Hi, I have a black Labrador who has just turned 7 months old and me and my partner are struggling a little. Our pup is very cheeky and counter surfs whenever we're not watching him. Even when there's nothing on the sides, he'll find something to steal and run away with. We've been attempting to teach him "off" but he just continues. He's also quite fond of sticking his head in the bin. It's like he's never been fed before. He's also very, very nervous around people. When we have visitors he will stand and bark at them and will not let them pet him and he just runs away. On walks he does the same, his hackles come up, he barks, squeaks and runs away. He will not let anybody stroke him unless he already knows them. If visitors ignore him he eventually comes around and stops barking, but is still very funny about them petting him. What can we do? Thank you!
Hi, and welcome to the Forum from myself and Cassie who will be 2 next month. Do you have either of Pippa's books, the Labrador Handbook or the Happy Puppy book? It sounds like he needs to learn some boundaries around food. I can't give you any advice about the nervousness, there are other more experienced people here who may be along soon. It sounds like you may need to consult a behaviourist.
Hi there! Counter-surfing is a tricky one, mainly because a.) it is so self-rewarding and b. It is hard work keeping your eye on them 24/7! The first thing is to clear your counters, leave nothing tempting on them. You can create a boundary so when you are not watching, the pup doesn't have access to them, a baby gate works well, or a crate. With a crate at least your pup isn't able to rehearse any unwanted behaviours. You could also look at boundary training, basically training your dog to be calm and relaxed on a dog bed, so you can get on with a few things around the house/kitchen, but with an established counter surfer this is asking a lot! Boundary training also helps with visitors, by training and rewarding nice, calm behaviours. Regarding visitors, if your pup is a little anxious by nature, ensure that your guests do not try and pet him, leaning over, reaching out can be quite intimidating to a young dog. Instead, look at positive desensitisation techniques, to help your pup gradually overcome their fear. As mentioned, a trainer/behaviourist might be your best bet here. Couple of articles you might find interesting: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-behaviour/#fear This article touches on some aspects of your post: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-socialise-your-labrador-puppy/
Every time he finds something to steal on a counter or table etc. which he runs away with he is being rewarded for jumping up. So to cure the jumping up you have yo make sure that counters etc are always kept clear. Gradually through no reward being available the behaviour will stop, although some pups will try their luck for many months. Can you change the bin so he can't get into it? Relocate it? Put a weight on the top to prevent him getting into it? There is no reason why he should be happy for strangers to stroke him . Would you like a stranger to come up and hug you when you are out walking? The best advice nowadays is to allow a dog to approach a human to be petted, not for the human to approach the human. With visitor's, get them to ignore him to allow him to settle, again leave it to him to decide whether he approaches for a fuss - ensure that all letting is towards the chest and neck not towards the top of the head. To increase his confidence with visitors get the to take a step towards him once he is settled and get them to throw a treat towards him, nothing else. Repeat several times. Gradually they will be able to take a step closer and closer but make sure the treats keep being tossed towards him and allow him to slowly build his confidence.
HI there, and welcome! I don't have any advice regarding the counter surfing, none of my dogs (thank goodness!) have been counter surfers. However, Poppy was especially nervous of strangers, and Merlin isn't keen on people he doesn't know either... I have to agree with Jojo, there is nothing worse for some dogs than someone who insists on bending towards them, staring into their eyes, and then (horrors!!) PATTING THEM ON THE HEAD!! This would send Pops off into a frenzy of barking and growling... She is much, much better now and will put up with being petted by almost anyone, and consequently I am a lot more relaxed about Merlin not liking strangers/visitors patting or hugging him. I just tell them not to touch him and not to give him eye contact, and let him make the moves.
Thank you very much everyone for your help - it's very much appreciated. Hopefully the counter-surfing will get better if we are persistent with him and take all your advice. We're trying our best to establish some boundaries with him. I think when he's at home he's the best behaved, just when he's not in his own environment he tends to forget his boundaries and act up (counter-surfing, head in the bins, jumping up on people, chewing up toilet rolls). We've found ourselves going back to square one with him a few times with training techniques. We will definitely make sure visitors don't approach him until he's ready, or go for the pat on the head! Thanks for all the advice with this, it's very reassuring. We're currently attempting on stopping him jumping up on people, too. Hopefully we will see a slight difference in a few weeks' time.
I read some where that you can spray bitter apple on things that he might take off the counter, or soak them in regular Listerine. If he finds the stuff that he takes yucky then he will gradually decide that there is nothing there worth putting in his mouth. This is not dangerous to the dog, and can be what is called a "natural consequence" like when your kid touched a hot wood stove, and learned never to go near the wood stove again. Of course we are dealing with Labs. Mine actually likes horseradish sauce. Having the counters free of everything doesn't work for me since I have counters so I can use them. How am I going to make dinner if I have to not use the counter because it has to be empty? No offense but years ago some doctor told my dad that to solve his hemorrhoid problem he should soak the area in water for 10 minutes every hour. He walked out of the doctor wondering how he would tell his boss that he needed 10 minutes off every hour to do that.
The idea isn't that you don't use your counters at all, but that when you are not using them don't leave anything on them for your dog to find and take. That doesn't even need to be 'everything'. Tea towels and food may be temptations - your hot water kettle probably isn't. Or take @snowbunny 's suggestion to have a boundary, like a baby gate restricting access to the kitchen.
That's ok, I still do this with Cass at nearly 2. The more we do it the more it strengthens what they've learnt, that's what I find at any rate.
The way I trained against counter surfing was to reward her for not counter surfing. Counters were kept clear (although we still had the odd slip up), but when I was in the kitchen food prepping etc I'd treat her BEFORE she had the chance to put her paws up. If the paws went up I think I ignored her until the paws were back on the floor and then bam, treat. If I wasn't in the kitchen and I could see her eyeing the counter I'd give a verbal warning (uh uh) and she wouldn't jump. I remember being able to hear that tell-tale sound of paws leaving the floor when I wasn't in the room, but if I couldn't see her I'd ignore it. And you know what? She pretty quickly stopped counter surfing. I wish I knew when it stopped, but it was well before she was 1. I just remember thinking one day "huh, she hasn't counter surfed in forever, how about that".
I think you’ve misunderstood the point of keeping your counters clear. You obviously use them, you just don’t leave anything out when the dog is there unsupervised. Stanley would never countersurf if I was stood next to him, or cooking or whatever. But if I left a chicken on the counter and went upstairs he would. So I just make sure there’s nothing he would want that’s left for him to find when I’m not there. As Emily says, kettles and stuff are fine. It’s just food, tea towels, cardboard, plastic bottles etc. It’s not really difficult in the grand scheme of things and a lot nicer than tricking him by giving him something that’s going to taste rotten. It could be classed the same as your kids touching the hot stove, but in all honestly I don’t think I’d want to take that risk either.
Oh yes, Benson is 4 years old, and has just wandered into the front room proudly sporting a very sharp knife I left on the side...
When I'm cooking in the kitchen, the dogs stay at the threshold. I trained this by rewarding them for staying out there. At first, I used beds as a clear marker of what "outside the kitchen" meant. If they came forwards, I would put down whatever I was doing, cross my arms and wait for them to go back out again. Now I don't need the beds there, they just know to wait the other side of the entry. The opening is too wide to have a baby gate and I didn't want to use a pen, so I just trained it instead. When I'm not in there, as others have said, I just keep the counters clear, or make sure I know where the dogs are.
My 5.5 month old puppy eats anything----ANYTHING! So today he reached up like lightning and stole the sponge off the counter at the sink, and ran off under the table before we even knew he was next to us. He needs to become a cat burglar jewel thief. When he suddenly wasn't with us and was quiet we looked under the table for him. So I took it away from him and soaked it in Listerine---the original stuff. I put it at the edge of the counter, turned away and he grabbed it immediately. I never saw him drop something so quickly. He started spitting, and jumping at it like it was a snake. I tried to give it to him to chew. He refused it, like he didn't even want it in his nose. We'll be getting the big bottle now and putting it in a sprayer. I'll be spraying anything we don't want him touching or eating. I'll let you know if he suddenly develops a taste for the vile stuff after all.
I'm very glad I am not a puppy in your household. Listerine original is almost 30% alcohol - that is poison for a dog. Imagine if he had swallowed that sponge...
