How can I get my 6 mos old black lab to stop jumping up on the kitch. counter where the food is ?

Question

Sometimes my spouse leaves paring knives on counter - which irritates me - I'm afraid the dog will jump up and grab it in her mouth. I know she's looking for food. We feed her well - We used the command "off" & it doesn't work very well - she'll get down , but do it again later & again.

Answer 1

Ah yes, the age old problem of keeping labs away from food...They're very stubborn and food motivated and will do ANYTHING to get to something that has been left on the counter or to an unattended plate on the table...

I've had labs all of my life, the only sucess I've EVER had from training them that the counter and table is not the place for them is with a shock collar. It only takes a couple of zaps at a low setting before they learn. Labs have a very high tolerance for pain, so scolding them or swatting them ususally doesn't help much, if at all.

Answer 2

My dog does the VERY same thing. The ruffians.

We've tried putting cayenne pepper on the counter, and that worked for a day or two, but the most successful thing is being conscientious about cleaning up all dirty dishes and food on counter that would attract a curious dog, and spray the dog with the kitchen sink hose or a squirt bottle. This water method has seemed to really help.

Also I started implementing a program where the dogs are NOT ALLOWED IN THE KITCHEN... AT ALL.
No exceptions, when I find them in the kitchen I immediatley and firmly kick them out.

This has worked very well.

Answer 3

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Since it is obvious that you do not have a clue about obedience training, your services should be for free. You cannot train even an adult dog for 8 hours a day. About the most that can be done at any one time is 10 - 20 minutes and that is with an adult dog and not a puppy. The attention span on this baby is extremely short and training session should be no more than 10 minutes and twice a day. Additionally, there isn't going to be much learned if you will only be training for 5 days. Obedience training is cumulative and is done over a much longer period of at least several weeks to several months.
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Answer 4

Just keep using "Off" over and over and over. Be consistent.

We've had amazing success with a spray bottle full of water with our sixteen month-oldJack Russell Terrier. We've only had to spray him once or twice. Now just showing him the bottle stops him mid-whatever-he's-doing-wrong. We haven't managed to figure out quite how to prevent bad behavior quite yet, but we've only had him about three months, and he was rescued from a very bad situation so we're not giving up.

The spray bottle does nothing with our five year old "Heinz 57", though. He's a relatively good dog, but, he's not perfect. We've found that following the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) process works with him, but we aren't as strict as we ought to be with it.

http://www.k9deb.com/nilif.htm

Most importantly, your spouse needs to know that absolutely whatever else s/he forgets, knives left on the counter are 100% unacceptable. Most other things can be forgiven but knives and medication must absolutely be put away. They aren't a nuisance, they can't just cause a mess, they could kill a mischievous dog. Our laziness doesn't excuse that.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Get a properly fitted slip (chain) choker and yank on it any time that she jumps up and say in a clear, firm voice, "No". Other than that, train her to stay near you at all times. A thousand ear scratches are every bit as effective as one pull on the collar. Don't spare either one. If she is doing ANYTHING right, give her luvin's. If she does the wrong thing, correct it with a yank on the collar. Then resume praise as soon as she does the right thing.

Dogs and kids are easy to understand and modify behavior. It's the adults that insist on making everything so darn difficult.

Answer 7

This is harsh but it works. They sell "Scat mats" on ebay that will give their feet a shock when they put them on the mat. Also a SMALL mouse trap. Do not use the large traps as this will injure the dog. But since you hav a large dog you can use a small trap and when it snaps shut t stings like crazy and scares the mess out of them. I never used the traps because I have kids and I know one would stick a finger in it and their fingers are small enough to be caught in it. I do know of several people who used them and it does work! You are right to be concerned about knives!! I saw the ER vet show not too long ago (not sure of the name of the program) but a dog had swallowed a large kitchen knife. No one knew, they took it to the Vet because it would not eat. After looking at the x-rays, the Vet said, had that dog so much as tripped and fell the knife would have cut him badly and he would have blead out internally and died. They had to open the stomach to remove the knife. Good luck!

Answer 8

6 months is a little too young to expect perfect behavior, but repition will help. Put something tempting on the counter, bring her in hte room with a leash and collar.

When the dog goes to sniff the counter, say"Off" and pull her off if necessary. As soon as she is on the floor, praise her and give her a treat. Pretty soon she'll associate the OFF with the being on the floor and the treat.

Another good game is "Leave it". Teach her to leave anything that she is sniffing....in return for a reward. In fact, you might want to subsitute off for leave it.....that way there is just one command that means "don't eat that".

Answer 9

no i dont know any dog that talks english to me if dogs where you are talk english please let me know you have to train your dog like your kid or as if you had one.ok so if the dog is jumping up onto the counter, have a piece of food or give the dog its food at the same time, when the food is on the counter call the dog show it food then take both to the laundry or w/e then walk away. if the dog leaves take the dog back to the food. try that there is another couple of ways to teach an old dog new tricks xD.hf gl................ damn look at all these replies and one of them says they have had them all their life huh ive had to deal with show dogs :P teach not zap or w/e would you zap your kid if they did something wrong no you would teach them better........... once you teach your dog right simple words are easy BUT you got to teach first

Answer 10

i know it sounds cruel but what you need to do is either step on her/his feet and say "no" but make sure you dont hurt her and dont do it to hard just to make it sting then she'll start listening