Instructions
Identify and address the cause of the snatching behavior. Dogs might snatch because they are hungry, seeking attention from you, suffering from separation anxiety or bored and needing exercise. Provide adequate food, attention and exercise to help curb the dog's snatching behavior. Dogs may snatch because they have not been taught that the behavior is inappropriate.
Implement strategies to make your dog not snatch. One strategy is to put tempting items out of the dog's reach. For example, put your garbage can in a closed cupboard and your laundry hamper in a closed closet. Another strategy is to feed the dog from its bowl only so that it does not associate food with other sources.
Train the dog not to snatch. A common training tool for this behavior is the "leave it" command. Place a bland treat in one hand and your dog's favorite treat in the other hand. Hold the hand with the bland treat out to the dog so your dog gets a scent of the treat. Say "leave it" and close your hand over the treat. When the dog loses interest in the treat, reward it by saying "yes" and giving it the favorite treat from the other hand. Repeat the drill regularly and advance the training through leaving treats on the floor and then throughout the house. Always reward the dog for leaving the one treat by giving it the other. Never allow the dog to get the "leave it" treat.
Supervise your dog closely to provide immediate feedback on snatching behavior. To make your dog not snatch, you need to catch it in the act so you have a training opportunity. When your dog goes up on the counter to snatch some food, command it to "leave it" and reward the dog with its favorite treat.
How to Make Your Dog Not Snatch
Snatching dogs are opportunistic scavengers; they see something they want and they grab it. Snatching must be discouraged because of the danger to the dog. Dogs might grab something poisonous, sharp or otherwise dangerous. The difficulty with making a dog not snatch is that snatching provides an immediate reward -- the dog gets what it wants. Teaching a dog not to snatch involves identifying the cause of the behavior and then implementing the appropriate strategies.