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Counter Surfing [Print This Article]
Published in the December 2007 Colorado Greyhound Adoption Newsletter. Although this article was written for greyhounds, it applies equally to all breeds of dogs.
Question:
My dog steals items off the kitchen counter. How do I get him to stop, especially when I am not there?
The Trainer Answers:
Ah, the infamous counter surfer! As with many training issues, we first need to start by using some management to control the situation when we are not able to directly work on the issue. This means we need to make sure the dog does not have opportunities to practice the undesirable behavior and be rewarded for it. This might mean not allowing the dog in the kitchen by blocking it off with baby gates, keeping the dog crated, or other ways to prevent the dog from getting to the counter when we are not there.
One way to teach our dogs not to jump on the counter is to make sure the dog is never rewarded for the behavior. Rather than preventing access to the counter at all, the other option is to completely clear off your counter tops for now. If the dog does get a chance to put his feet, nose or other body parts on the counter top, he should find absolutely nothing there. Even if there is no food on the counter for him to eat, he might still enjoy pulling items off the counter to play with or chew. We need to ensure he never finds any value in accessing the counter tops. This alone will eventually extinguish the behavior. Dogs will do what works to get what they want, so they will discontinue any behaviors that are not rewarding in some way. If your dog does continue the behavior, then he is being rewarded in some fashion, whether you think so or not!
In many cases, the dog is counter surfing out of boredom – he’s looking for something fun to do. We can help him to stay away from the counters by ensuring he has plenty of other appropriate activities to do – on the floor. Find ways to make the floor more interesting by placing toys, his meals, or interactive toys with his meals on the floor in the kitchen. If items on the floor keep his interest, he will soon lose interest in the counter tops - which at this point should still have nothing of value on them!
Now it’s time for the training. When you are ready to work with your dog, go to the kitchen armed with some tasty treats, fun toys or other items that you know will interest your dog. Any time he shows any interest in the counters, redirect his focus to something else. Ask him to perform some known behaviors, offer to play with him, or find other ways to engage his interest in something away from the counters. Do not give him the chance to jump on the counter. Once he is doing well with this exercise, you can start to make it more difficult by placing tempting items on the counter – just make sure you can redirect him before he gets to it. Make sure he is not allowed to reward himself by jumping on the counter and taking the items you’ve placed there. Initially, you might want to have him on leash to prevent him from getting to the counter before you. In this case, do not jerk on the leash, just make sure the leash stops him before he reaches the counter.
If you wish, you can add a cue to the behavior of redirecting away from the counters – “leave it” is one example. When you say “leave it” you need to immediately redirect your dog’s attention. Your dog will begin to understand that he should turn his focus away from whatever he was focused on and turn attention toward you instead. This can be used for other areas in addition to the counter – trash, litter boxes, etc. Do not wait for him to have his nose or feet on the counter before you say “leave it” – do so as soon as he shows any interest in the counters.
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