Copyright 2002

Question: My dog steals things from off the counter. How can I stop this behavior?

Dogs "counter surf" or steal food off counters because it gives them pleasure. Of course, hunger is one reason, but most dogs are not so hungry that they need to steal their food. Usually, if we see them in the process of stealing food, or putting their paws on the edge of the counter, we do get excited, possibly yell, and chase them if we think we can retrieve the item they have stolen. What a way to get us to interact with them!!

Management is the easiest way to stop this behavior. Keep everything up or under lock and key. Then, though your dog may still check from time to time, he won’t receive any reinforcement for putting his paws on the counter and will eventually quit looking.

But, if you are like me, there are days you are in a hurry, forget, or become distracted and leave something tempting out. And, then your dog WINS. He is RANDOMLY reinforced for surfing the counter and finding a prize. So, training is another solution to the problem along with diligence and management.

Now, there are several ways to work through this problem behavior. Let’s start with the Booby Trap method, which means the dog actually is the one that causes the correction, not you. Dogs learn more quickly if they are the ones who solve the problem.

Take several (three or more) empty soda pop cans, put some pennies (12+) or small pebbles in the can. Tape the hole. These become noise makers that most dogs want to avoid. Next, tape some thread or string to the bottom of each of the cans about 6 to 9 inches long. Select some very delicious, tempting, and "smelly" pieces of food (Garlic Liver Brownies) and put them in plastic container with a lid (small Glad containers work well) and punch some holes in the lid of the container. Now, tape the string/tread to the bottom of the container with the special treat inside. (The container is to keep your dog from grabbing the food and swallowing it even though he is frightened by the noise.)

Without making a "show" of what you are doing, but with the dog in the room, able to smell this delicious treat, give him a tiny morsel, just so he might "think" real hard about stealing from the counter. Set up your "Booby Trap." Don’t make it too easy now – place it in the area of the counter you might put the food if you were distracted by the door bell and had to leave the room. Pretend! Leave the room. And wait and listen. When you hear the noise, hear your dog scramble to get away, come running in and commiserate with him on the terrible thing that happened. Even make more noise with the cans. And then set it up again! The odds are he won’t go back to it today. But, he will try again tomorrow. This isn’t learned the first time, but having the dog create his own correction, helps eliminate the behavior quickly.

Again, there are several ways to work through this "counter surfing," but diligence and management are always of primary importance.

There are many ways to teach various behaviors. No one method works for all dogs. For some, the assistance of a professional trainer is helpful in enhancing the relationship between you and your pet. For training help consult HI IQ K9 Training.

Garlic Liver Brownies

• 1-1/2 C Wheat Germ
• 1 LB Liver
• 1-1/2 C Corn Meal
• 3 to 4 eggs
• 2 to 3 cloves Minced Garlic

Add in order to the food processor and puree for 4 minutes. Put in a well greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cut in bite size squares.