Hi All, Hoping for some advice on how to stop this behaviour please. Puppy is pretty good about not jumping up at people - or at least, when he does, he gets no attention whatsoever until all 4 paws are on the floor. Working well. However, when he is bored/ frustrated/ attention seeking, he jumps up at the dining table (not when we're eating, just anytime) and also the kitchen units or a random wall. We always make sure he has had sufficient attention, so maybe a good play and run about in the garden and possibly some training, been to the toilet etc so we then decide play time has finished for now and we come back inside. Some times he settles down pretty quick but more often than not he has one of these tantrums, walking around whining, jumping up at stuff. If we ignore him long enough he will eventually settle at our feet and sleep but it is escalating slightly and I'm worried that when he is bigger it will obviously be more of an issue. What's the best way to manage this and try to nip it in the bud please? I don't want to give him attention for doing it but equally don't want to ignore him to the point that he thinks the behaviour is acceptable.
Do you ever reward him when he's settled down doing nothing? He might think that if he does anything he will get attention, but when he's quiet he's ignored if you know what I mean? When you see him calm and led down give him a treat and say 'settle'. He will start to associate that word with the action = a reward and will do it more. It doesn't happen overnight but consistency will work. I always made sure there wasn't anything on our sides so she couldn't self reward by getting something if she jumped up. Harley did jump up at the worktop a few times and I said 'down' and rewarded the minute she sat. I did this a few times and she didn't do it again.
My new puppy is aiming to be the Queen of counter surfing. She started counter surfing the minute she walked in the door, and has yet to quit it. She tried for ages, and ages before she was rewarded by pulling a pack of biscuits off the side, and even then I was across the kitchen like a flash to pick up the biscuits so she didn't get to eat any. No rewards for counter surfing has not dimmed her enthusiasm for it one little bit... I don't bother about it, to be honest. There are just bigger fish to fry in terms of training a dog. I just keep the counters clear, and wipe down the edges with an anti-bac wipe before I prepare food. My puppy jumps up at the counters and doesn't get anything. She'll probably stop it eventually, when she grows up a bit and can no longer be bothered, and in the meantime I can't be bothered to keep nagging at her and ruin my relationship with her through nagging. It's just no big deal, I think.
My puppy has had similar behavior, though more when food is on the kitchen island or I'm preparing food. My big a-ha was that I was rewarding it -- just with eye contact/looking at her or a "Bessie, off!" if I forgot not to "correct." I think if anything being verbal at her was encouraging it. I watched kikopup's video on counter surfing today and applied it, without leash, when feeding my son this afternoon. (He's 16 and autistic and I have to leave cut up chicken on the kitchen island for him for a while so he can eat it the way he likes, so her jumping up and eating his food is really not an option, and she's about two weeks max from being that size.) It worked really well. I could practically watch her little brain thinking and making connections as she first jumped madly for the chicken, whining and pawing at it, and then stopped, paused for a second, then sat and looked up at me expectantly. Other than controlled situations like that, I plan to avoid her being able to reward herself by keeping the counters clear, but I do need to nip this behavior quickly. I like kikopup's approach much better than nagging!
Thanks for the replies. Naya - yes we always reward the minute he settles down (usually at our feet), with a fuss and a good boy which I think is probably why he does 'usually' settle eventually - some days quicker than others. JulieT - Glad to hear we're not the only ones with a counter surfer- hadn't heard that expression before. B&Blabs - Thanks, haven't heard of that video before, will look it up and in the mean time make sure he can't self reward by keeping the table and counters clear.
For some even the tasty smells seem to be rewarding. Zaba, my friend's 3 year old Lab who stays with us a lot, counter surfs when he can smell something tasty. None of my others have ever counter surfed. It may be we were just lucky. But, also, none of them ever get human food - never ever. So maybe they 'just know' it's not for them? ....
This is something we have resolved to do - never give human food/ titbits etc. For this very reason - we don't want him begging. What do you in your training though when you want higher value treats? For the puppy classes we are attending we are asked to bring a variety of treats of different values so different flavoured doggy biscuits probably isn't going to cut it.
Judy is a little monster for counter surfing at the moment. I'm having to be really careful not to leave anything after she stole a knife... it was a heart stopping moment! It's quite annoying but after rewarding her for getting down, she quickly figured out that jumping up then getting down could get her a reward. So I'm ignoring it most of the time, or sometimes using a cross tone of voice to tell her to get down. I can't control it when I'm not in the room (I don't crate her) so as long as there are no prizes for jumping up, hopefully she'll grow out of it. If not, I can probably live with it!
I use fish cubes and dried liver dog treats, both have worked really well for all the pups. The dried liver can be broken into tiny pieces. I use the fish cubes for jackpot treats. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Challenge-...474362108&sr=8-1&keywords=fish+cubes+for+dogs https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003TL0A5C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
As some of their treats, mine have turkey frankfurters, "crab" sticks and that funny rolled ham or turkey, which we slice up. All technically "human" food, but it's not food that we eat in this house, so I'm pretty sure the dogs don't know it's human food I think there's a distinction between feeding from your plate and feeding human food at all. I don't know how a dog is supposed to work out what's human or not. It all smells delicious, it all comes out of some packet or other. What indicator does he have whether it's designed for dog or human consumption?
I In our case it's prepared in a completely different place. So food on counters, tables or coffee tables is never for them.
Strangely, although both my dogs are counter surfers, and get 'human' food all the time, I can leave a plate of steak prepared for a human on a low foot stool, walk out of the room to get my glass, and neither would touch it. I think counter surfing is just fun - it's just like they are saying 'what's going on up here, Mum?'.
Dex had an interest in counter surfing ,I cleared the decks and there was literally nothing for him to find if he got up and he soon stopped.If He Did it when I was there I used to throw a treat and say 'off' Labradors ARE NOT the worst at this trait,I dog sat my friend's beagle and found her in my sink,merrily doing the pre wash of the dinner plates! Dexter was standing looking at her aghast!
*scratches head* either you have a very low sink or a very tall beagle? How did she manage to get up there?!
Nope,normal sink and average sized beagle....so how did she indeed? ...I didn't explain that she'd jumped the child gate to actually get into position to jump into the sink.....she is the cutest of the cute but she's been a bit of a handful.She broke into a cupboard and pulled a whole box of chocolate variety biscuits out and got through a goodly amount...and there has been an occasion where she and I have been on different ends of the same tuna baguette at the same time! She's like Tigger!
there has been an occasion where she and I have been on different ends of the same tuna baguette at the same time! She's like Tigger![/QUOTE] Sorry but this made me laugh out loud as that happened to me with Bailey when we were out and I was chatting to a friend at the same time as eating....suddenly staring Bailey eye to eye! Our Lady and Tramp moment
Our neighbours beagle used to push the kitchen chair across the floor to the worktop to access the kitchen sink. And the bread box. You would often see her looking like a little barrel after an illicit feast of something
My sister has a Beagle x who can open the fridge. After he stole an entire tray of roast chicken from the fridge, she got a fridge lock. When Snowie was a puppy, we were recommended to (ooh I hate mentioning this!!) throw a can full of stones onto the floor every time he jumped up so that he associated something bad with jumping up. I know, I know, totally not positive training (I cringe! But we were newbies and being told what to do by the BEHAVIOURIST at our dog school.). Anyway, it made not an iota of a difference because he couldn't care less about bangs and crashes. He doesn't countersurf much now, only when we have a dinner party and all the food is set out on the kitchen island and we're sitting at the dining table, then he can't resist. It's a problem, but not a huge one cos we can manage it. We always laugh at the story when he was a puppy and it was my birthday. We had a huge cake set up on the kitchen island and everyone was crowded around it while I was thanking them for coming to my party. All of a sudden we hear a few shouts and Snowie has pushed through all the legs and taken a nibble out of the cake. My mother is right next to him and instinctively gives him a smack, and what do my husband and I shout: Do not smack the dog!! Much to the amusement of everyone -- they thought we should rather be saving the cake.
