How to Stop Counter-Surfing Once and For All

Counter-surfing is a habit. This is especially true if it's worked for them in the past. Meaning your dog has scored some food. So they do what any right-minded dog will do; they keep jumping up on the counters looking, seeking and hoping for their next big score. 

You've tried everything to stop counter surfing:

• Saying OFF or GET DOWN  loudly. 
• Pulling them off the counter
• Telling them to sit.

But to no avail; your dog keeps jonesing for their next big hit. 

There are three different stages to changing your dog's behaviour. 

• Implement Management Strategies
• Teach a New Behaviour
• Develop the New Pattern

Management

Management uses the environment or tools to stop your dog from rehearsing old behaviours. 

In this case, you don't want your dog to practice putting their feet up on the counters.

For the kitchen counter, your management strategies may look like one or more of the following:

• Closing the doors to the kitchen to prevent access.
• Keeping all food off the counter when not in use.
• Tether your dog away from the counters.
• Install baby gates to block their way. 
• Using crates to contain your dog. 

Your problem with counter-surfing will go away even if you stop here. That will work best if you find these management strategies easy to do. 

But what if you find the management strategies annoying? 

That's when you begin the next stage while still implementing management. 

Behaviour

During this stage, we begin to teach the NEW behaviour. This is the alternative behaviour to 'putting paws on the counter.' It could be anything, but it works best if it meets not only your needs but the dog's needs as well.  

I generally use two different tactics to fulfill these requirements. There are other options, but let's use these for now. 

• Increase Enrichment 
• Teach Stationing. 

Enrichment

Experiment with various games to give your dog opportunities for sniffing, foraging, tracking and finding food. These activities will be offered to your dog throughout the day to fulfill their needs of seeking behaviours that they used to get by counter surfing.

Stationing

Teach your dog to go and stay on a station, such as a dog bed or cot. You want your dog to understand stationing conceptually so they will want to stay even with distance, duration and various distractions. You will teach these variables away from the kitchen. Here is a video where Gigs is learning about distractions on the station. 

Pattern

We're almost there! This is where we insert the new behaviour in the old sequence. The ABCs of Behaviour help us understand how to create a new pattern of behaviour. 

Let's look at one ABC example for counter-surfing. 

Old Pattern 

A - You are prepping dinner while Charlie (dog) stands beside the counter. 

B - Charlie jumps on the counter.

C - Eats food. 

New Pattern 

A - I'm prepping dinner while Charlie (dog) stands beside the counter.

B - Charlie jumps and stays on his station. 

C - Eats food (rewarded). 

The new pattern is practiced in the kitchen using small increments of distance, duration and distractions until it becomes a habit. Here is the Busy Kitchen Game, which explains this process further. 

Enrichment activities are continued to meet your dog's need for seeking and searching. 

Teaching your dog to station is a foundational skill in my programs if you'd like to learn more about stationing and how to teach it.