How to Fix Counter-Surfing

Counter-Surfing is what happens when the dog put his paws (either front two or all four) on counters or tables in search of food, dishes, paper, etc. Some dogs only surf if they can smell available items, and some will surf any chance they get.

It’s a very irritating problem made even more difficult with modern, open-style floor plans.

How do we fix it?

Priority #1

Prevent, prevent, prevent. Training is pointless if the dog keeps doing the wrong thing when you’re not training. Baby gates are usually the most effective choice as they keep your dog out of the kitchen altogether.

If gates aren’t an option, crate your dog before you start cooking and don’t release him until after the kitchen has been thoroughly cleaned up.

What He Should Do Instead

Once the prevention is installed, you can start teaching what you’d like him to do in the kitchen instead of surfing. And what would we like instead? Lying down on his Place rug or bed!

Start by teaching your dog to relax on his rug while you’re sitting nearby:

1) Set the Place rug close to a chair or sofa

2) Lure your dog onto the rug and then into a down

3) When your dog lies down, place 8-10 treats onto the rug in rapid succession

4) Sit all the way up

5) Immediately bend over and place 3-5 treats onto the rug in rapid succession

6) Toss a treat away so your dog gets up

7) Repeat steps 2-6 twice more

8) On your dog’s third approach, wait for him to choose to lie down without the lure and then feed 8-10 treats.

After 2-3 sessions, you can eliminate the reset treat (step #6) and work on building overall duration as well as time between treats.

Once your dog can stay down for 5-10 minutes and go at least 30 seconds between treats, introduce Dr Overall’s Protocol for Relaxation so he learns to stay on the rug even if people are moving around in the room.

“Place” training for counter-surfing is really just an advanced form of management. The crate or baby gate limits his access to the counters via physical barrier; the Place behavior limits his access to the counters via a trained skill. Remember to keep using your prevention gates and/or crate while your dog builds up the skills to stay on his rug!

If you need in-home help for your counter-surfer, contact Koinonia!