Eating ... Everything.

Misty has never had an issue eating human food - we simply never gave her any, and she never bothered to beg, or even try to "steal" or sneak anything... until Saturday, the smell of bacon was too strong for her.

I was preparing to make my famous "Breakfast Bread", which contains a pound of bacon, six eggs, 1 cup of shredded cheddar. I prepared all my ingredients and got the dough started then the doorbell rang.

I left everything sitting on the counter, like I always did in the past, to go answer the door. When I came back 5 minutes later everything was gone. Not a bowl had been moved, it was like she vacuumed it out. Bowls were spotless, not even a tongue mark - little bugger. Obviously I was angry, and she knew it - she hid under the table. When I went to find her, she was laying quietly with her head down, and between her front legs was my favorite hunting cap -- half eaten as well.

She's now, constantly putting her nose up on the counter-top to see what's new for breakfast - or what she can steal. She's getting plenty of kibble, and gets plenty of extra food on the side. I don't blame her, bacon is tasty stuff - but I'd prefer she not be taking things off the counter-top.

Any suggestions?

Oh boy... Misty's belly must have been bloated! LOL! The only thing that's ever worked for us is to keep the dog out of the kitchen. They're opportunists, after all, so as soon as they get human food, that's just about game over. Especially when it smells as good a bacon... Smell is more important to them than taste. I made the mistake of giving my dog a piece of raw carrot when we was a pup. Ever since then, he will run and sit at the chopping block as soon as he hears me grab the peeler. We also had to fence the vegetable garden because he tries to dig them up. We also don't allow our dogs to jump up on people, couches or furniture. Our current dog started jumping to see what was up on counters when he was a few months old. He was heading down that "dangerous" path! LOL! Glad I caught him in the act and corrected him. I suspect you'll have to bait Misty and catch her in the act before you can teach her not do beg or steal...

Most important thing is make sure the dog doesn't get things off the counter again. As long as she gets that reward you can never correct the behaviour. For example this battle is lost with my dog because my kids continually leave food in reach. Correcting the dog doesn't do anything because she gets the reward, and to her the reward is worth whatever follows. It's much easier to train a dog than to train yer @#$% kids....

Baiting the dog and catching it in the act is not going to work if the dog gets rewarded with food left on the counter ... dogs aren't dumb and they soon learn to steal when you're out of the room.

Well, no, you're right that it won't work if you catch her after she takes the bait. The key is waiting and watching, and as soon as the dog shows it's about the make the move to jump up, you correct it before it gets the reward. Timing is everything. We've tried this technique with all our dogs and it's worked well. Not perfect but still effective. The only reason why my current dog still goes for carrots is our fault -- we still give him the odd bit now and again. But he doesn't jump up on counters or beg. Of course, in Misty's case, we're talking about bacon, not carrots...

Mouse traps along the counter edge work very well to deter "counter surfing"!

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Originally Posted by The Wife

Well, no, you're right that it won't work if you catch her after she takes the bait.

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I actually meant that it won't work if food gets left on the counter where the dog can get it. That's how my kids have turned my dog into a lost cause on this very thing....

I don't leave anything on the counter unsupervised. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Mousetraps can also break toes.

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Originally Posted by Sharon

Mousetraps can also break toes.

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Very true Sharon ... Not to say it can't happen but the infrequent times they have been used around here and with friends, the dogs have never directly hit the traps. The traps have been moved or knocked over and the SNAP has created the noise to virtually stop the counter surfing immediately!

Just let it go. We're talking bacon. There is no solution.

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Originally Posted by terrym

Just let it go. We're talking bacon. There is no solution.

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ROFLMBO.... well said. :)