How to Stop Counter Surfing

I was just about the close up for the rest of the weekend. It was 4:00PM and I was just about to walk out the door when the phone rang. I hesitated picking up the phone because I had stuff to do. I picked it up and immediately knew that I was going to be there a while.

"Is this the dog trainer?" "Yes, how can I help you?"

"I can't take this dog much longer!" "Do you hear me?" "I CAN'T TAKE THIS DOG MUCH LONGER!"

I finally got her to calm down enough to explain to me what happened. The lady told me that she was having a dinner party that night and she was getting ready to put the ham in the oven when she got a phone call. She put the ham on the counter and a few minutes later she heard a huge crash.

Her dog had jumped up and grabbed the ham off the counter. I advised her to run down to the store buy a new ham and to come see me on Monday. I added that I have a sure-fire method that will stop this behavior forever.

On Monday she came in with Chester, her big 90lbs. lab. Typical lab, happy, energetic, ready for anything. I explained how we were going to fix this problem. I told her all we need was a bagel, string, duct tape, a big container and about a dozen empty soda cans.

She looked at me in a strange way as I put everything on the counter in front of her. As I proceeded I could see the light bulb go on in her head. You see, I took the string and tied it to the bagel. I then took the string and duct taped it to the side of the container. I then filled the container with the empty soda cans.

"I get it" she said. "You're going to put the bagel at the edge of the counter and encourage him to take it."

"Right," I said. I went on to explain that dogs steal because it is safe and they get rewarded - food. If we make it a little scary or dangerous the dog won't do it. I added that dogs don't understand right from wrong, what they do understand is safe and dangerous.

By tying the bagel to the container with the cans it changes everything. Counter surfing is no longer any safe, fun or rewarding.

We put the bagel at the edge of the counter and left the room. Within a few seconds we heard a huge crash. We came into the room and her lab was on the other end far away from the bagel. She was delighted and said, "Maybe this will work."

I told her to set it up a few times over the next couple of days. A few weeks went by when I got another phone call just as I was about to leave my office. When I heard her voice I was getting ready to sit down when she said, "Thank you so much. Chester hasn't touched anything since you showed me what to do." "Excellent" I said. I was just about to hang up and leave when she said "Do you know what we can do about chewing?"