counter surfing help!!!!!!!

[lookingfornewf]

Clifford has been getting really bad about getting things off the counter, some food, some not. He has destroyed 2 watch bands, my toothbrush,etc, had a few whole loafs of bread, a bunch of bananas, just ate the bananas out and left the skins, 2 bags of jujubes, etc. All within a few weeks. Last week I bought the bitter yuck spray from petsmart, soaked pieces of bread and put it on the counter, in the sink, etc. I left for 15 minutes. It might as well have been gravy, he found them all and ate them, yummy , Today after he pulled a pot of soup off of the stove(fortunately it had cooled off). I got more bread, soaked it in Tobasco and put it out. He ate it too. Does the dog have no taste buds. He was licking his lips, but didn't even go for water.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

[Newly Newfed]

Isn't it a wonderful thing when your baby realizes he's big enough to reach just about anything he wants on the counter?  I really can't offer any solutions, just sympathy because I know how frustrating it is.  Sierra still does it at 13 months, but only occasionally now if there's something really yummy smelling on the counter.  I don't know if it was anything we did or if it was just her growing out of it, but it's finally not much of a problem anymore.  She did get up there about two weeks ago after we deep fried crab-cakes.  Yup, you guessed it - Oil all down the front of the stove, covering the dog, and all over the floor.  Here's the best part - we have carpeting in our kitchen.  The spots are still there and very noticible.  Oh well, it's another reason for me to convince Jeff that the carpet needs to come up and we need to put tile down.

What a clever boy you have for him to be able to peel a banana!!  Though I'm sure "clever" wasn't the word going through your head when you found it...LOL! 

[lookingfornewf]

Thanks for all the help. I guess we'll try more training. We'll try the sneak approach of watching him when things are out. He doesn't do any of it when he know I'm there, I just need to convince him I'm always watching. The baby gate thing doesn't work in our case. He has got things off of the bathroom counter, kitchen counter, kitchen table, coffee table and office desk, it's not just a food thing. And he has lots of toys and another dog to play with. I guess he's just testing me.

[lins_saving_grace]

get a water bottle and squirt him when he gets on the counter.   cheyenne pepper may work.
i too also push things so fara back on the counter that grace won't see, smell or surf.   it becomes a habit against counter surfing.   we have a bad habit of making our counters so tempting with all the yummy stuff.

[Mojo1269]

One last thing to reinforce is to keep things off the counter that Clifford can grab.  I have more issues with my 45 pound hound counter surfing than my Mastiff.  I recieved a hillariouse text message when I was on vacation two weeks ago from my friend/dog sitter who was suprised that Duke stole her Pizza off the kitchen counter.  When I got Voodoo my Dane she was the Peanut Butter Queen.  If I left a jar out and left the house it was hers. Whether the lid was on or not!!     To this day I leave very little out on the counter or anywhere that either dog can get to.  This is easy for me as I am single with no kids but it is effective.

[Edwpang]

About setting up, I have an idea: use a thread to tie to the 2 pop cans, put it on the edge of table or counter, and put a piece of bread or whatever food your pup like near the thread but to inside of the table or counter. Wait and see what will happen... I did this twice with Butter, he triggered the trap. The pop cans fell to the ground with loud noice and the thread caught him in the neck, off he ran dragging the pop cans...

[Newly Newfed]

It's a pain but the house looks cleaner. 

And there's your silver lining!  LOL!

Sierra did the same thing.  I was checking out BPO and our computer is in the kitchen, and not 10 feet behind me, Sierra silently grabbed a brown bag with a bagel in it, walked past me into the living room, and proceeded to enjoy the bagel.  I only realized when I saw the bag on the floor ripped open.

It's amazing how silent such a large dog can be when they want to be.   

[Lyn]

Bubba 'was' my counter surfer. The first and only time he 'counter surfed' He was eyeing the Christmas turkey we had just taken out of the oven. I saw him eyeballing it put him in a down stay in the living room and went to get a tablecloth. While I'm looking through the closet I hear yelping and there's Bubba hightailing it out of the kitchen. Laying on the kitchen floor was a turkey leg.. intact and steaming HOT! Dummy big head thought he could 'grab and scarf' instead he burnt his mouth. Yes he was fine for those wondering other than his stinging lips.. but he's never touched anything on the counter since.

[Newly Newfed]

It's a painful lesson, but at least Bubba learned the "once burned, twice shy" lesson.  Sierra must have burned her nose or mouth on the hot oil she pulled off the stove.  It didn't stop her from licking the pan clean and it didn't stop her from going up on the counter again to get the bagel.  How can she demonstrate such intelligence one minute, and such stupidity the next?