I have a beautiful male 18 month old Berner. Fairly obedient (we have
been to two separate classes, he did very well). However lately he
has developed a penchant for jumping up on our kitchen counters and
doing various things like licking dishes in the sink, pulling bills
off the counter and eating them. He even once demolished a pill
bottle and its contents, luckily they were herbal remedies. He only
does this when noone is around to prevent him. My question is how can
I train him not to do this if I'm not there.

soxfann said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

My question is how can
I train him not to do this if I'm not there.

Counter cruising is almost always a result of a bored
dog exploring. Plus, he's 18 months old and has a
penchant for exploration.

My first suggestion would be to try mega-exercise the
evening before and the morning of the days you leave
him alone. Else, if you can, come home during the
day for some relief.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

On 2008-06-01 22:11:28 -0400, soxfann said:

I have a beautiful male 18 month old Berner. Fairly obedient (we have
been to two separate classes, he did very well). However lately he
has developed a penchant for jumping up on our kitchen counters and
doing various things like licking dishes in the sink, pulling bills
off the counter and eating them. He even once demolished a pill
bottle and its contents, luckily they were herbal remedies. He only
does this when noone is around to prevent him. My question is how can
I train him not to do this if I'm not there.

We started by not leaving anything on the counters or in the sink. I
later would, with the dog nearby, but not necessarily in the kitchen
(to start), yell at the counters and garbage pail and slap them. I also
did this to shoes once we had a dog decide to chew a new canvas shoe).
For whatever reason, this worked like a charm. It's weird, no doubt
about it. You may have different results.

Many people booby-trap their counters, putting things that make a lot
of noise on the edge, so if they are knocked off, it can upset the dog.
Some people use plastic cups of water.

Some people don't let their dogs in the kitchen unsupervised.

Here are a couple of links:

This is a tiny url for a google groups search of this newsgroup for
counter surfing:
http://tinyurl.com/6da8gf

This is from a good clicker training site:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1034

The problem with googling now is that there are a million idiot
pay-per-click bloggers that offer bad advice in an effort to make money
using the internets.

Did you take both classes with the same trainer? Did you like the
trainer? Give him/her a call and ask for some advice. It probably won't
hurt.

"soxfann" wrote in message
...
I have a beautiful male 18 month old Berner. Fairly obedient (we have
been to two separate classes, he did very well). However lately he
has developed a penchant for jumping up on our kitchen counters and
doing various things like licking dishes in the sink, pulling bills
off the counter and eating them. He even once demolished a pill
bottle and its contents, luckily they were herbal remedies. He only
does this when noone is around to prevent him. My question is how can
I train him not to do this if I'm not there.

I have a Bernie/collie mix who will walk on his back legs along the counter
for snif and snatch missions. We wound up using dog gate our kitchen to
keep him and the other two.

I take it your dog isn't crate trained?

KInd regards,
(the)duckster.

In article 2gQ0k.1361$b_.1035@trnddc02,
"\(the\)duckster" wrote:



I take it your dog isn't crate trained?

I wouldn't assume that. I would assume that this poster would like to
not confine an 18 month old dog all day for this flaw. I wouldn't. I'd
not leave food items in the sink, and/or I'd lace them heavily with bad
tasting stuff to make him think twice. Paper is another story. Some
dogs just love it when they're bored. Increase exercise and training,
setup with bad tasting stuff on some junk mail, and keep plugging.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

soxfann wrote:
I have a beautiful male 18 month old Berner. Fairly obedient (we have
been to two separate classes, he did very well). However lately he
has developed a penchant for jumping up on our kitchen counters and
doing various things like licking dishes in the sink, pulling bills
off the counter and eating them. He even once demolished a pill
bottle and its contents, luckily they were herbal remedies. He only
does this when noone is around to prevent him. My question is how can
I train him not to do this if I'm not there.


In addition to excellent suggestions others have given, never leave
dishes in the sink; never leave bills on the counters; make sure your
kitchen is boring boring boring every time you leave the house and the
rest of the time too. Can you wall off the kitchen altogether, make it
something he can't access without going through a door that you open?
That would be the easiest solution.


Also, stop assuming that herbal remedies are harmless to dogs (and
people) regardless of the quantity. You have to consider the contents
of each one. Some can be quite nasty.


--Lia

Actually He is crate-trained and unfortunately we do leave him crated
while we are at work. Mostly because we have a newer border pup that
we are training as well. The pills I did check with the vet that
morning and there were no adverse effects. Someone mentioned to leave
mousetraps on the counter. This seems a little extreme.

In article
,
soxfann wrote:

Someone mentioned to leave
mousetraps on the counter. This seems a little extreme.

There are modified mouse traps called "snappy trainers" which are very
safe. Then again, I've known dogs to trigger them, then raid the
counter anyway, and chew on the snappy trainer!

If he's being crated along with your BC puppy, how is he counter
cruising when you aren't home?

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

soxfann wrote:
Someone mentioned to leave
mousetraps on the counter. This seems a little extreme.


Not the sort that could damage a tongue or paw, but something that makes
a frightening snapping noise might be the only thing that works. As a
rule, I don't like harsh adversives either, but sometimes you get to the
point where you have to ask yourself if you'd prefer to use something
harsh that works or let the dog continue with the unwanted behavior.
And then live with the consequences of whichever you choose.


--Lia

"soxfann" wrote in message
...
I have a beautiful male 18 month old Berner. Fairly obedient (we have
been to two separate classes, he did very well). However lately he
has developed a penchant for jumping up on our kitchen counters and
doing various things like licking dishes in the sink, pulling bills
off the counter and eating them. He even once demolished a pill
bottle and its contents, luckily they were herbal remedies. He only
does this when noone is around to prevent him. My question is how can
I train him not to do this if I'm not there.
==============
I saw a TV show once where they used a portable motion detector alarm that
only went off for 30 seconds to stop this behavior. It was placed on the
counter, and when the dog approached the counter a siren went off for a few
seconds and frightened the dog. The dog immediately stopped surfing. He
tried it a couple of more times and that was the end of his countersurfing.
I thought I saw on some web page that you could purchase it at Radio Shack.
Maybe you could look into that method a little further if all else fails.