We have a 5 1/2 month old collie x pup, he is a VERY greedy boy, always seems to be hungry, I add blended veggies to his food to try and fill him a little without him putting on extra weight, but still he always seems to have food on the brain. Whenever there is the mere possibility of food he starts whining and dashing round in circles and making this very odd noise 'purr' noise from the back of his throat...he just gets so excited. So thats not really a problem, the issue is he has developed a counter surfing habit. I know it is our fault for not being vigilant enough to stop the habit from developing in the first place but it IS a kitchen and every once in a while somebody forgets for a split second and Alfie gets his delicious reward (the last incident was a scone with jam, that I left on the side for my husband as he was just about to come in fron the garden) So it is few and far between but the way he is it is enough to keep him checking out the counters just in case. The main problem is we have an open plan kitchen area, that has a large archway for an entrance...no baby gate will fit to keep it out of bounds from the main living area, so with a busy family kitchen and no way of keeping him out of there, he sometimes slips through the net! He also seems to think of ANYTHING on the counter as a reward, even a scrap of paper I had written a phone No on, he will jump up for and begin parading it around the living room, so other than never putting anything ever on the counters to break the habit Im at a loss of how to stop him. I have also have a very greedy GR but we never had such problems with, but Alfie is such an active bouncy dog he is always on the go, and counter surfing is all part of the fun for him.

The only solution for this I have read about is setting up some kind of trap using a noise deterrant, something I wouldn't like to use as he is a very alert and sensitive dog, and I feel this kind of thing would be far too harsh for him and wouldn't like to risk it with him. I dont want to make him more highly strung than he already is...does anyone know of any other way I can try and deter him?

some times double sided sticky tape works if put on the edges of the counters.
Not sure what else to say except that i hope you find something that helps

I am afraid I have 2 of them here  my 7 yr old boy , if they gave medels out for it he would have a gold,   there is nothing he cant get of a counter if he puts his mind to it,  always has been, and I think he willl be till the end, my girl now she works at it, if she cant get it with  her paws, she jumps on the sofa , onto the table and over to the worktop.  I have tried everything to stop them, at the end of the day , if we dont put it away it is far game for them, I have drummed it into everyone that you are to leave nothing out , its no good scolding after the  deed, so if they pinch something I blame myself or whoever left  the offending item out.

I'm afraid I just never leave anything on my kitchen counters :)  Over time my lot have had numerous packets of butter, a tray of cooling cakes, a roast beef joint and countless rolls/sandwiches :rolleyes:

I read somewhere that counter surfing is the ultimate reward experience for dogs - if there's food there, they'll find it and if you tell them off you're telling them off for finding something very tasty - that can't make sense to a dog tucking into a chicken leg. :D

SO far, and caused soley by my (or my husbands) slovenly ways Roxy has managed to snaffle - 1 packet of butter. 1 Packet of Pate. 1 Plate of Spagetti Bolognase that I popped on the side after I'd lost my appitite (cold luckily).

My kitchen counters almost always have the tell tale signs of muddy paws on the side also. The joys of having a white kitchen ;)

Thanks guys...we defnitely don't blame him when he gets those paws up there...we know it is our fault for leaving something out by mistake...we do try, but it is hard all the time, especially with a busy household. I only ever say 'NO' to him for it when I walk in and he is up there trying to find something, but like Fluff76 says...it is the ultimate rewarding activity, even though he has only got something really good a couple of times he obviously thinks it is worth looking just in case.

I don't even ever leave anything unwashed in the sink, because if we do, somebody will get their nose in and start licking it or even get it out. 

Our dog years ago....was in the lounge/diner with us, we had unexpected over night guests, a friend and her daughter. The daughter was alone at the table eating spaghetti bolognese. I looked up to see Kit pinching it off her plate! Poor girl started to apologise saying it's okay I dont mind.....

My boy's counter surfing tendencies have been curbed since he stole half a lime whilst I was making guacamole...I only realised when I heard him give a pained sort of yelp and rushed to find him growling at the offending fruit with a very puzzled look on his face, like he knew it was food but couldn't understand why he couldn't eat it :D :D

E have the ever-helpful Aussies "helping" when the dishwasher is being loaded - "oooh - lookit that plate/casserole - I'll just run my tongue over it so as it make sure it gets properly washed :rolleyes:"

Margot

As Alfie is too small to be a counter surfer he too makes up for it by getting into a frenzy every time the dishwasher is opened:rolleyes: He contorts himself to reach the plates and lick them before the door is closed:)

But they're just pre-washing it for you, trying to be helpful :D

Get a dog with shorter legs :-)   Mine does the same - tidies up the bits I have left from cooking - loves rinsing the dishes in the dishwasher with her tongue. 'Fraid I encourage her to clean the floor (go find!) when the baby has finished eating.  Glad she is not taller like our setters were so the back of the worktop is OK.  My mother had a Springer and when she left her plate on the coffee table to leave the room for an instant she came back to find her salad had been rearranged. Bless her she hadn't taken anything.   I loved that one!

I must be very lucky as my 2 dont counter surf. Although when i first got them and they tried to look and they started to raise body/legs etc... they got the loudest NO!!! get those paws away shocked voice i could muster and they havent really tried since but the dining room table now thats fair game to them if i dare leave anything there :rolleyes:

I had a work top surfer once and I had left a baking tray on the edge of the worktop, when I walked out of the room luckily not cakes on the tray, because I had just washed it.  The dog flew to the work top, and nudged the tray, he knocked it to the floor and it scared him half to death. He never EVER work top surfed again.  Since then I heard someone else say if they have a dog that work top surfs they actually get a tray and bang it onto the work top if they catch the dog. So I suppose similar.
I must say with Weims you never leave food out there.  But saying that I can leave food on the coffee table and walk out of the room and come back to all these dogs standing drooling, looking at it, but they dont dare touch it. I usually start off with pups, and always say "NO pointing to the food", if they get close, its "NO". I keep this up until they seem to learn they cant touch it.
Rachel

I used to say that my dog didn't counter surf but then one day she brought me an empty bag that I'd put some training treats in :rolleyes:  I know that she gets her paws up onto the counter (I haven't caught her yet) to try and get stuff but providing it's pushed to the back it's safe.  The low level grill however, that's another matter :D

My sisters dog pinches everything off their work tops, mobile phones, OH's cumberland sausage, car keys

My labrador bitch surfed the worktops when she was younger, each and everytime I entered the kitchen she would be up their having a mooch.....I used a water pistol (one quick spurt on the back of the neck) a couple of times when she was caught in action, no point in shouting after the act!  It worked, but you have to catch them at it, and i had to play the waiting game, but it was a means to an end.

The puppy helps me with the dishwasher, I've almost trapped her little nose in the door a few times as she makes a final dash for a quick lick of gravy!

If you have a sound sensitive dog, then using noise etc may work, either temporarily or permanently, however none of my dogs have been at all sound sensitive and the possibility of food overcomes any qualms they may have over this or any other possible deterrent.

As your dog is being rewarded on a variable schedule (ie now and again accidentally) this makes the behaviour even STRONGER to extinction.

You can make your own barrier out of two slats of wood on either side of an aperture an insert a piece of wood or just train the dog that it is MORE rewarding if it opts for another behaviour, ie stays on its bed etc where you throw treats now and again.