Counter surfing

[Debbie Libengood]

We have an 8 month old black lab/great phyraneese rescue, Kala. She is constantly up on any surface looking for something to grab. My back was turned and she had her paws up on the stove after the burner was off but still hot. She does this all over the house not just the kitchen. Also, when I feed her and her sister Bella she jumps on my back while making their food bowl. I have a spray bottle but can't easily do that when both hands are busy. Thanks for any advice. Debbie

[Adrienne]

Hi Debbie Libengood,

Welcome to the forums! Kala surely sounds like she's having a feast! Here's the thing, when dogs find food or a tasty morsel unattended, they automatically think it is fair game just waiting for somebody to appreciate. So as opportunistic beings, dogs will eat whatever comes their way, and that includes scavenging the trash bin in the  kitchen or surfing the counter top. With a tall dog like yours, it must certainly be very tempting to easily smell and find little treasures at her nose level. 

With cases of countersurfing, we often need to take a multi-faceted approach, tackling it from different angles. This often entails a mix of management and training.  Management is mostly applied when we cannot train (or when we cannot supervise our dogs), and then we can strategically organize set-ups for those times when we can train. 

Management simply means taking steps to prevent the problem behavior from occurring. This is often underestimated, but there are many advantages in using management. 1) it prevents rehearsal of the problematic behavior. Every time a dog grabs something from a counter top or dresser, the behavior is reinforced, causing it to put to put roots and establish. Think of it as being addictive as playing the slots at Vegas. If we often play the slots and win a prize, we are more likely to want to play again and again. 2) it keeps our dogs safe. You may never know what your dog may get into. Baker's chocolate left unattended on the table and consumed in modest quantities can lead to an emergency veterinary trip and a dog who swallows socks may end up on the surgical table. 

Management therefore prevents rehearsal of the problem behavior and helps keep our dogs safe. Management may therefore entail the following:

-Keeping the counters always immaculate and clear of food so that your dog's almighty nose won't feel tempted.

-Keeping any table tops and dressers free of  knick- knacks and things that she may feel tempted to grab.

-Erecting a baby gate. It is not easy to keep tables and counters always free of food (especially in homes with children). By erecting a baby gate, Rover doesn't get to visit the kitchen with all its wafting smells and temptations. Out of sight, out of mind!

-Keeping your dog in a room where there is nothing tempting to grab, leaving only legit things she can have around (like her toys).

Training aims to teach the dog better impulse control and resisting the temptation of stealing things. Training in this case requires firstly working with very mild temptations and gradually raising criteria up to reaching the most tempting things. Here are some tips:

-Train the leave it and drop it commands. This can prove to be even life-saving if your dog is about to grab or has already grabbed a potentially toxic food or something she may chew on and risk an intestinal blockage.  Make sure to practice this even when you are at a distance from tempting items and always reinforce by giving your dog something much higher in value (from your dog's perspective, not yours!) than the item left/dropped.

Here is how to train leave it and drop it:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/

-Train an alternate behavior. We often tell dogs what not to do and invest very little time in telling them what to do. Since, most likely, your dog counter surfs when you are busy preparing your meals, if would be helpful to teach your dog to lie on a mat and turn that into her favorite surface to receive goodies. This way, your dog/dogs will eagerly go there when you're cooking and you have established a desirable routine. Praise and reward your dog with treats (or safe people foods) given at various intervals so that your dog holds her stay there. 

Here is how to train a dog to lie on a mat: 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/

I would also aim to provide outlets to your dog's natural "foraging" behavior. You know, that big desire for dogs to scavenge/look for food and stuff? You can provide outlets for this tendency with several brain gams such as the treasure hunt game, muffin game, bottle game and with food dispensing toys such as Kongs, Kong Wobblers, Buster Cubes, Snuffle mats and Licki-mats which you can fill with your dog's kibble/canned food to keep that brain busy. 

With no more food left around the counter when you are not around, a fluent response to the "leave it" and "drop it cues,"  food being fed contingent upon your dog lying on the mat, and outlets for natural scavenging behaviors, with time, you should see a reduction in your dog's counter surfing behaviors. 

Here are some extra reads about this topic:

For the jumping when you are preparing her meals, some exercises for better impulse control/frustration tolerance may work. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/

She jumps on you as you prepare her food? That makes you move away. She sits? That makes you walk towards her and even put the bowl down. She tries to jump on you again? You retreat. Only her calm behaviors make you advance and feed her. Impatient behavior makes you slow down and even move away. If you keep at it and establish a new routine of food being served only contingent upon her sitting calmly, she'll soon get the message!

Hope this helps,

Happy training!

Best,

Adrienne 

[Debbie Libengood]

Thanks so much. She is definitely a work in progress.. No self control at all...but we continue to work on it

[Adrienne]

You are very welcome! With rescue dogs it tends to get better with time once they feel more at home and follow our guidance.