a work in progress. I just started working on "out." So far she keeps coming back in no matter how many times I get her out. It also depends on what is in the kitchen for her though. If its something she really wants she'll be more likely to try to get her feet on the counter. She hasn't stolen anything yet. We also haven't been leaving food unattended within her reach. Right now it almost more of seems like she wants to see what is going on. But like I said, work in progress. Trying to be more vigilant now that she tried to lick the hot oven rack the other day when my hands were full and I wasn't able to push her away using my legs. Thankfully no damage done.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

ktkins7 said:


> Ella is a work in progress. I just started working on "out." So far she keeps coming back in no matter how many times I get her out. It also depends on what is in the kitchen for her though. If its something she really wants she'll be more likely to try to get her feet on the counter. She hasn't stolen anything yet. We also haven't been leaving food unattended within her reach. Right now it almost more of seems like she wants to see what is going on. But like I said, work in progress. Trying to be more vigilant now that she tried to lick the hot oven rack the other day when my hands were full and I wasn't able to push her away using my legs. Thankfully no damage done.


What worked really well for us, was establishing a boundary of what "out" means. Bear is very velcro so if "out" means he has to be in a different room than me - he doesn't like it. So we laid a cheap mat by the dining room table "out" of the kitchen and when we tell him "out" he goes to his mat and lays down. That is a great compromise for us. 

What also worked well with counter surfing was to teach and reinforce DAILY "leave it" but in a "It's your choice" way. Kikopup has a great video on this. Where food is actually on the floor and the dog leaves it alone. I am able to put a steak on a plate right in his face and have him sit and look at me instead of focusing on the plate. That's where you want your pup to get to, imo.


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