[Nomes]

Casey is 3.5 months old and is having some problems with jumping up on counters and tables etc...not like all the way up, but front feet up and then stealing whatever he can reach! :
So we taught him the command Off which we also used for when he jumped up on people. ("off" and a knee in the chest)
He understands the command very well and will drop down when we say it but is there any way to keep him off the counters consistently?

btw, he is confined to our very large kitchen so it's not like a furniture issue...

Thanks!

 

[inge]

First of all, personally I don't like teaching 'off' combined with a knee in the chest...The command should suffice, and your dog is still really young, so you might actually hurt him. Having said that, your best bet is keeping the counters clean. As long as there is anything to get, he will feel rewarded for the action, and try again and again.

 

[bioteach]

We were told to take lots and lots of empty soda cans, put a few pennies in them, link them together with string and make a pile on the counter with the string hanging down in a tempting way. The idea was to yell "no" just as Buckskin (the king of all counter surfers) pulled down the cans.

It was very elaborate, but we tried it. The cans hit the tile floor with a huge clatter. Buckskin retrieved every one and was not the least bit deterred from surfing.

He knew "no" but chose to disobey it when it came to counters. He ate sunglasses, mail, and an occasional sandwich. The only thing that slowed him down was sore hips by the time he was about 12 years old.

We worked with a trainer who eventually gave us our money back and sent his friend who trained military dogs. That trainer gave us our money back too. They both said that Buckskin was most independent thinker that they had ever encountered in a Golden.

We loved him and miss him terribly.

 

[solinvictus]

The best thing you can do is to prevent the pup from getting up. Keep all things out of reach. Every time the pup gets something he is rewarded. They are so smart and don't forget easily so instead of stopping the counter surfing by teaching the off and no you are just teaching the dog to become sneaky and just not do it in front of you.
Hopefully since the dog is young and the habit isn't ingrained if there is total prevention and management for a number of months it may not become a habit.

Good luck.

 

[Zazoo]

I have this problem with my 7 & 6 month old Goldens.. It's just a constant reminder.. "Down" is my command.. If I catch them about to do it.. I just say "Ah Ah Ah!!" in a deeper tone and they know not to go through with their action.. I have to say that my babies are doing so much better since they have full run of the main level of my house, I use to have them confined to my kitchen also, but that means that I'd always have to be in there to make sure they stayed down from the counter, stove or the freezer.. I'm always down in the dining area every day and my babies are with me..

Now I don't know if this works for everyone, but it's works magic for my babies.. To have my guys relax and not run like crazy all over all the time, I play my Zen Relaxation by Dan Gibson and they calm right down.. It's awesome.. I love it..

 

[ozzy'smom]

Ozzy is relentless. He won't do it when we're in the room and he'll get down when we say "off"...and he'll do the submissive "I know I was bad" thing when we catch him, but the minute we're not in the room he does it anyway. We TRY to keep anything he might want off the counters but sometimes life gets in the way and he gets stuff. It's especially hard when I'm making dinner.

Once my husband threw something in the room to startle him when he was up and he came back with it in his mouth looking so proud of his retrieving skills.

 

[Rainheart]

If you find something that works other than keeping your counters clean, let us know because I sure would love to hear your secrets!

Beamer is an awful counter surfer! At my apartment, I can easily keep him out of the kitchen with just a gate. He is only allowed in the kitchen with me or while being supervised. When I am back home, it is not so easy to just gate off the kitchen, thus he has more incidents here. We are still working on trying to break it.... I emailed my breeder a while back and she said that his grand-dam still does it at 11 years of age, lol!

 

[Deber]

We have that here with our girl. Tried the commands, but if you aren't there she would counter surf all day. I kicked myself and started making sure the counter was clear and clean. Now it has become a habit, but I know Kye still "looks" because I come home to dirty paw prints on the counter edges each day. With this said, last week DH made supper and left a pkg of corn bread on the counter. I walked in to see a trail of cornbred to the doggie door where Kye was happy standing their holding it. Thankfully she had not tried to eat the package, but torn it enough to let the meal out.

 

[MyAnniegirl]

I haven't tried needed to try it yet, but I have heard that double stick tape on the edges of the counters work wonders. Something about the stickiness I guess.

 

[doggiedad]

keep all food and things off the counter. take some time
to teach your dog not to counter surf. i use to leave food
near the front of the counters, on the coffee table and floor
so i could teach my dog not to counter surf or take food that's
accessible. when my dog went for the bait i pulled him away from it and said "no". i kept the counters clear and food out of reach untill
i taught him not to counter surf or take food off the table.
with training you can teach him not to take food or counter
surf when you're not home and that's with being set up. train
everyday as much as possible during the course of a day. you
have your dog confined in the kitchen and he counter surfs, umm.
why not crate your dog untill you teach him not to counter surf???

when i was teaching my dog not to jump on people
or other dogs when greeting i always shorten the leash.
with my dog on my left side, holding the leash with
my right hand (the leash going across my body to the left)
i slid my left hand down the leash to prevent my dog
from jumping. not giving him a chance to jump made it easy
to teach him not to jump. i never had to knee him in the chest,
yank him down, yell at him or use any of that type of correction.

 

[Sally's Mom]

My Cookie Monster died being the Queen of counter surfing. I never could fix it, except by keeping things out of reach..she could totally lick the chicken fat out of Pyrex baking dish without breaking it. When she was four months old, she ate an entire package of vanilla sandwich cookies. Ironically, our dry goods(bread, chips,etc) are stored on the counter within everyone 's reach. No dog ever goes after that stuff... Cookie's grand daughter, Emily, licked every sandwich I made myself her first year of life. She isn't a stealer, just a licker. And when I babysat Em's daughter, Kady, she surfed half of my dinner one night. So there you have it. It is so hard because it is so self rewarding.

 

[doggiedad]

training , training, training. when you do it they don't
counter surf.

My Cookie Monster died being the Queen of counter surfing. I never could fix it, except by keeping things out of reach..she could totally lick the chicken fat out of Pyrex baking dish without breaking it. When she was four months old, she ate an entire package of vanilla sandwich cookies. Ironically, our dry goods(bread, chips,etc) are stored on the counter within everyone 's reach. No dog ever goes after that stuff... Cookie's grand daughter, Emily, licked every sandwich I made myself her first year of life. She isn't a stealer, just a licker. And when I babysat Em's daughter, Kady, she surfed half of my dinner one night. So there you have it.

>>>>>> It is so hard because it is so self rewarding.<<<<<

 

[Sally's Mom]

Well Cookie had five obedience titles plus a CGC... So it's not like I didn't spend a lot of time with her... And I just learned how to manage it. Just like I learned how to manage my rescue beagle so she wouldn't get into the trash.