My "puppy" steals food from the counter?

Question

I have a 7 month old Golden Retriever. Lately she has been stealing food from the kitchen counter. Yesterday alone she got pancakes, garlic bread and bacon!!!!! I have never owned a big dog before, so I've never had this problem. Please tell me how to get her to stop. Yelling, hitting and sending her outside isn't working. My husband wants to get a shock collar... what are your thoughts?

1. A gate is not an option
2. She already went to puppy training
3. YES, I was hit as a child (rarely), and no I was not scarred for life. I learned my lesson.
4. There are times when leaving food on the counter is a necessity.
5. I love the cup of water idea....I'm waiting for her to take the bait as I write.

Answer 1

I have a huge youngster, that was constantly getting things off the counter or off the stove, and even out of the sink, so that I was paranoid about leaving the room with anything left out. I had to store things on top of the bookcase!
Then, I found the Tattle Tale..Wow! Now, I don't have to worry, and he stays out of the kitchen.( open floor plan, so no barrier between living-room and kitchen) .Best little investment that I ever made, and far cheaper than a vet bill!
I will post a link..Here are a couple of them: http://home.search.ebay.com/tattle-tale_Pet-Supplies_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQcatrefZC12QQfromZR40QQsacatZ1281
But you can get them from Dr.s foster & Smith, as well..
It just sounds a high pitched alarm that dogs hate.

Answer 2

Try small training sessions with a choke collar. Place some food on the counter, and have a leash and choke collar on your dog. when she jumps for the food, give a quick snap of the lead and a loud, firm "NO" or "Leave it" or whatever word you want to use. Then make her sit. You can use treats, but make sure you don't feed her off the counter or table, because otherwise you'd just confuse her. If the choke collar doesn't work, step up the corrections, like say, have a spray bottle of Bitter Apple handy, and spray her mouth when she does it. If that doesn't work, use a pinch collar. Usually the pinch collars will get the point across. And use the pinch for training purposes only!!!
Larger breed puppies take longer to mature and seem to be more trouble at times than the smaller breeds. It just takes patience and consistancy. At least you have the advantage of addressing the problem early on.

Answer 3

When my golden mix was a young she started the same thing. As soon as the kitchen was empty, she went "counter cruising".

I solved the problem by setting her up. I tied string to a piece of food. The other end of the string was tied to a small glass of water. I placed the food near the edge of the counter with the glass behind, left the kitchen and waited. It didn't take long and she tried to grab the food, and ended up with a face full of water.

She never went counter cruising again. She wasn't afraid of the kitchen, and still loved her swims. The only this it did was teach her to leave food on the counter alone.

Its worth a try, especially since you won't have to be in sight for it to work. If you are there to correct when she tries to grab food off the counter, she may learn to wait until you leave room first. Just place the bait and go about your business, and act like nothing happened when she grabs the bait.

Yelling and hitting are really ineffective training methods, especially with a self reinforcing behavior like this.

Answer 4

Teaching a dog of any size what is his space and what is your space is important. If you do that, it applies to everything, anything and everywhere. No, you don't need a shock collar, in fact, a whistle, a new years eave sound maker, anything that sort of shocks and gets your pet's attention when you forcefully say no! I used to have a problem going to the most PRIVATE room in the house, so I taught my dogs, all 5 of them, what "MY SPACE" meant. now, it doesn't matter if I am in my private room, sitting on the couch being a slob eating on a tray, whatever, if I say, "MY SPACE", they leave...in fact, they even line themselves up just outside of MY SPACE and guard it, as if appointed by the doggie god above. Consistancy, that's what counts. You can say whatever you want, just be consistant. I chose not to say no because they hear that all the time anyway, and I wanted a phrase that applied just to "get out of my space"...get away from my food....get away from the counter, the table, the whatever. Remember, in the beginning, reinforce your command with a loud whistle, a blower, a noise maker of some kind, and timing is of the essence. Good luck and I do hope that this suggestion helps.

Answer 5

none of those ideas will work by the way. She needs training, and at that age they are just full of mischievous things and are always getting there self into bother what you need to do is this.

When she jumps up have a bottle ready filled with stones and rattle it, but only when she jumps up, then at the same time you've rattled the bottle you take her off of the counter and in a firm voice say no! and keep repeating this don't get a shock collar and don't hit her!

Answer 6

Easy - I have two goldens and have never had this problem. We don't leave food sitting out. And we taught our dogs to stay out of the kitchen. You do this by putting them in a down-stay at the entry to the kitchen. When no food is left out and no human food is ever given to the dog, there's no incentive to go in the kitchen.

You don't need a shock collar - it is cruel and ridiculous for this situation. You just need to do some basic dog training.

Answer 7

Well, my method for training my dog to get off the counter is a little messy, but it worked for me. (I mean we're talking she would literally be ON the counter walking around on the kitchen! She would even chew up dirty dishes waiting to be washed!!) As soon as the kitchen was clear we sprinkled cayenne pepper, tabasco sauce, and other sorts of spicy stuff on the stuff we knew she'd chew while we were gone.

She doesn't get on the counter anymore :)

Answer 8

I have a 7 month old Golden Retriever. Lately she has been stealing food from the kitchen counter. Yesterday alone she got pancakes, garlic bread and bacon!!!!! I have never owned a big dog before, so I've never had this problem. Please tell me how to get her to stop. Yelling, hitting and sending her outside isn't working. My husband wants to get a shock collar... what are your thoughts?
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my dog (also a golden retreiver) once jumped up on the counter when we werent home and ate thawing hamburgers lol - u just gotta b firm and if he starts beggin then just say *firmly: "GO LAY DOWN" and his ears should go down and hell walk away

Answer 9

Honeslty I would tell her No but if she doesnt listen Raise your voice and show her whos boss and just dont keep food on the counter put it in the fridge or a pantry because my cousins labrador does the same thing and Honeslty it sounds crazy but he opens the fridge with his teeth and grabs a froosty paw and also he knows how to open the front door he jumps up and puts his paw and it opens he is really smart

Answer 10

yeah, big dogs do that. you have to just be consistent. every time she even goes near the counter, say 'no' and call her back. don't be overly dramatic or loud, just firm. we don't even let our dogs into the kitchen AT ALL unless it is meal time for them. the rest of the time we make them stay out and if they even go near we call them back. they have learned now. just keep at it. maybe spray her with a water bottle when she tries it. they usually don't like that too much and it gets the message across. i think a shock collar is a bit much for now; you need to establish the rules, that's all.