counter surfing issues...

**cali** · 10-06-2004, 01:40 PM

ok we have been attaempting to tach misty not to countersurf since she was a puppy, she is now nearly 2 years old, and absolutly zero progress have been made. she does not care if she is praised and rewarded for staying off the counters, she does not care what you do when she goes on the counters(I dont even remeber everything we have tried) she does not care if you positivly distract her to prevent her from doing it in the first place. she is just so bent on counter surfing that we just cant stop her. I have tried everything from punnishment to postitive only, to a mix of both, to double sided tage along the edges, so her paws would stick when she tried to counter surf. and no we cannot just block her access to the kitchen, we have a very very open floor plan that leads in a complete circle, blocking her access to the kitchen would also block her access to the bathroom, the back yard, and the basement., which would only leave the dining room, the living room, and the tiny platform between my moms room and my brothers room. plus we hae no way of blcoking the access to the kitchen, because there are 2 side, both large, and both on an angle. so any ideas on how we can stop her insistant counter surfing?

**wolfsoul** · 10-06-2004, 03:27 PM

Have you tried using the mats with the little spikes on one side?

**Glacier** · 10-06-2004, 03:30 PM

Ok, it sounds mean, but have you tried a scat mat? It's a grey mat that gives off an static electric shock when touched. I have one that I originally got to keep a certain feline member of my family off the kitchen cupboards (where he likes to pee!!!!

). It's very effective for the cat and has the added bonus of keeping the dogs from counter surfing too. The shock doesn't hurt--I've accidently been shocked a couple times. It just startles them more than anything.

I got mine from Pet Supply House--a Canadian site in Canadian dollars.

**cali** · 10-12-2004, 01:32 PM

I dont know, do you think that would work with a dog like misty? she is so focased on what she is doing, that she could not care less what happens to her... that is why electric fences are often usless for a border collie, because they are so focased that they dont even feel the shock, would a static shock really be much differnt? lol

**Glacier** · 10-12-2004, 03:24 PM

Electric fences don't work for my huskies either, but the scat mat does. I think because it's out of place--they don't expect anything to happen from counter surfing.

**cali** · 10-14-2004, 01:41 PM

lol I am going to try another diea I was given first, before spending money on something that may or may not work lol, another peorson suggesting teaching misty to lay down on a mat on command, and to teach her to bring the mat herself, since teaching a border collie to do something is a lot easier then teaching one NOT to do something lol. I just starting workin with misty on this, and she already brings the mat, and lays down on the mat on command, and stays on the mat while I make lovly kitchen noises and stuff lol she really enjoys it, I think its a chanllage for her, that she is rewarded for, and she loves challages

**Becki** · 10-23-2004, 11:49 PM

Can you just keep the counters clear? We keep ours in such a way it isn't rewarding for them to surf. Axel is first class at it, and it was a brand new skill for him to learn. We opted to keep our counters cleared of all enticing items and he doesn't surf an empty counter.

**cali** · 10-24-2004, 07:18 PM

lol, we keep the counters clear as much as we can, but the mat thing is working really well, and has curbed her counter surfing enormously lol not our problem is Ripley, who got a reward when he went on the counter white we were away, took the bag of bagels out of the bread box(the lid is just a flip down, so a dog could open it easy) and preceded to eat 3 bagels, that was reward enugh for him, because the other day he got on the counter while we were home lol my mom snuck up on him while he was on the counter, and probibly scared him half to death, because he was to busy to notice my mom behind him lol have not had a problem with that since, and hopefully we wont again lol

**Miranda_Rae** · 10-25-2004, 11:38 AM

I don't know if this will help or not. Heidi is not allowed in the kitchen so she doesn't have a chance to counter-surf, but she is allowed in the family room and we eat in there a lot. Shes been know to steal our food when we are not looking

, but my agility instructor told me to tell her "MINE" when she gets near it, and its been working. I will leave something yummy on the end table and then I will go hide somewhere where I can see her but she thinks I am gone, and then when she goes toward it I jump out and say "MINE!" in a stern voice. Its been working very well so far. Just a though.

Maybe you can set something up like that? So maybe you can try that with the counter, be like "MINE" when she goes toward the counter, and the lady said that when she does have something in her mouth be like "NO!!! DROP IT!" I haven't been able to use that one because I have been trying to STOP her before it gets to that point. I don't know if that helps or not.

**lovemygreys7** · 10-26-2004, 08:20 PM

We have two countersurfers in our crew. Ken always kept his kitchen baby gated and I never really had an issue when I just had Haley and Hanna. But in the new house, gating off the kitchen is not an option. Hanna and Prajna are tag-team countersurfers...they surfed and ate a loaf of italian bread wrapped in celophane off the counter THROUGH THEIR MUZZLES. We know they were the guilty parties because they still had damp bread particles mushed on the tip of the muzzles

My suggestion is don't leave food out. Even if you think its not in "surfing range" you would be surprised what a determined surfer can reach. And the girlies are used to being kept in the top kennels, so they can jump! After a while, the surfing may decrease when it never pays off.

Its a hard habit to get into, but definitely the path of least resistance when it comes to surfing. One thing you can *try* is to put aluminum foil on all the counters - apparently dogs don't like the feel on their paws. I don't know how successful that will be, but I saw it tried once on animal planet. And of course you can correct her if she does it in front of you. Ours, however, figured out to not do it in front of the humans

**Giselle** · 10-26-2004, 09:07 PM

Giselle counter surfs alot, too. To combat this, I baby-gate the kitchen off, but one side of the counter is still open. So, I filled 10 cans with pennies and placed them on a sheet of aluminum foil pyramid-style. I taped the foil to a stale bagle and placed it just over the edge of the counter. I added some wet food to it to encourage her to counter surf. Then, she fell for the trap and 10 penny filled cans came crashing down. It scared her (and me), but it worked! It's like a self-correction thing. Detailed instructions are in Retired Racing Greyhound for Dummies.

**robinh** · 10-27-2004, 03:42 PM

This sounds crazy, but.....my grandpuppy, Rory is a BIG-TIME counter surfer. Well, he is at home. Grandma & Grandpa don't like that so when they were over last Thanksgiving we put some of the old fashioned brand new mouse traps on the counter. We placed them so they would snap toward the backsplash. We also set up a camera to watch him. Sure enough, he went out and put his feet up on the counter. SNAP - SNAP - SNAP - those traps went off. He came running around the corner into the living room - right up on his dad's lap. It was sooooo funny! Didn't hurt him, scared the bejeeminees out of him and he doesn't surf my counters anymore.

His sister just looked at him like "I told you Grandma and Grandpa didn't like that!!"