Gee guys,
I didn't know counter food was such a big problem or so wide spread. I gotta throw my hat in with Mike A., I must be one ugly mean resource guardian. I just don't have a problem, never have had. Occasional lapses, like this morning while sorting through the garbage that passes for mail, I put that trash aside and turned around to the coffee table.......my GSD was just finishing off the last of the powdered sugar coating on the donut. Oh hum. So do I still need to pay attention? Yes siree, but from an early age counters are off limits, even putting their paws on a cupboard door is no. I think no is the second most important word after the dogs name to learn. More than once I've half jokingly said I'm just going to cut the learning curve in half and name my next dog No. So I guess the best I can say is just become a growl in your face mean ugly resouce guardian. The counters are always mine. LOL, but I don't turn my back and leave the room without the dog coming along.
Memory in dogs? I think they remember what they want to. Guilt? No, I have to go along with the reading of body language and learned behavior. Heres one for you that I think covers most of those bases: My last GSD was I think about 2 yrs and I wanted to eat in front of the TV, probably some sport event I wanted to watch. Nice rib eye roast and bake potatoes ( I remember that well!), having sliced off the perfect rare pieces and gathered all my ill health supplements around the plate, all under the watchful eye of my faithful companion of course. Everything set? Dig in! The dog goes stupid! Runs to the front door barking like crazy. 'What the.........I didn't hear anything, why does company always come at dinner time?' So I get up, because she will not leave it, what ever it is. I get to the front door, get her settled and open the door, huh, nobody there. I turn around to systematicly ask the dog about the issue, uh no dog. Puzzled I shut the door (puzzled because I'd never seen her scared, I niavely thought) and headed back to dinner and the game. Yeah you've guessed by now, I had no dinner left on my plate.
It really happened just like that, honest. Did she plan it using peices of memory of cause and effect? Sure seems to point in that direction. Did she know it was wrong? At 2 yrs undoubtedly. Did she feel any guilt? My obvious body language said that she should. No, in fact she looked quite pleased with herself.
I never had another problem like that with her.............I didn't give her another chance.
I'm with Mike A. What's the problem?

If my dog isn't learning, she must be eating something I want.
Randy

Edited by randy allen (01/15/2008 02:55 PM)
Edit reason: fill in

 Quote:

the poor kitty was stuck to the duct tape in about 5 places!

Hee hee hee :laugh: Yeah this happened to my friend's maine coon.. only it was just the cats tail that got firmly stuck, they had to cut the hair off to get the tape off. Funny looking feline for a month or so. Cat was cautious about counters after that. My current cat's lesson regarding counters was unintentional - I had mouse traps out for well.. mice! he managed to jump right on top of the darn thing. First and last time that kitty went on the counter.

 Quote: randy allen

My last GSD was I think about 2 yrs and I wanted to eat in front of the TV, probably some sport event I wanted to watch. Nice rib eye roast and bake potatoes ( I remember that well!), having sliced off the perfect rare pieces and gathered all my ill health supplements around the plate, all under the watchful eye of my faithful companion of course. Everything set? Dig in! The dog goes stupid! Runs to the front door barking like crazy. 'What the.........I didn't hear anything, why does company always come at dinner time?' So I get up, because she will not leave it, what ever it is. I get to the front door, get her settled and open the door, huh, nobody there. I turn around to systematicly ask the dog about the issue, uh no dog. Puzzled I shut the door (puzzled because I'd never seen her scared, I niavely thought) and headed back to dinner and the game. Yeah you've guessed by now, I had no dinner left on my plate.

Yep. THIS is the thinking that they're capable of that they're hardly ever given credit for. My childhood cocker did something similar, and ever since then, my eyes were opened as to how conniving they can be-and how intelligent, and I've always tried to err on the side of too much credit, rather than not enough. Why give your dog a glass ceiling? Anyway, my Mom made dinner, which Dad was too busy to eat, so Mom put a HUGE pot lid over the entire plate, (so it was on the table, not just resting on top of the food on the plate) so she could pick me up from a friend's house. Well, ten minutes later we return home and my Dad comes in to eat. He picks up the lid, and under it is a perfectly clean plate. The damn dog not only took the lid off and ate the food, but she put it back on!

 Quote: Randy

It really happened just like that, honest. Did she plan it using peices of memory of cause and effect? Sure seems to point in that direction. Did she know it was wrong? At 2 yrs undoubtedly. Did she feel any guilt? My obvious body language said that she should. No, in fact she looked quite pleased with herself.

LOL. Yep; I know exactly what you mean!

Haha, these wonderful examples make me realize I am not crazy at how smart animals can be. I have noticed the same type of behavior - which is the reason I keep them stuck to my side all the time.

I had a cat that managed to eat a fish out of one of those little plastic cups, not spill a single drop of water.. and the lid was still on the cup.. how do I know the cat did it? It barfed up a beta about 10 minutes later.

Jennifer, are you absolutely sure you had not used operant conditioning to teach this?

LOL :-p Pretty sure, Jenni

 Quote: jennifer marshal

I had a cat that managed to eat a fish out of one of those little plastic cups, not spill a single drop of water.. and the lid was still on the cup.. how do I know the cat did it? It barfed up a beta about 10 minutes later.

Did the dog then swoop in and snatch the "slightly-used" beta?

 Quote: connie sutherland

Did the dog then swoop in and snatch the "slightly-used" beta?

I think the new, politically-correct term is "pre-injested."

I'm thinking the dog is off in the shadows wondering how he's going to negotiate getting between the cat and Jen, That chewed up fish could be mine! The cat is thinking, 'oh s@&*#, I lost my lunch, and I beta get out of here!' Jen is thinking dark thoughts about how Asian cuisine may be in order for the night. Made with some fresh meat!

No cats in my house, the dog thinks they're food.
Randy

 Quote: jenni williams

I think the new, politically-correct term is "pre-injested."

LOL!! That sounds nasty! Can I have some?

I'm with the boys(or should I say men) on this issue. I have not had a counter surfing problem, though I did approach it from different training angle.

From the day Thor arrived at eight weeks old I would tether him to a doorknob at the entrance of the kitchen for every meal. When he would lay down quietly, I would toss him a tidbit. I never let the kids feed him from the table, but I did let them take turns throwing him something when he was down and quiet. Three meals a day every day afforded plenty of opportunities for positive reinforcement about the entrance to the kitchen being the best place to be when food was out.

By the time he was six months old he had generalized the location to his own meals, and would lay there when he saw me pick up his bowl and would wait to be released to eat. When he was about a year I began to give him more freedom and he has never counter surfed but to this day he will still lay at the same spot almost everyday when we eat. Of course I don't have to toss him food anymore but I do always give him a nice scritch or a small tidbit when the meal is done.

To illustrate how well this worked; he is now 8 years old. Saturday night I had made a roast beef while the Patriots were playing, I got called in to the living room to watch some play and left the roast beef on the table settling tented in tin foil. Never thought about the whereabouts of the dog. When I returned to the kitchen ten minutes later, he was laying in the tether spot, roast beef untouched on the table Until I read this post I didn't even give it a second thought. What a good boy,I might have to give him an extra leg quarter tonight.

Anyone who has a pup or a new dog may find this helpful. I'm not so sure how it would go with a dog that has already established the behavior of counter surfing but it's easier than catching in the act.