It’s usually tough to cease canines from counter browsing as soon as they get began given how rewarding even sometimes success may be. Credit score: Olaia Salvador | Getty Pictures
Whereas our pet canines reside pampered lives in comparison with their wolf ancestors, they’re nonetheless opportunistic scavengers, blissful to eat a tasty morsel every time the chance arises—from a little bit of leftovers out of the trash can to the turkey sandwich you had been about to pack in your youngster’s lunch!
When a canine efficiently snags meals (or different gadgets) from atop the counter or desk, trainers name this “counter surfing.” Left to their very own gadgets, most canines—a minimum of these tall sufficient to achieve the counter—will experiment with this habits because of the unending provide of tasty tidbits we people insist on conserving there.
Set Your Canine Up for Success
Canines like to gamble. I imply, they REALLY like to gamble. If one thing works for them—even as soon as—you’ll be able to guess they’re going to attempt it once more, particularly when the payoff was nice—like a sandwich. When your canine is younger or in any other case new to your house, it’s smart to make use of some administration round the home to make it much less doubtless she may have the chance to experiment with counter browsing. Nothing makes us tidier round the home than a canine in coaching! Keep away from leaving gadgets of curiosity on counters and tabletops, and casually redirect your canine’s consideration to an acceptable object when she’s sniffing round surfaces you’d choose she ignore.
Train the Habits You Need
It’s simple to establish what we don’t need our canine to do. We don’t need them to counter surf. Nice. What ought to they do as a substitute? Canines repeat behaviors they discover reinforcing. Counter browsing is self-reinforcing—a canine is bolstered by the merchandise he helps himself to. Once we reward canines for behaviors which are incompatible with counter browsing, the undesirable habits decreases. Listed below are two concepts:
Train Your Canine to Keep on a Mat within the Kitchen: In case your canine is busy gluing himself to his canine mattress whereas within the kitchen, he can’t be hopping as much as steal issues from the counter. Instructing a canine to calmly stay in a single spot (typically referred to as “place training”) is beneficial in lots of situations. On this occasion, the canine learns there’s no want to research the counter tops for rewards—you’ll ship rewards to his spot. Don’t be stingy about it. As your canine learns to remain on his mattress, be sure you reward generously in order that it stays price it—in your canine’s thoughts—to play the sport our means as a substitute of following his intuition to see what goodies he can discover and luxuriate in on the counter.
Actively Train Your Canine to Ignore Meals on Counters and Tables: One other nice possibility is to reward the absence of curiosity in meals on a desk or counter. On this coaching arrange, the canine is rewarded for not shifting towards the simply surf-able meals. Within the early phases, the forbidden meals ought to be low-value and the rewards are excessive worth. Prepare on-leash, and at an preliminary distance the place it’s simple to your canine to be appropriate. Coach Emily Larlham affords an important clarification and demonstration of this technique on her Kikopup YouTube channel.
Rehabbing a Profitable Surfer
In case your canine is an skilled counter surfer, you’ll need to make use of a mixture of coaching and administration. Coaching will assist train the specified new habits, however it gained’t occur in a single day. Within the meantime, it’s good to drastically cut back your canine’s alternatives for counter browsing. Each time your canine efficiently surfs, he’s self-rewarding and the habits will proceed.
Whenever you’re not within the place to actively practice for the habits you need, make it practically inconceivable to your canine to apply the undesirable habits.
Take note of your canine’s habits with the objective of interrupting and redirecting while you suspect browsing is imminent. For instance, as your canine walks alongside the counter, head up, nostril twitching, there’s an excellent probability leaping up will quickly observe. Interrupt this habits sample and encourage her to run and get a bone or toy and reward your canine for partaking in that habits as a substitute.
Another choice—particularly within the early weeks of your rehab coaching—is to easily keep away from the temptation by conserving your canine out of the kitchen, particularly throughout high-temptation actions like meal preparation, and when you recognize your consideration might be elsewhere and also you gained’t be capable to control your canine’s habits.
Keep in mind—each profitable surf makes the habits extra doubtless. Even for those who reprimand your canine while you catch him within the act.
A Phrase on Utilizing Punishment for Counter Browsing
Verbally reprimanding a canine for counter browsing—for those who catch him within the act—will interrupt the habits within the second however will even doubtless train your canine to not counter surf while you’re round. Ideally, we wish our canine to grasp the higher alternative is solely to not surf within the first place, whether or not or not we’re watching.
That’s to not say I don’t interrupt canines who counter surf—I do, and it’s in a tone that clearly signifies my displeasure. However once I do that, I do know it’s a Bandaid, and a transparent signal I have to up my coaching and administration sport.
Some trainers suggest elaborate booby traps utilizing soda cans strung collectively and interwoven amongst a treasure your canine would love to leap up and steal. The thought is that the ruckus of the cans falling will startle the canine sufficient to forestall future makes an attempt. Whereas this would possibly work on the occasional canine, many canines, as soon as once more, be taught to keep away from browsing after they acknowledge such a arrange, or they’re keen to threat the ruckus in an effort to reap the reward.