How to stop dog jumping up on the table?

OxfordComma

Hi all. We've a lovely 6 month old Golden Retriever. He's very well-behaved for the most part, but he's constantly jumping up on the table and the kitchen worktop and eating any food that's there, knocking glasses and plates onto the floor, dragging down tea-towels and kitchen roll and that kind of thing. We're not really sure what to do about this. We try and keep him outside most of the time because he prefers being outdoors, but sometimes having him inside is unavoidable obviously, and if he's inside he requires (literally) constant supervision to make sure he doesn't wreck the place. We've tried saying "no" firmly, telling him to "sit", standing nearby to make sure he doesn't jump up, but nothing seems to work. Any advice?

morganafay

I don't really have any training advice, but if training doesn't work, would you be able to put up a baby gate so he can't go into the kitchen? Or maybe he'd jump that too

Howitzer

1) you'll have to be spotlessly clean and remove all objects of interest up there

2) catch him eyeing the area before he jumps and say NO. Also walk towards him towering over him as big and authorative as you can. Gently bump into him to nudge him away from it showing you disapprove.

edit: 3) praise when he backs down and doesn't follow through the jump

This helped us over time with our 9mth boxer.

Now that all said she ate 2 pairs of sunglasses that were left on the kitchen table at the weekend. We were out of the room for this... (lie in time)
Kind of our fault for not removing them. just have to be spotlessly clean until they are older I'm afraid. Even the best dog will crumble and get into trouble when you're away from the scene.

Hope this helps

Graces7

A mister/spray is a great and harmless deterrent. Not a water pistol; a spray bottle.

Just in their face when they are doing something wrong.

eg barking, leaping etc. With a firm NO.

They hate is so much that soon all you have to do is pick the bottle up... It has helped us so much with our totally untrained collie. The mere sight of the bottle stops her in her tracks.

OxfordComma

Thanks everyone for the replies. Putting up a baby gate isn't really an option because the kitchen is the only room in the house we can keep him in, but thanks for the suggestion.

Howitzer wrote: »

1) you'll have to be spotlessly clean and remove all objects of interest up there

2) catch him eyeing the area before he jumps and say NO. Also walk towards him towering over him as big and authorative as you can. Gently bump into him to nudge him away from it showing you disapprove.

edit: 3) praise when he backs down and doesn't follow through the jump

This helped us over time with our 9mth boxer.

Now that all said she ate 2 pairs of sunglasses that were left on the kitchen table at the weekend. We were out of the room for this... (lie in time)
Kind of our fault for not removing them. just have to be spotlessly clean until they are older I'm afraid. Even the best dog will crumble and get into trouble when you're away from the scene.

Hope this helps

I've done this from time to time, and nine times out of ten if you say "No" firmly as he's about to jump up, he'll stop. I guess maybe the problem is that I've done this in an irregular fashion, but I'll try and watch him constantly from now on and stop him in his tracks! Our dog probably wouldn't hesitate to chew a pair of sunglasses either if they were on the table Thanks.

Graces7 wrote: »

A mister/spray is a great and harmless deterrent. Not a water pistol; a spray bottle.

Just in their face when they are doing something wrong.

eg barking, leaping etc. With a firm NO.

They hate is so much that soon all you have to do is pick the bottle up... It has helped us so much with our totally untrained collie. The mere sight of the bottle stops her in her tracks.

We have a spray bottle, but very rarely use it at the moment. Maybe using it more consistently will help solve the problem! Thank you.

Whispered

I was watching "it's me or the dog" once and an owner had the same problem (I think it's very common with bigger dogs). His Australian shepherd used to rob food from the counter.

Look at his face.

We've just had to learn to keep things off the counters. Which can be a pain. Occasionally, If I chop something I know he doesn't like, I'll leave a bit there so if he does rob, he realises that only horrible things live on the counter. (limes, lettuce, chilis etc). It may not be very fair, but it's kind of worked.

We also thought him "leave it" so if for instance I'm carry food from one room to another, I can tell him to leave it and know that he'll stare at it, but wont touch it.

Although in saying that, my OH made himself a rasher sambo, cut it in half and left it on the counter while he ran upstairs for a min. When he came down, half of the sambo was gone. Silly fella just assumed I had taken it and ate the other half, then remembered that I hadn't eaten meat in over 10 years The dog had robbed it and my OH had eaten the other part. Probably had a big slobbery tongue on it.

tk123

Our GR is 11 months and was the same - he still robs stuff sometimes and runs to his bed so we'll trade him a treat for whatever he has!! Anyhoos make sure nothing is in his reach for starters and make sure you tell him no/down/too bad when he does jump up. He used to go mad if we were eating barking and jumping so we just started giving him a kong to keep him out of the way and save us having to put him out, let him back in again and again. Now he's just goes asleep if we're eating. He always stays close by if we're preparing food incase anything gets dropped!

Graces7

Family in Canada call this "counter-surfing"... They bred whippets which are very good at that and recommend a good hard slap on the backside...

MsFifers

Graces7 wrote: »

Family in Canada call this "counter-surfing"... They bred whippets which are very good at that and recommend a good hard slap on the backside...

I presume thats a joke? :rolleyes:

Graces7

MsFifers wrote: »

I presume thats a joke? :rolleyes:

The name or the action?

Well, they said that you would not approve....;)

No not a joke.. counter surfing is a potential great danger given that there are eg cookers...

There have been serious burns to pets who leapt onto a hot plate or range.

Reinforcing a NO with one slap is effective. Interesting that it does not affect the relationship with the dog.

Papillon!

would you slap your child if it jumped on the counter and ate something you left there? i hope not. its totally unnecessary. with proper training a dog can outgrow old habits

bunny&spoon

still in the progress of training my 3month old setter, but whenever he jumps up, we nudge him off the table with a firm "no" after 2 or 3 times he gets the idea and gives up.

ppink

I would love to see a child jump up on a counter to eat food!

Whispered thanks for that video link...it is the funniest face I have seen in a long time:D

Papillon!

ppink wrote: »

I would love to see a child jump up on a counter to eat food!

Whispered thanks for that video link...it is the funniest face I have seen in a long time:D

i was using it as an example.
i personally would never hit an animal. i think they deserve to be treated with the same respect as people and i wouldnt hit a person. thats just my opinion and my point.

IrishHomer

I had same problem with my German Sehperd and i was advised by a dog trainer to get a few newspapers. Roll each newspaper tightly and keep them rolled permamently by taping them or elastic rubber bands. leave them on the tables counters etc so they are easily picked up when required. Don't let the dog see you making them up or placing them about the kitchen. From then on any time the dog jumps up yo uignore him but you pick up the rolled newspaper and you whack it as hard as you can against the table or counter top. This creates a huge bang and the dog gets a fright and he retreats. You must keep doing this every time he jumps up so always have the papers lying around on standby. The dog thinks he is triggering the bang each time he jusmps up and he quickly gets scared of jumping up providing you are consistent in doing it. It worked for me.

Qualitymark

Graces7 wrote: »

A mister/spray is a great and harmless deterrent. Not a water pistol; a spray bottle.

Just in their face when they are doing something wrong.

eg barking, leaping etc. With a firm NO.

I used this when my dog was dangerously surging into the front seat and bouncing her paws off the back of my neck in the car. She still cowers impressively if the Ultimate Sanction is deployed.

In relation to counter-surfing generally, this is a puppy behaviour, and if you're patient and disciplined about keeping food off, and telling the dog it's not on to steal from counters and tables, the time will come when you can leave your dog alone in the house with a bleeding steak on the kitchen table and he won't touch it.

I didn't do any slapping with counter-surfing, was just insistent.