I know it sounds a really stupid question but how can i stop my puppy jumping up at the kitchen surfaces and taking things off. He is now 17 weeks old and he jumps up at the counter and takes things off it. It is not just food it can be dishcloths, oven gloves, cutlery, the lid off the water filter, basically anything he can reach. We try and keep as many things out of his reach as possible but as he gets bigger (he is a standard poodle) he will be able to reach things up there that we have nowhere else to put them. He does not do it when we are in the room. The trainer at our puppy class said to lay a trap by putting pepper on a dishcloth, tried that and he did not touch the dishcloth with pepper on he just took a different one. He has toys that he can play with. I know the obvious answer is to remove everything out of his reach but as i said before there are some things up there (block of scissors, kettle, toaster, bread rack, draining rack,knife block) that he cannot reach at the moment but when he is full grown he willl be able to reach them and there is nowhere else they can go so i would rather be able to teach him that it is not acceptable to do this. Sorry it is so long winded but i thought i would try and give you as much information as possible. When i find things he has taken i just pick them up and put them away without making any fuss. Is this the right thing to do? I do not think that there is much point in making a fuss when i find them as he has already done it and he would not realise what i am telling him he has done wrong. Another question, totally off topic does anyone have any idea roughly what weight he should be at the moment. He is a male standard poodle and when we got him at 7 weeks he weighed 4.5kilograms and now he is 17 weeks and weighs 13kilograms. I saw on one of the standard poodle litters advertised on CD that their male pups were 7.5kilograms at 8 weeks. I was just wondering if he is growing normally. He doesnt feel skinny, you can just about feel his ribs running your hands down his sides. He is eating well. I am just getting really paranoid as everyone that asks how old is he say he seems really small for his age. Sorry again about being longwinded.

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001b/countersurfing.htm

Teach your poodle ''leave it'' and ''down'' not just in the kitchen but with other things. Maisie only sits still and quiet when im in the kitchen she thinks if she is good enough she will get some of the food i am preparing and she usually does !

Oh I do so know how you feel Kathryn. My pup, am 8 month old leonberger, also steals stuff from the work tops! So far she's had OH's mobile which she destroyed, dishcloths and sponges from the back of the sink! In one ten minute session she ate hubbys tea of sausage and chips off a plate at the back of the cooker, a tea bag from the caddy and daughters ciggies off the bread bin! I now place baking trays on the work tops, just about half hanging off, so if she jumps up they fall down and I am alerted to the noise!  So far its only happened once since and I've seen her sniff around the work tops and as soon as she finds a tray she stops, thinks about it, then walks away. :)  Every time I have to go out and leave her in the kitchen/diner I have to stop and look round to make sure there's nothing within easy reach, I've never been so tidy :D

Dee

One idea is to put some double sided, sticky tape on the top of the counter - doesn't hurt of course, but most dogs find it unpleasantly sticky on their paws and it may be enough to keep him off ;)

If you keep it up for a while, plus manage him a bit too, you will probably find he will stop doing it.

Lindsay
X

I hope you dont give chase when he steals something they thrive on you running ragged trying to get back what they took they think of it as a game and do it more so :0

Sparky spent the first year of his life scavenging the work tops, and I agree with the earlier posts that much as I hate to admit it, I had to become a tidier person!
We also treated him for lying down quietly away from the areas where the surfaces are, or away from the table when we were trying to eat. Now as soon as our dinner goes out on the table he bolts to the far corner of the kitchen as if he's doing a send-away and stays there until we finish, when he knows he'll get a treat. I'm pretty sure he'd still explore the surfaces if I wasn't there to tell him to leave or to get off, but that's exactly like me and the biscuit tin, so I can't complain!

This is a big problem when our pups discover they can reach the delights of the worktops :)

The only way that worked for  me was to leave a booby trap every time I left the room   I made sure that the worktops were clear and left a teatowel/oven glove/similar on the edge topped with a large tin (baby milk tin) with dried peas inside and tape around the lid.  The first few times were engineered ;)   as soon as I heard the tin hit the floor I'd walk in and pup would run to me and get a petting and some sympathy cos the nasty tin had attacked him ;)  sensitive soul - it didn't take long for him to learn to leave the worktops alone :)  and I was blameless cos I was never there ;)   I wouldn't advise this with a very nervous dog tho. 

Another good booby trap is to string a few empty aluminium drinks cans together and leave them on the worktop.  Trail the end of the string towards the front of the worktop and tie something you know your dog will try to get to the end.  When your dog runs off with the decoy all the cans will follow and crash to the floor.  If your floor is tiled it has quite an effect.  Most dogs just don't go there after that.

Hi me again. Just thought I would add that I should practise what I preach!! I stupidly left my make up bag by the sink, went out came back and guess what? Yep no make up, completely destroyed what she didnt eat! lip gloss, mascara, eyebrow pencil the lot!
I'm gonna have to stay in now, can't be seen without make up :(

Dee

If anyone finds a cure for it please let me know.  My 9 month old lab despite being told everytime off etc just can't help himself.
I have tried double sided tape but he loves that and won't leave it alone jumping up to try and rip it off.  Have tried noisy tins and things but when they crash to the floor he just leaps on them and chews them.

Bev

My 14 week old puppy likes to steal shoes from the shoe rack - unsuprisingly! But he only does it when we are eating dinner or when left alone. I think he does it because we rush to him (albeit saying "NO!!!") and that gives him the attention he wanted. To assert some dominance we decided to give him"time-out" in the kitchen if he does this while we are eating dinner...(so that we can actually eat) and so that he will learn ntot to do it. Does any one know whether "time-out" is a good way to teach or not? Also, how can we stop this behaviour when we are out (we sometimes leave him for an hour or so when we go out) and he always gets all the shoes out. (He doesn't seem to damage them though, but i guess he will as he grows bigger!) The shoe rack is unfortunately within his reach and there is nowhere else for the shoes to go!! Any ideas???

I wonder if you had a baby that was always sticking its hands in the electric sockets you would have the same point of view?

If you rush to your puppy saying "No" you are right, you are giving him attention; forget about "dominance", this has nothing to do with your dog's behaviour; just manage the environment and remove the shoes; or, give him something else more interesting to chew!

However, removing your dog or the shows from the area does not actually "teach" the dog anything; it just prevents him from doing it!  And if you cannot stop the behaviour when he is supervised you will certainly be unable to do so when you are absent.

There is always somewhere else to put your shoes, put up a shelf if need be!