Ok I have tried everything but she seems to be getting worse I swear on day she will get hold of the stool and stand on it to help he reach the furthest bits.

Any advice on stopping her. I have tried teaching off , booby trapping with empty cans , that just frightens my gsd who climbs on my lap , no leaving things on the top but madam will now do it infront of you when yuo are cooking or turning round to get a utensil or putting something in the oven there she is paws on worksurface tongue extended. Yesterday I put an empty foildish my moussake had just come out of in the sink . Haha I though cant get that funny noises came from the kitchen and there she is tryong to flick it outof the sink with her paws standing on tip to if a dog can do that.
Unfortunately I can permanently keep her out of the kitchen its the main dog and human part of the house.
Oh yes its not just food its anything she fancies having paper washing.
In fact she wil knick anything she can get. brooke obviously lives by the flat coat code Ive seen it I want its mine !!! but she is driving me mad and then she chewed a lump out of  the sole of daughters ugss !!

My sympathies, for what it's worth--my youngest boy chewed a hole in the pocked of my new gilet becuase he thought he could still smell treats in the pocket. Sadly I didn't notice the hole until my car keys fell out. Result: dogs locked in car (windows open but no use with an electronic locking system), near hysteria avoided with the help of two very kind car park heroes and a PCSO who had found the keys and came down specially to return them to me...

He is an expert counter surfer but it's the oldest dog that takes the biscuit, if you'll pardon the expression. Last week he got up on my swivel chair to climb onto the computer desk to scrub my dinner plate clean, and this week he decided that if there was no other snack going then several slices of wholemeal bread would be acceptable, thanks...

I think the only way is to remove all temptation and then hopefully they forget about it. The youngest was very keen on Blackberrys and I never had one for longer than a few weeks--he'd raid my handbag or backpack, steal it off my lap when I was napping and even from under my pillow. Orange eventually refused to insure them and the last time he did it I didn't replace my phone for nearly 3 months. He hasn't touched it now in four months, which is definitely a record. I just hope he isn't biding his time, but he seems to have turned his attention to other things not quite so expensive to replace.

Sorry, I have one of them as well and I trained myself not to leave anything about. I know, should be ashamed of myself but I'm not. :-)

*Glares at Grace* 

I think its in the breed standard ;-)

Would hot chilli sauce or pepper put on the worktop act as a deterrent!

Sorry, I have one of them as well and I trained myself not to leave anything about. I know, should be ashamed of myself but I'm not. :-)

Ditto! It's far, far easier to never leave anything around, than to attempt to train a dog to not touch anything tempting left out.  PLUS they will learn there IS nothing worth trying to get! There are always ways around it. If for instance I need a cake to cool down I stick it inside the plate cupboard, or inside the microwave. If I soak dog food and the dogs are in, I put the bowls on top of the cupboard, etc.

> Would hot chilli sauce or pepper put on the worktop act as a deterrent!

I'm not sure it would really, FCR's are very cunning and would find a way round it probably, i've heard of them getting up to allsorts lol stealing bacon from under the grill completely unoticed :-)

My lurcher was a bad counter surfer, I just had to bite the bullet and make sure that there was never anything for him to get, I'm lucky now because in my new house he can be totally kept out of the kitchen and on the few occasions I make an error our sheltie will normally start shouting for me as soon as he puts his paws on the work surface (she's a tell tale).
None of that is really much help to you though if she will pinch stuff while you are actually cooking, lol, norty Brooke, she sounds like a clever doggy :)

stealing bacon from under the grill completely unoticed

What!!!!!!

I thought my girl was bad enough when she licked the leg of a chicken while it was still in the oven! It was searing heat but it didn't stop her having a go! I was horrified!

I stick it inside the plate cupboard, or inside the microwave

Have the tee shirt for that one - you get a surprise about 4 days later when you find the rest of the chicken carcase.

Should have enlarge, some breeds it is a comparative easy job to train the dog but in others it is almost impossible and then every time they find something it makes them more keen to look.

> (she's a tell tale).

Lol our BT pup "told" on Grace after she had stolen half a plate of roast pork (hardly even desturbed the tin foil covering it) he just sat looking up at the worktop ...... i only nipped upstairs to brush my teeth, didnt hear a thing lol. 

Breed standard lol think you could be right !!

Sounds like Brooke , I am quite well trained in the put it away department but the family are useless even if I did train them that all went out the window when they got to teens. Will they not understand leave your bedroom door open and Brooke wileat your knickers ! leave yur uggs in the hall and Brooke......
Guess I will just have to persevere and keep things away. At east I am not a complete failure now I know you guys have similar problems.
the funniest is when my gsd sees her the look of horror on his face and the way he comes and cuddles me is so funny particularly being that he is 46kg. He is really noticable on your lap
Oh yes she now shares my bed with me I dont even notice her creep on it. Still Whipsa lies on the vet bed beside the bed my good lad 
Agree Nova that sounds like Brooke and zebedee yes she has tried to eat things in the oven cooking.  |I cant put everything in the micro wave including the washing up !!
I dont have anything higher than the worktops in my kitchen and where do you put washing up when the dishwasher is on ? Me thinks she may have to spend more time in the hall watching me in the kitchen. Funny but it is much easier when its just me in the house. maybe its because I shut doors gates and tidy up lol

And Grace has picked up a nice little BT trate reaching through the stairgate bars and pulling down anything that is just within reach......every document i had for my van, includeing the folder i put it in.......shredded.

I think it will be harsh reality of its their own fault if anything is left within brookes reach :-)

I think you could be right the dont do harsh reality mind a learning curve is good haha  they arnt babies being 19 and 22 !

You could try a tiny bit of citronella oil, diluted in water and wip along the edge of the counter- the smell may put flattie off. The problem with any deterrent is that they know when the smell isn't there, and continue- particularly very bright breeds like FC's.

The other thought is the minute counter surfing begins, by that I mean nose pointed at the worktop- indicating the thought is there, get in fast and tie up somewhere in kitchen- build the association that counter surfing means loss of freedom. Leave for a minute or so and try again. I think whatever you do you are going to have to view it as dedicated training which will mean not leaving your FC in the kitchen unsupervised for a while- is that possible?

I agree Marianne avoidance is best.

I also train by putting a plate of food on the poof and leave it there and if they make a move towards it is just say leave and they back off. They soon learn that food is only ever given and not chosen ! It works the same for cow or horse poo simple command and they walk away .

Betty was a terrible counter suffer when we got her at eighteen months but it didn't take too long before she got the hang of what she is allowed to do !

They soon learn that food is only ever given and not chosen

LOL would you like to come and have a word with my mob. Tell an Elkhound to leave and with luck it will but it only reckons that command applies to that one object, they consider one command is worth (if your lucky) one compliance but the rest of the time the odd abandoned cabbage is fair game.

> by that I mean nose pointed at the worktop

My lab does this and has never ever followed it through, i have had to say or do anything, despite watching the flattie do it the lab has never dreamt of jumping up the worktop. Funny how some do and some dont.

yep so true claire flatti does  gsd doesnt as for the little pom well she is still saying counter what counter?

Some ideas for me to try there thank you

> Betty was a terrible counter suffer when we got her at eighteen months but it didn't take too long before she got the hang of what she is allowed to do

Agree - Bramble counter surfed and stole food when we first got him - he had been a stray. Just made sure that nothing was left around and any paws up on the worktop were immediately (but quietly) removed etc. Didn't take very long before he got the message and neither of my two ever lift a paw off the floor in the kitchen now (Tara has never jumped up to a worktop even as a puppy). Just perseverance I think and if you can't keep her out of the kitchen, put her in a crate while you prepare food etc :) :)

My old bitch would never have dreamed of stealing anything. You could bring home shopping and put the bags on the floor and she wouldn't even sniff at them. Then at the age of 8 she was diagnosed with pemphigus and put on steroids, she turned into a locust, she would steal the food out of your mouth given half a chance. Unfortunately she taught the young bitch and now I have a house full of opportunists :(

I know somebody who stopped their dog counter surfing with mouse traps. She placed them all over the worktops and after getting couple of them stuck in her paws, her dog decided it wasn't worth it ;)
Bit extreme but she can now leave a cooked chicken to cool down on a worktop and still find it there afterwards.

Had one counter surfer now have two as new puppy does this tooonly 7 m but a lot taller than the girls so can reach to the back already .... my other two dogs dong bother one iota... weird isnt it how some do and others dont.
I am just like Nova ...always check I havent left anything interesting on the counters... one good thing about it is my kitchen looks extremely tidy at all times ...LOL

where do you put washing up when the dishwasher is on

ROFL!!  :-)  :-)

I was loading my dishwasher at the weekend.  It's in the utility, and I was fetching from the kitchen - only a couple of yards.

On my last journey, I saw a Chihuahua right inside, behind the plates, and licking the last of the gravy stains off!

I came home one day and found a dozen eggs smashed all over the kitchen worktop! No egg just plenty of broken shell everywhere! Initially i blamed my young son! Either that or it was a poltergeist!
It wasn't until a week later when i saw with my own eyes my whippet do a standing jump on to the worktop! :-o
Mystery solved!

I believe that loads of empty beer cans stacked up on the counter in a  pyramid makes quite a noise when they get disturbed :-)
Accompanied by the owner rushing in a making a "Who did THAT?" noise...quite effective I believe.

You just need to reduce the number until down to one token can.

Leaving delicious treats on the counter may be too much for the determined though!

I believe that loads of empty beer cans stacked up on the counter in a  pyramid makes quite a noise when they get disturbed 

And i believe the emptying of beer cans ;-) should help relieve the tension felt when I realise that yet again i have left the kitchen door open to the four legged opportunists that reside here! 

Pah amatuers try living with a dalmatian :-)

Not that I should giggle but its entertaining reading all these posts...I think I am pretty lucky with my dogs that they don't take anything off of the sides.  I even leave their raw dinner out defrosting on cupboard in their room and they don't touch it...maybe they are just silly or too busy sleeping lol!

Years ago though we came home to one of our Rotties sat up on the worktop looking confused until we lifted him down...how he bounced up there I don't know!!

Several years ago now I was babysitting for my nieces. It was a warm summer evening and we were in the garden. From the top of the slide my niece said "auntie look at Harvey". Harvey was their neighbour's boxer  about 3 years old.
He was on the work surface in the kitchen, the cupboards were open and he was dragging things out the cupboard, he was shaking cereal boxes and packetS of food were flying every where. There was nothing we could do and when he saw the kids he got even more excited so we all went inside. When his owners got home, he had emptied the contents of the kitchen cupboards all over the floor chewed the knobs of the cooker and shredded the cushion of the new leather sofa. This dog had never chewed a thing up until then. Apparently he has never done it again either!

That has made me remember about our missing eggs. We had bought a box, the cardboard type and had left them as usual on the counter (bunker here in Scotland)and didn't give it a second thought. Couple of days later we went to get them and I couldn't find them. We searched the kitchen and found no sign of them, even began to doubt whether we had bought them or not!! Out of interest I went through to the dog room and all that I found under one of the beds was a small piece of the cardboard egg box.......no shell, only this small piece of box. I have two 'bunker surfing ' Flatties and I suspect that one of them, probably the pup, had taken them down and into the room and the others had all helped eat them. The box was probably quite tasty as the eggs would have smashed inside it.

lol My GSP stole eggs from this (tacky) porceline chicken on the counter. I found him guarding 3 completley undamaged  eggs in his crate!

Love the chihuahua jeansw lol  Oh yes Brooke has been known to stand on the dishwasher door as I am loading it to get in to lick. Please tell me what is not interesting atasty to a flat coat ? seems anything will do food empty cans clean washing dirty washing shoes the list is endless :)
I tried the beer can thingy all that happened my poor shepherd jumpa out of his skin and the offending flatti just tried to lick out of the beer cans
Last night my son was preparing a moeal with chichken breast dogs had just beem fed. Son turned to pick up a plate incame Brooke gone was the chicken breast.
I think she may be gated out of the kitchen more:)

My Merlin (now 7) is a chief thief and counter surfer - he will sreal from the bin,steal from fruit baskets,bread bins,egg holders - potatoes or veggies left in racks and buscuits in tins - as a result NONE are left where he can get them - so I have no fruit basket,bread bin,veg in my veggie baskets.He even steals any cordial or juice left on the counters - he once stole a bowl full of lemons - how many dogs would do that ?  we had some frozen loin chops defrosting in a bowl of water in the sink once for a BBQ - He ate all 14 with the polythene bags on.The cats even bring him dead mice and unless I see them first he eats them.
We have been trained by him not to leave things around no - we have VERY bare worktops!

Mind I love bare worktops looks like I will just have to train the family and shut the baby gate. However its nice to know I am. Not alone and some of the most experienced of you couldn't always sort iit