Put yourself in the dog’s paws and place your favorite food on the counter when you are hungry. Now walk past and see if you can resist taking a bite.
The most realistic solution to counter surfing is to use a combination of management and training techniques to make it easier for your dog to avoid temptation.
Counter surfing is a common issue and one that is often successfully reinforced, with both large and small dogs finding sometimes ingenious ways to get food. Dogs are foragers and finding food is a self-reinforcing behavior because not only does eating the food feel really good, the very act of seeking it out strengthens the dog's desire to find their next tasty meal.
Why dogs counter surf
Can you blame your dog for trying to get food whenever he can? Put yourself in his paws and try walking past your favorite food on the counter when you're hungry and see if you can resist taking a bite. It's hard enough controlling ourselves around food, but it's almost impossible for dogs, so in order to set them up for success while ensuring their safety, it is much more realistic to use a mixture of management and training techniques.
While you are teaching don't forget this important fact! Dogs are excellent hunters and foragers. If your dog is an expert counter surfer, maybe he needs more opportunities to use his foraging and finding skills in environments and situations that are more appropriate. It's easy to blame a dog for behaving in a way we don't like, but really, if we pay more attention to WHY dogs do things, we can provide them with opportunities to fulfill their needs in ways that are safe and more appropriate for our human world.
Preventing counter surfing
There are many effective ways to prevent counter surfing without completely clearing off your kitchen counters, although this is a good way to remove the temptation at least in the short term.
- Block access to places where food is left out by using baby gates or putting your dog in another room when you are cooking and/or you have company. This means there is no opportunity for your dog to fail.
- If you are working in the kitchen and unable to use a baby gate, place a mat or dog bed on the floor and teach your dog to settle there or behind an imaginary line he cannot cross while you cook.
- Teach a reliable settle behavior by taking the Settle course.
- Give your dog something to do to help him settle. An enriching and interactive toy or chew will give your dog something to do and focus on rather than trying to get the food you're making from the counter or table.
- Do not leave your dog in the kitchen unsupervised. Each time he is successful is another opportunity for reinforcement and makes counter surfing harder to stop. Ensuring all the food your dog gets comes from you or an enriching toy on the ground will keep his paws off the counters.
Counter surfing dangers
There are obvious dangers when dogs find and eat food they shouldn't - ingesting plastic wrapping or food that could be harmful, including grapes, raisins, chicken bones and chocolate.
While it is tempting to take food out of your dog's mouth if you catch him in the act of taking it, possession is nine tenths of the law and unless the food will harm your dog, it is best to let him eat it. Once in a while, however, your dog will grab something like a chicken bone and you have to intervene. So how do you get your dog to give up something of high value without a fight or risk of getting bitten?
The take it and drop it game
Start teaching your dog to give things up as soon as he comes into your home. If you have a puppy it is important to teach that pup from an early age to give up an object whether it is a toy or food.
Instead of being confrontational with your dog, turn the process of giving up something into a game of trade by teaching him the ‘take it’ and ‘drop it’ game. The more confident he is with this skill, the better he will feel about giving up any object.
- Start with an object of low value and present it to your dog. When he opens his mouth to take the object, say ‘take it’.
- Allow him to play with the object for a little and then present him with a duplicate one that you have behind your back.
- As your dog drops the object he has in his mouth say ‘drop it’ and reward him with the duplicate one that you have in your hand, saying ‘take it.’
- Keep repeating this exercise and when your dog is really good at taking it and dropping it you can gradually build up to the really good stuff.
If you are in a crisis situation and your dog will not give up the chicken bone in his mouth, try playing the ‘go find it' game. Without going towards your dog as he is eating, start dropping small high value treats on the ground where he can see you and casually tell him to ‘go find it’. Nine times out of ten your dog will drop the food he has in his mouth to play the game. You can help cement this skill by teaching the 'go find it' game in normal circumstances when he hasn't taken something, so that the game is not just associated with when he has. The more confident he is with the game, the better he will feel about playing it, even when he has taken something you don't want him to have.