Puppy Jumping Up Onto Kitchen Bench

[aussielover]

Mindy my 5 month old lab puppy has just discovered the delights of the kitchen bench. She is now big enough to put her paws up on the bench (which is quite high). On occaison she has managed to grab some food- mostly food in packets or crumbs.

I do know a simple method to deal with this would be to deny her access to the kitchen. Unfortunately, our house is open plan so there is access to the kitchen from three sides, very large spaces which are not practical to block off. The kitchen area is not really defined, it is literally in the middle of the house.

Her crate is currently up in my room and only used for sleeping now and is too cumbersome to move up and downstairs. She is left in the laundary if we need to go out, but I don't feel having her in the laundary whilst we are home is a good solution either.

She is only at home 3 or 4 days of the week, the rest of the time she is at uni with me from aroun 8-6pm.

She knows stay but hasn't mastered more than a few minutes.

I kind of feel like she should be able to wander around the house (she is trustworthy in terms of toilet training and destruction) at this stage. Whilst I do think in a lot of cases simply preventing a behaviour is fine, for this sort of thing which is really quite dangerous, I am wondering if the use of a correction would be useful in this situation, such as an on leash check ( I am happy for her walk around the house on lead under my supervision), or a firm No and then being put in "time out".

[poodlefan]

I kind of feel like she should be able to wander around the house (she is trustworthy in terms of toilet training and destruction) at this stage.

But she is not trustworthy in term of bench surfing.

There is a simple solution adopted by dog owners everywhere... get all food off benches permanently. God invented microwaves as food stores you know

If the behaviour is not rewarded, it won't escalate. If you don't want to close off access to the kitchen then food removal is the way to go.

[Staranais]

I kind of feel like she should be able to wander around the house (she is trustworthy in terms of toilet training and destruction) at this stage. Whilst I do think in a lot of cases simply preventing a behaviour is fine, for this sort of thing which is really quite dangerous, I am wondering if the use of a correction would be useful in this situation, such as an on leash check ( I am happy for her walk around the house on lead under my supervision), or a firm No and then being put in "time out".

If you go this route, be sure she connects the punishment to the behaviour not to you (or you'll just get a dog that avoids stealing food when it thinks you're watching!)

I'd also manage the situation even if you decide to correct, as the more times she succeeds at stealing food, the more times you'll need to punish (or the more aversive the punishment will need to be) in order for the punishment to work.

[mrs tornsocks]

Naughty Mindy !!! Don't really have a solution for you but my boy only counter surfed the once. He found a tub of butter and when OH found him hoeing into it, Archie got roused on with a vengeance (OH forgot the positive reinforcement training I'd given him ).

Anyway, Arch never did it again - in fact this morning his nose got a little too close to the bench but I'm confident he would never go any further. Still, we keep pretty much everything is out of harm's way.

[dandybrush]

i use time outs for my boy, if he jumped on the bench i would use his cue "too bad" and put him in his crate for a time out, soon as he does it again i would put him straight back in for a longer period

thats just what i would do

[Niques]

I agree with keeping all food off benches. Removing the incentive is the best way to start.

And then teaching the "Off" command (which in James' case meant teaching him "Up" onto chairs, etc. before moving onto "Off") and praise for staying down.

James will occasionally jump up late in the afternoon to take a look at his dinner defrosting on the sink...his way of subtley hinting that he'd like to eat now Or he'll stand next to you and watch if something is being handwashed - the bubbles amuse him. But he'll hop down when asked.

[huski]

I had this issue recently with my cat as well as the beagle. The beagle had been good at our old house but since moving she became quite naughty... I did the sly spray-with-water trick. I don't use spray bottles for much if anything, but in this instance I found it helpful. I never sprayed near their faces, just a short quick squirt on their back when they jumped up. I was subtle so they didn't see me do it - our house is also open plan so I could do it from the lounge. It solved the problem quite quickly.

[dancinbcs]

I find the quickest solution is to set them up with food on the bench and stand by watching but pretending you aren't taking any notice. As soon as they make an attempt to put a paw on the bench, slam your hand down on the bench as hard as possible and roar "leave" as if you are going to murder them for attempting to steal your food. Praise immediately they walk away from the bench.

The message has to be load and clear. All food on the bench is mine and you must not touch it, ever. I have never had to do this more than once to a dog and have never had any dog ever again try to put so much as a toe on a kitchen bench. My dogs will actually stand on their back legs to look at what is on the bench, but never ever put a paw on it or the kitchen table.

Having said that, I would probably never trust a Labrador 100%. When it comes to food, they just can't seem to help themselves. Try to keep all temptation out of the way.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

i have an open plan kitchen area and my solution is the dog is not allowed where the kitchen walls would be ...in other words she isnt allowed in the kitchen.

the kitchen is tiled so she knows not to go on the tiled area and she doesnt.

this also means i can cook without her getting under foot.

even if i am not around she doesnt go into the kitchen

[Novjan]

We have a counter surfer too

she has not managed to get any food yet as we use the 'never leave food out' method

But she has managed to pinch the dish cloth or a tea towel several times when they have been left in reach.

We are using the off command and we use out or out of the kitchen to keep them out of the kitchen area from under our feet while we cook or clean up. And a time out into the hall for 10, 20 0r 30 seconds at a time.

My sister was in hysterics on Sunday as I had to keep putting her in time out, the roast pork was obviously too tempting and she kept going in for a sniff. She thought it was hilarious that I was giving a dog a time out. But she also used to think my child rearing methods of clear boundaries and consequences were funny too. But her kids (and mine obviously) always do as they are told for me and she wonders why.

when I was looking after kids I used to say it was just like training a puppy, clear boundaries consistantly applied with a bit of bribery thrown in, EASY !

I do find her a challenge though, she can be very persistant and very good at ignoring.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Novjan

[Bubitty]

I find the quickest solution is to set them up with food on the bench and stand by watching but pretending you aren't taking any notice. As soon as they make an attempt to put a paw on the bench, slam your hand down on the bench as hard as possible and roar "leave" as if you are going to murder them for attempting to steal your food. Praise immediately they walk away from the bench.

The message has to be load and clear. All food on the bench is mine and you must not touch it, ever. I have never had to do this more than once to a dog and have never had any dog ever again try to put so much as a toe on a kitchen bench. My dogs will actually stand on their back legs to look at what is on the bench, but never ever put a paw on it or the kitchen table.

Having said that, I would probably never trust a Labrador 100%. When it comes to food, they just can't seem to help themselves. Try to keep all temptation out of the way.

I am all for this!!!! I did this once when Bitty was a wee puplet and now I can leave cakes at nose height happily without needing to supervise her.

Over time I have also taught her to “ask” for any foods. If there is something she wants desperately, she will lead me to it and “ask” for it. 90% of the time I say yes and give her a taste. I figure this is better than her needing to steal.

[aussielover]

Thanks for your advice guys, she has improved a bit this week.

Its funny because if you put food down specially for her (eg her meals or a kong or a bone etc) she will not touch it until given permission to do so.

She must see food on the table differently though???

It is not helped by the fact that my mum and sister thinks it is cute nd just laught when she does this