Dog counter surfs for items to destroy

[nondwe]

My mom’s dog is about 1.5-2 years old. She is a collie doodle mix. Any time that a human is not awake or home, she will counter surf. She doesn’t do it for food, just for whatever she can reach and chew on. I don’t under why or how to correct the behavior. For the most part, she is not alone. My sister’s dog usually comes over at least 3 times a week. She also has a ton of toys. However, we usually have to move everything off of or away from the countertop and table, or else we risk it being destroyed and or outside (depending on the seasonal availability of the dog door). I don’t know what to do to correct the behavior. I am worried about her health, as well as tired of replacing things. I’m a cat person, and I have very little experience in the realm of trainings dogs. Please help!!!

 

[solochristo65]

@nondwe Generally dogs pick up this behavior after they got a reward (food, a chewable object, etc) once for doing it. You need to prevent them from getting the reward (which it sounds like you’re already doing) by keeping items inaccessible/out of reach, or preferably put out of sight. Also wiping counters is important because dogs will smell food traces, which makes the whole area seem great, food or not.

You can also teach her the off/leave it command. This will help teach them that they get a reward (possibly a better reward) by not counter surfing.

I’m not sure how much exercise/play your moms dog gets regularly, but tiring her out will help as well. Even if a dog has a friend and toys, it’s generally not consistently tiring exercise/play especially for a younger dog. Dogs tend to chew on inappropriate objects because they don’t have a suitable object (doesn’t seem like the issue) and boredom. Walks, runs, frisbee, etc. where they’re moving constantly are great.

This all being said, counter surfing is hard to untrain because they generally do it when we’re not looking. It’ll take some time for the dog the make all the connections (it took my dog at least a year to realize they were never getting a reward for doing it).

 

[nondwe]

@solochristo65 I’ve been trying to get her more out and active. Sometimes it works. The primary issues are in the morning after mom leaves for work, but before I wake up to get started at work. She usually leaves around 6:30 am, while I don’t start waking up and getting ready until 8:30

 

[deinien]

@nondwe Have you ever thought of crate training? Especially with younger dogs, I would never leave them unattended. If I'm sleeping, out of the house or I'm busy doing other things, our dogs is crated. The only dog who really gets to roam the house is our 8 years old dog but even then sometimes I have to crate her to prevent her from picking up and eating things that could harm her.

 

[nondwe]

@deinien Unfortunately, it isn’t my choice to make for crate training because she is my mother’s dog. Plus, my sister usually just brings her dog by and drops her into the house without coming in, which would drive the younger dog crazy.

 

[crazybeautiful56]

@nondwe If you can, talk to your mom about crate training. The way I frame it for most people is crate training vs a thousand dollar vet bill because your dog got into something it shouldn’t.