# Pulling food off counters



## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

Best solution: Don't keep things on the counter anymore...


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## Doug (Jul 17, 2010)

Goldens are famous for doing anything for food. Who can resist bread, cookies and donuts?
The only cure for counter surfing is not leaving food there to begin with. How does he know that you didn't leave it out for him in case he wanted a midnight snack? He doesn't know what he has done. All he knows (and feels bad about) is that you are not pleased with him. 
Our bread is kept in our cupboard behind closed doors. IMHO this is a small price to pay for the companionship of these wonderful beings


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## craigieboy90 (Mar 1, 2014)

bassJAM said:


> My 22 month Golden has realized that there's food to be had on our counters. He mostly goes after loaves of bread an boxes of donuts. We have a bread box that I put in the far back corner of the counters, and he can't get inside that. But I normally have stuff that won't fit, so there's always a loaf or 2 behind the bread box, which I thought would be far out of reach (because it's a stretch even for me to reach), but somehow he still gets to it!!! This is always done at night when we're asleep. He very rarely will get food off the table during the day when we're around unless we tempt him too much (like the time my wife left cookies cooling at the edge of the counter). The worst thing is he know's what he's done, as he'll refuse to walk by the empty bread bag the next morning and won't make eye contact with us when he's in the same room as the "evidence".
> 
> At first I tried leaving him locked in the basement the next night after eating food off the table, but it's been a year of that with no results. Next I tried "baiting" him by filling old bread with hot sauce and chili powder and leaving bags of that on the counter, but that seems to have no effect (and I think he might even be acquiring a taste for spicy food now!).
> 
> My wife is to the point that she wants to lock him up every night, *but I don't think that's fair since he spends the majority of the day in the basement alone. * What are my options? Other than getting a larger bread box that'll lock everything up of course.


Here's part of your problem.


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## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

Make the effort and lock away the rest of the bread and donuts (mmmmm). 

Set him up to succeed! Locking him up the next day is way too late. Any aversive has to be at the moment of the crime otherwise he can't make the association. Dogs don't think the way we do. 

No temptation, no naughty!!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I have to ask why you leave food on the counter? 

If you cannot make more frequent stops at the store, can you buy an additional bread box? If the bread bags are plastic your dog may end up in the Emergency Room with a blockage.


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## Harleysmum (Aug 19, 2014)

There have also been incidences of dogs suffocating putting their heads into potato chip (crisp) packets. Keeping your food and rubbish secured so that your dog can't get into it can be a safety issue as well.


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## SwimDog (Sep 28, 2014)

I sometimes use the oven or microwave as a storage space.

Locking him up the following night is too long between when the event happens and the "punishment". 

He doesn't feel guilty about the food - it's about the bag on the floor - 

Behaviorists: Dogs feel no shame despite the look

There's what came up first but essentially several studies have been done and there's no evidence that the dogs "know" they did something wrong - when the trash/poop/whatever was placed on the floor by the researcher, the dogs gave the same response.

Storing elsewhere is important to save your lunch and reduce safety risks. It also sounds like if you do those things your dog probably will be able to be out during the day while you're at work?


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I live in a warm humid climate, because of this, I can not leave any type of food out. It will go stale in a heartbeat and it will attract bugs like you wouldn't believe. 

I keep my bread in the refrigerator, things like cookies, crackers, cereal in airtight plastic containers in the cabinets. 

Because I never have anything out on my counters, there is never anything for my guys to get into and I've never had a problem. 

You can always put bread in your oven if you don't have room in the refrigerator, just be sure to take it out before you turn your oven on.


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## bassJAM (Feb 4, 2015)

Chritty said:


> Make the effort and lock away the rest of the bread and donuts (mmmmm).
> 
> Set him up to succeed! Locking him up the next day is way too late. Any aversive has to be at the moment of the crime otherwise he can't make the association. Dogs don't think the way we do.
> 
> No temptation, no naughty!!!


I'm a light sleeper so about half the time he does this I'll hear the bag being rustled and wake up, give him a quick slap on the nose and a firm "no!", and send him downstairs. I'm just not used to this, my last Golden was much better behaved about food for the most part. 

I'll try to start putting the food away, but it's hard with kids in the house and a wife who's never had a dog above ankle biting height. It's bad enough to keep him from eating clothes. He won't touch mine, but he seems to find my wife's and daughters dirty socks and underwear no matter how hard we try to keep hampers shut and doors closed. My yard gets new colors added to it every day in the form of vomited clothing and I have no idea where he finds it! Maybe he's learned to open the lids of the hampers? It's scary, because his daddy died after getting a sock lodged in his intestines.


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## bassJAM (Feb 4, 2015)

SwimDog said:


> Storing elsewhere is important to save your lunch and reduce safety risks. It also sounds like if you do those things your dog probably will be able to be out during the day while you're at work?


Eventually I hope he can have the run of the house, but I don't trust him yet. We're only a few months away from him pulling threads out of carpet and ruining a recliner while playing with the cat. It's not like the basement is that bad during the day, there's couches down there for him to sleep on and we've got a 5 month mixed breed pup that he's buddy's with.

The funny thing is he's good in the basement. I can leave opened bags of dog and cat food laying around and he won't touch them. I left a box of stuffed animals from my childhood out for a week in the basement and he didn't care, but if we leave my daughters room open upstairs he'll go help himself to one of her stuffed toys.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Each dog is different, just like children are, no two are alike in many ways, but yet they are similar. 

You should "puppy" proof your house, look around to see what things he can get into such as clothes, your children's toys. Either put them away or keep doors closed. 

I've always kept waste baskets under cabinets or out of sight too. 

How much exercise is he getting daily? Has he been to obedience classes? If he's not getting enough exercise, it could be part of the reason why he's getting into things.


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## Bentman2 (Sep 30, 2013)

Doug said:


> Goldens are famous for doing anything for food. Who can resist bread, cookies and donuts?
> The only cure for counter surfing is not leaving food there to begin with. How does he know that you didn't leave it out for him in case he wanted a midnight snack? He doesn't know what he has done. All he knows (and feels bad about) is that you are not pleased with him.
> Our bread is kept in our cupboard behind closed doors. IMHO this is a small price to pay for the companionship of these wonderful beings


Too funny. Bentley loves counter surfing too. I have to keep stuff up or he thinks they are for his enjoyment. Thanks DAD.


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## bassJAM (Feb 4, 2015)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> Each dog is different, just like children are, no two are alike in many ways, but yet they are similar.
> 
> You should "puppy" proof your house, look around to see what things he can get into such as clothes, your children's toys. Either put them away or keep doors closed.
> 
> ...


I've taught him obedience and he's listens well to me. I still need to get my wife to work with him because he doesn't always listen to her. After work I normally toss frisbee with him for 20-30 minutes, and we got the pup as a companion to him and they normally play all evening together, but I get a feeling they don't interact much during the day when we aren't home.

It's nearly impossible to wear him out though! The last time I've seen him actually tired and sleep though the whole night was when we were on vacation during the summer and he spent sunup to sundown swimming after a frisbee my daughter and her friends were throwing into the lake!


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

My boy will be 6 next month, I adopted him when he was 2. He had so much energy that needed to be burned off during the day when I first got him. I took him for a walk in the morning about 30 minutes, I played ball with him twice during the day where he was running for about 20-30 minutes each time. Then I would walk him again in the evening for another 20-30 minutes. 

He needed that much exercise just to be able to settle down in the evenings so we could relax and watch TV. He's never gotten into stuff or torn up anything, but if he doesn't get enough exercise, he's full of it in the evenings. He's settled down a lot in the last year or so. He doesn't require as much exercise now as he did when he was younger. 

I know what you're saying, my guys mind me better than they do my husband. Have your wife work with him and in time, he will probably listen to her better.


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## Katduf (Mar 10, 2013)

If it's on the counter it's fair game. Keep the counters clear. Don't set your dog up to fail, which is what's happening when food is out. If mine get something off the counter it's my fault, not the dogs. If he's getting the clothes, put them behind closed doors (the clothes, not the dog!). They can get into hampers, but they can't open doors. I know it's hard with kids, I have three messy teenagers and a messy husband) but it can be done. Look at your house from your dog's perspective, it's amazing what you'll see.


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## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

I didn't realize how spoiled I am! Neither of my goldens have ever taken anything off the countertops (and they could easily if they wanted!) With Autumn, my younger siblings could leave plates full of food on the living room floor and she wouldn't touch them! That said, she is a horrible beggar, if you have food she'll be giving you the puppy dog eyes!  I left cookies out on the table to cool overnight and April never touched them-and they were right there on the edge and I know she knew they were there cause she watched me the whole time. I've never seen either one even think about jumping up on the counter or table! I don't know what I did in training to achieve this. They are both very well-trained, obedient, and mannerly, so maybe even just good obedience and manners training helps? I know I would purposely drop really tempting treats (like a piece of cheese) on the floor and tell them to leave it, so I don't know if that training was enough to get them to leave things on the counter alone?


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## Christen113 (Dec 3, 2014)

I have worked with all of my dogs on leave it. In the beginning, mine used to grab stuff (I thought I was losing my mind when I couldn't find the ground beef one night and she stole our pork tenderloin another time) off of the counters. I started slow by working on leave it with her. I would have kibble on the floor, cover it with one hand, say leave it and cover it before she could get to it. If I said leave it and she left it, I'd treat her with the other hand. It took a lot of training and supervision in the beginning but now we can leave anything out and she leaves it (ie dinner at her level). She also doesn't pull anything off the counters any more. 

I haven't read this thoroughly but here's the SPCA suggestion on "leave it."

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-dog-leave-it


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## bassJAM (Feb 4, 2015)

Christen113 said:


> I have worked with all of my dogs on leave it. In the beginning, mine used to grab stuff (I thought I was losing my mind when I couldn't find the ground beef one night and she stole our pork tenderloin another time) off of the counters. I started slow by working on leave it with her. I would have kibble on the floor, cover it with one hand, say leave it and cover it before she could get to it. If I said leave it and she left it, I'd treat her with the other hand. It took a lot of training and supervision in the beginning but now we can leave anything out and she leaves it (ie dinner at her level). She also doesn't pull anything off the counters any more.
> 
> I haven't read this thoroughly but here's the SPCA suggestion on "leave it."
> 
> https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-dog-leave-it


Interesting, I might have to try that, thanks for the link. When we eat in the living room on the couch, I can normally put our dinner on the coffee table, point at the food and tell my dog "NO!" and I can then leave the room without him touching it. But my wife and step daughter don't have that command over him. Heck, I've seen him take food right out of my step daughter's hand when she's not paying attention! And it seems at times he'll go out of his way to purposely do something to tick off my wife! In his defense, I was "his", and then I got married in August and he's got to share me with my wife now. My wife helped pick him out as a puppy when we were dating, but since we didn't live together, I don't think he's bonded with her as strong.


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## Wendi (Jul 2, 2012)

I am from the camp of nothing on the table or counter belongs to the dog, even if it isn't put away behind closed doors.

Roxxi counter surfed when she was young. I used a can filled with coins sitting on a piece of paper towel hanging off the counter to stop her. I was not in the room when she corrected herself and it stopped that day, never to happen again. She puts her nose in the air to sniff at the counter but she does not ever take anything from it. 

I think pretending like these dogs are not capable of being taught not everything belongs to them is doing them an injustice to their intelligence. Imagine if service dogs went into a restaurant and tried to grab things of all the tables.


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## Rundlemtn (Jan 16, 2015)

bassJAM said:


> I'm a light sleeper so about half the time he does this I'll hear the bag being rustled and wake up, give him a quick slap on the nose and a firm "no!", and send him downstairs.


Negative reinforcement does not work well with this breed. They are very sensitive and intelligent creatures. They are eager to please and respond much better to praise and reward for eliciting correct behaviours. Fear often results in low performance dogs (e.g. behaving badly when you are not there to punish them). Also using the word "no" all the time is a disservice to their intelligence. Specific commands such as "leave it," will help the dog understand what it is you asking of them. How will they know what "no" means if you are use it for every context (i.e. you don't want them to do something or you don't like what they are doing).


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Wendi said:


> I think pretending like these dogs are not capable of being taught not everything belongs to them is doing them an injustice to their intelligence. Imagine if service dogs went into a restaurant and tried to grab things of all the tables.


A service dog would have never made it to service dog training if it were stealing food off the counters. You can try all you want, but unless you move things out of reach, a dog who countersurfs and succeeds, is being reinforced for the behavior (by getting the food). It has nothing to do with intelligence, or actually it might because a successful countersurfer has learned that there are super delicious things on the counters.

I have 4 dogs. Three would never dream of taking something off the counters. The 4th will snatch anything left within reach. Teaching him not to do it wasn't possible since it's a self rewarding behavior, but teaching my husband to push things back was. So now we don't have a countersurfing problem anymore.


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## SA512 (Aug 2, 2012)

My dog counter-surfed for a while. He was really shameless about it, too, pulling food down while I was right in front of him, watching. With the looks he gave me, if he could speak, he'd have said something like, "Hey, can you believe what I just found? Why don't you look around up there and see what you can get!"

I kept all food in cupboards and kept my counters mostly clear (since it wasn't always food he was looking for up there, but containers, paper towels, etc). People who visited my house in my dog's puppy years complimented me on my minimalist decorating style. I taught my dog the "off" command, which he responds to - he will still try to look up on the counter for food sometimes, but when he's told "off," he does jump down. I also think he's listened a lot better as he's gotten older - I credit simple maturity with the resolution of a lot of his behaviors. 

So there is my only advice: keep counters clear, keep food well out of reach, and try teaching "off?"


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Rainheart said:


> Best solution: Don't keep things on the counter anymore...


I have a counter surfer as well. No food is left on the counters.


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## Carmel (Feb 9, 2015)

LOL when my 185 pound Newf walks through the kitchen, his mug snuffles a six inch line of hope down the whole counter length. No food there anymore but he has to try.... And the cupboards and fridge also have locks on them, and all garbage and recycling stored outside. My other Newf is smaller, but he is a problem solving expert, and can open most doors, climb to the ceiling, move chairs closer to the cupboards if need be....yes, this Golden puppy is going to be easy compared to them! :


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## Loukia (Sep 20, 2014)

So, if I'm reading the advice correctly... there is no hope? I have to keep the counters cleared for life? And I basically can't really teach him to stay off the counters? 

My added challenge is that I have young children. They are always in the process of eating or wanting to eat. I put Comet away in his crate at meal time, but just today my daughter was eating a snack at the kitchen table and Comet was asleep. I turned to get her a water and he jumped up and in one quick move he cleared 3/4 of the food off of her plate (while she screamed "NOOOOO"). Had he been walking around I wouldn't have turned my back on him, but he jumped up out of a sound sleep. I understand that he was rewarded for his behavior and is now that much more inclined to do it again. 

But I'm at a loss. Comet is 8 months old and he's a huge chewer. This means he needs to either be in his crate or under my watchful eye. So, do I need to put him in his crate every time someone eats? every time I cook? every time I'm washing dirty dishes and loading them into the dishwasher? 

I cook all the time and I can keep the counters cleared and cleaned between meals, but between the prep, eating and dishes that go along with breakfast and dinner, and the added impromptu snacks... there is a huge chunk of the day where the counters simply cannot be cleared. So it means I have to keep him crated from when I start cooking to when I get the dirty dishes put into the dish washer? I would prefer to let him go in another room but he'll chew anything in sight if I'm not there to remind him to "leave it".


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## SwimDog (Sep 28, 2014)

There's a lot of hope - my favorite story was someone who had a bell on the dog so they would know if she was jumping up. 6 weeks later with not as much work as you would expect and she was a very different dog.

That said - the bottom line is to keep counters and areas clean. The training is to make life easier and to decrease the risk of emergencies, but it's not worth the safety risk (eating things they shouldn't and/or suffocation) - keep the areas clear.

Training tips: Go from having to use a leave it to teaching the self control. Do training set ups in the food areas so that the dog gets practice in that environment. Control the rewards (food the dog shouldn't have and the food rewards) rather than controlling the dog. Teach a go to mat/place behavior in the kitchen so that the dog learns to be there and present - but out of the way. Teach a default kid+food = dog lies down so that again, we have self control and better plans in place. And to some extent - we need to not be too worried about it. The dogs with the worst jumping are the ones where the family is very stressed and intervenes every time. I try to only go and stop the dog if there is something very dangerous or if it's valuable to me (cake for a family event!). Otherwise - I might go and remove the objects or let the dog investigate and see there's nothing fun there. My dogs very rarely investigate (maybe once every few months?) and I've done little/no training with most of them on these skills.


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## SunnynSey (Jan 17, 2015)

My gang are a bunch of counter-surfers too, I know its genetic because every time I visit their breeder I see their moms and dads doing it too  Best solution is just to keep the food out of reach.


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## SA512 (Aug 2, 2012)

I think there is hope, Loukia. My dog does respond to the command "Off" by jumping down if I see him trying to check out the counters. It took some time to get there, but he responds to this pretty reliably.


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## bassJAM (Feb 4, 2015)

Wendi said:


> I am from the camp of nothing on the table or counter belongs to the dog, even if it isn't put away behind closed doors.
> 
> Roxxi counter surfed when she was young. I used a can filled with coins sitting on a piece of paper towel hanging off the counter to stop her. I was not in the room when she corrected herself and it stopped that day, never to happen again. She puts her nose in the air to sniff at the counter but she does not ever take anything from it.
> 
> I think pretending like these dogs are not capable of being taught not everything belongs to them is doing them an injustice to their intelligence. Imagine if service dogs went into a restaurant and tried to grab things of all the tables.


I tend to agree, this is something that's trainable. I put all the food away last week, and of course there haven't been any incidents of him getting into bread bags. Instead, he's now eating hand towels that are hanging on the stove handle during the night and got a clean plastic ladle that was drying. I might try the coin thing, him being scared of rattling cans is worth the risk, as it'll be impossible to keep everything off the counters at all times forever!!


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## Yaichi's Mom (Jul 21, 2012)

Just like children, dogs will get into all kinds of things unless they are taught not to. We also child proof our homes...it is also wise to puppy proof one's home until you are confident that you have trained your pup well enough not to take or chew what they have been trained not to.

IMHO it sounds like your dog needs to burn off more energy, both physically and mentally, get more exercise, training and interaction with you and that your family needs to spend some time dog proofing your home. 

Wishing you the best of success with your pup.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

Loukia said:


> I cook all the time and I can keep the counters cleared and cleaned between meals, but between the prep, eating and dishes that go along with breakfast and dinner, and the added impromptu snacks... there is a huge chunk of the day where the counters simply cannot be cleared.


Oh my goodness, Loukia, YES. This is my day. All the food . . .all the drinks . . .all the dishes!!! My sister has 7 (yes, 7) kids, so she bought them all their own individual glasses to be used throughout the day. You know how a kid will drink water, and then 20 minutes want a new glass for more? Yeah . . .she said they use their glass, then they use HERS. Experiment failed.

My little pup tried to jump on the counter TODAY. And therefore, today we started working on "off." I think we will have a long road!


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## bassJAM (Feb 4, 2015)

I put a cat door on our bedroom yesterday so I can lock the dog in our room with us at night, which will keep him out of trouble until I have time to work with him on "leave it". 

Without the cat door, the cats scratch to get let in, and then scratch to get let out, repeating the process all night!


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## Loukia (Sep 20, 2014)

Well, my counter surfing saga continues. I've tried it ALL ("off", scat mat, dog mouse traps, can of pennies, spray bottle, bitter apple on the food, etc)! Comet knows what off mean... he'll look and leisurely get down or frantically grab what ever he can and then get off. For now, I've given up on the whole counter issue because it really stresses me out and I don't want to do that to myself or Comet.

As another poster mentioned above, "Place" is my next option. And for now, I think it may be my only option until Comet gets more self control.

I'm in the process of teaching Comet the "place" command. We learned this last week in his second level of obedience class. It's a slow go, but like other commands he didn't love (down and heel, in particular), I know we'll get there. I'm really hopeful that I'll EVENTUALLY be able to use this command when I need to prep, serve and clean up dinner. Right now I have to lock him in his crate but I feel badly because it's often around the time when my kids are getting home from school and I'm prepping dinner. Comet REALLY wants to hang out with them, but I really need to serve snacks, help with homework and cook dinner (and he REALLY needs to try to grab everything and anything on the table and counter). Unfortunately, Comet is super mouthy, so I can't lock him out of the kitchen because he requires a watchful eye. If he's out of sight for a minute or two he'll find something wooden to chew (like the banister, the front hall bench, etc.)... so for now, his only safe place is his crate. We just have to be strong when he looks longingly at us with his sad eyes.  I have to remind myself that I'm home with him and 90% of his days are spent out and about with me.


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## Katduf (Mar 10, 2013)

Loukia said:


> Well, my counter surfing saga continues. I've tried it ALL ("off", scat mat, dog mouse traps, can of pennies, spray bottle, bitter apple on the food, etc)! Comet knows what off mean... he'll look and leisurely get down or frantically grab what ever he can and then get off. For now, I've given up on the whole counter issue because it really stresses me out and I don't want to do that to myself or Comet.
> 
> As another poster mentioned above, "Place" is my next option. And for now, I think it may be my only option until Comet gets more self control.
> 
> I'm in the process of teaching Comet the "place" command. We learned this last week in his second level of obedience class. It's a slow go, but like other commands he didn't love (down and heel, in particular), I know we'll get there. I'm really hopeful that I'll EVENTUALLY be able to use this command when I need to prep, serve and clean up dinner. Right now I have to lock him in his crate but I feel badly because it's often around the time when my kids are getting home from school and I'm prepping dinner. Comet REALLY wants to hang out with them, but I really need to serve snacks, help with homework and cook dinner (and he REALLY needs to try to grab everything and anything on the table and counter). Unfortunately, Comet is super mouthy, so I can't lock him out of the kitchen because he requires a watchful eye. If he's out of sight for a minute or two he'll find something wooden to chew (like the banister, the front hall bench, etc.)... so for now, his only safe place is his crate. We just have to be strong when he looks longingly at us with his sad eyes.  I have to remind myself that I'm home with him and 90% of his days are spent out and about with me.



Have you tried giving him a frozen Kong while you are in the kitchen? This will keep him occupied and may be more interesting to him. It's worth a try if you don't want to have to crate him at these times.


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## Loukia (Sep 20, 2014)

Katduf said:


> Have you tried giving him a frozen Kong while you are in the kitchen? This will keep him occupied and may be more interesting to him. It's worth a try if you don't want to have to crate him at these times.


I actually haven't tried it at meal time. It's a wonderful idea! I just haven't because Comet only sees my kids before and after school, so we've worked him into our bedtime routine by giving him a frozen kong at book time. He gets to sit on my daughter's bed with his kong, while I read the kids stories at night. It keeps him with us, lets him spend time with the kids and also keeps him out of trouble so that I can focus on reading stories and easing into bedtime.

One thing I do use when cooking, which gives me about 25 minutes, is the Bob-a-lot. I forgot to mention that. Maybe I need to get another food toy and put half of his dinner in something else, to extend his dinner time (so I can stretch his preoccupied time longer).


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I was just reading Connie Cleveland's book, and she recommends contact paper sticky side up for counter surfing... I have one who loves to surf and a junior one in training...


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## Loukia (Sep 20, 2014)

Sally's Mom said:


> I was just reading Connie Cleveland's book, and she recommends contact paper sticky side up for counter surfing.


This is something I haven't tried!

In the mean time, we are working on his "place" command, but it's a slow go and I don't see myself being able to use it at mealtime any time soon.


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