# How to keep 8 month old pup from going up on counters, stealing food from table



## Jonesythewonderpup (Oct 31, 2020)

We are frustrated! Our 8 month old pup has become a kitchen terror. He will NOT stay down off the counters (jumping up with two front paws on counter, using paws to reach across counter for food in middle of counter and dragging it toward him) and will steal my kids' lunches and dinners off the kitchen table daily. We hired a $500 dog trainer ($125/session) and all he can do is sit, stay, and down if we have a treat in our hand - he doesn't listen at all if we don't have a treat, and even if we do he prefers stealing off the table and won't listen to us if that's a possibility. He also won't stop jumping up on people. I asked the trainer about an ecollar because we are at the end of our rope with this issue (not here to debate the merits of the ecollar, I understand it's an issue people have strong feelings about) and he said it would be another $950 to learn how to use it. I don't know what to do! Jonesy is a sweet dog but we can't keep him if he is going to act like this for the next 13 years. Can anyone recommend a book? A website? We really want to be committed to him but we have tried a lot already. We spend tons of time with him. He goes on five 30+ minute walks per day and we take him to the dog park almost every day, despite trying to homeschool 5 kids! We are committed to him but we really have already invested more time and money than we ever dreamed necessary for a dog - we want to make this work. Any advice would help. Thank you!


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## Cavscout107 (Jun 11, 2018)

E-collar is a must with a Vizsla!!!!....we have one for our 3 year old....you dont need to use the shock button,..the vibrate and the beep works fine. When ours starts to act up...on with the collar and he knows its time to behave!


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## Jonesythewonderpup (Oct 31, 2020)

Cavscout107 said:


> E-collar is a must with a Vizsla!!!!....we have one for our 3 year old....you dont need to use the shock button,..the vibrate and the beep works fine. When ours starts to act up...on with the collar and he knows its time to behave!


Thank you so much for your response! Can you recommend a brand of collar? Also, can you recommend any resources that will educate me on how to use it properly as a training tool? Thank you again!


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## moverby (Feb 17, 2021)

Spray bottle with water! I was having the same problem with my Vizsla puppy (currently 6 months old), the counter surfing was constant and incredibly frustrating, and nobody's tips/tricks worked. I got a spray bottle and I spritz her face with water right when her front paws hit the counter and she HATES it... after a few sprays in one day the counter surfing was noticeably better and after a few days, totally done. She'll still jump up once in a while (I'm talking once every few days) but she sees me reach for the bottle and she gets down and sits. I'm careful to only do it when her paws are on the counter so she isn't confused if I run after her and spray her 5 seconds later. I'm not as consistent with it yet when she jumps on people but when I think of it or have the spray bottle nearby, it works! I'm not opposed to e-collars but I didn't want to jump right to it and the spray bottle has helped us avoid it so far.


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## InTheNet (Jun 1, 2016)

1 90-120 minute run (not walk) would be a lot better than a few 30 minute walks. 

We use an ecollar set very low/ I tried it on myself. Rarely have to use . the beep/vibrate works fine after an initial tickle.

Spray bottle good idea unless he likes it. 2 of our hated the water spray #3 loved it.


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## InTheNet (Jun 1, 2016)

Also have seen shock pads that you can put on counter/table. Probably not good with kids/cats.


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## Cavscout107 (Jun 11, 2018)

Jonesythewonderpup said:


> Thank you so much for your response! Can you recommend a brand of collar? Also, can you recommend any resources that will educate me on how to use it properly as a training tool? Thank you again!





Jonesythewonderpup said:


> Thank you so much for your response! Can you recommend a brand of collar? Also, can you recommend any resources that will educate me on how to use it properly as a training tool? Thank you again!


We bought a Bousnic Dog Training Collar from Amazon. Works great!.....stays charged and does the trick. Only had to use the shock button once,,,,the vibrate and the sound is all you need. It is around $60 on Amazon


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## Vegas Vizsla (May 3, 2020)

Absolutely love what the e-collar has done for our 1-year old V. He is off leash in the desert and off the beds and counter tops. It's all in how you use it, but I would have to agree that e-collar is the way to go. Educator 800 (The Boss) is what we use. We have also used the spray bottle, and that works too, but for long-term cures, e-collar. Look up Larry Krohn on YouTube.

Also, he gets very excited when we put the collar on, because he has a lot of fun when it's on! We do several miles a day with him, and he associates the collar with that. Again, it's all in how it's used.


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## alfie's mum (Jun 18, 2020)

Ours did this exact same thing out of nowhere at probably around 8 months as well. I'm not sure which of the two got him in the end, but it was a combination of the spray bottle (which yes, at first he liked as a young pup but now behaves at even the mention of "spray" or the sight of the bottle) and also a good stern scare. I am probably too soft on him, but one night a friend was over and he really scared him - low voice, yelled and stomped on the floor. Honestly it wasn't something I would have done but it seemed to do the trick. He never jumped up on the counter again. I feel your pain though, it seemed like we would never be able to leave food out again. He would literally just swallow whatever he could reach as fast as possible and not listen at all. It was however a fairly short phase which he grew out of quickly, so hoping for you yours does the same. 

I will also say 5 walks a day seems excessive. Not sure others will agree here, but I definitely feel that although Vs are obviously very active dogs, they adapt to the lifestyle you give them. As long as ours go off lead at the dog beach every morning for an hour, he is sweet for the rest of the day. Usually throw the ball for him at around 4/5pm when he gets his daily burst of energy before dinner. I feel like some V owners go way overboard with the exercise which only creates a dog that needs excessive exercise.


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## Vegas Vizsla (May 3, 2020)

alfie's mum said:


> I will also say 5 walks a day seems excessive. Not sure others will agree here, but I definitely feel that although Vs are obviously very active dogs, they adapt to the lifestyle you give them. As long as ours go off lead at the dog beach every morning for an hour, he is sweet for the rest of the day. Usually throw the ball for him at around 4/5pm when he gets his daily burst of energy before dinner. I feel like some V owners go way overboard with the exercise which only creates a dog that needs excessive exercise.


Once a day for ours is enough. He's out exploring for a good 45-90 min depending on where we go. Later we sometimes do something like a little training, or hide the ball (keeps him pretty busy), sometimes just lay on the couch.


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## Gidget (Jan 6, 2010)

E-collar for sure! I also have an 8 month old pup. Same counter surfing problem. We also have an educator-400. Love it! My safety net when she is off leash in the field and woods. Seldom have to use it but always have the remote on a lanyard around my neck. We are still working on the counter surfing issue. I feel your pain!! Our trainer has suggested that we plant things on the counter and sit with the e collar remote and wait for her to start her stealing fun. When she does, she gets a correction from us with the remote. Just started trying this and it’s beginning to work. I don’t think it will take long! The reason for “planting “ something on the counter and waiting for her to jump up is that we can catch her in the act. The problem was that we were never able to catch her and respond as quickly as we needed to to correct her. 
By the way, we had another e collar brand that we had for our previous Vizsla. It broke and our trainer suggested the educator. Love it because it has 100 different levels. We keep it very low. I have felt it on myself at a 25 level and it’s just a vibration. It also has a built in light on the collar which is amazing when taking her out at night. One other thing, try to find another trainer to show you how to use an e-collar if you have never used one. $950 is outrageous IMO!
Also we tried spray bottle early on with our girl. Worked at first and then it didn’t bother her anymore and she was back to her stealing mischief. Spray bottle works great for some though! Good luck!


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## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2019)

Jonesythewonderpup said:


> We are frustrated! Our 8 month old pup has become a kitchen terror. He will NOT stay down off the counters (jumping up with two front paws on counter, using paws to reach across counter for food in middle of counter and dragging it toward him) and will steal my kids' lunches and dinners off the kitchen table daily. We hired a $500 dog trainer ($125/session) and all he can do is sit, stay, and down if we have a treat in our hand - he doesn't listen at all if we don't have a treat, and even if we do he prefers stealing off the table and won't listen to us if that's a possibility. He also won't stop jumping up on people. I asked the trainer about an ecollar because we are at the end of our rope with this issue (not here to debate the merits of the ecollar, I understand it's an issue people have strong feelings about) and he said it would be another $950 to learn how to use it. I don't know what to do! Jonesy is a sweet dog but we can't keep him if he is going to act like this for the next 13 years. Can anyone recommend a book? A website? We really want to be committed to him but we have tried a lot already. We spend tons of time with him. He goes on five 30+ minute walks per day and we take him to the dog park almost every day, despite trying to homeschool 5 kids! We are committed to him but we really have already invested more time and money than we ever dreamed necessary for a dog - we want to make this work. Any advice would help. Thank you!


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## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2019)

We have an e- collar for our V as well. We keep it pretty low also. We also did the videos from Larry Krohn on you tube as well to learn how to use it. It’s been great for corrections as well as gives him the freedom to be off leash when we are our camping. It helps us to be able to establish boundaries for him. We have Garmin Delta and have really liked ours. It has a 3/4 mile radius and he can swim with it on. We have been using it to help with jumping up on people and it’s starting to solidify.


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## ohio vizsla (Apr 26, 2014)

1) The five 30 minute walks are nice, but they do almost nothing as exercise for a V. They need to be run, off leash, through fields and woods where they are busting through brush and jumping though cover to work them out. Mine are run ever day for 30 minutes to take the edge off of them. Then twice a week they are run an additional hour or two off of a 4 wheeler.
2) Start with a squirt bottle for the counter surfing, my V's hate it. It works on jumping too. The dog must be caught in the act. If mine are misbehaving, all I have to do is pick it up and they run.
3) Once you're sure the dog knows the commands you can reinforce them with the e collar. I would use this where you can't use a squirt bottle, like off leash when the dog is a distance away.
4) You bought a hunting dog, not a house pet. They are bred for high energy with endurance to run.
Good luck.


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## Vegas Vizsla (May 3, 2020)

ohio vizsla said:


> 4) You bought a hunting dog, not a house pet. They are bred for high energy with endurance to run.
> Good luck.


However, if you give them what they need , like off-leash running and exploring, then they make great housepets! I agree though, strictly leash walking is not going to do it, no matter how much they get. They need the mental stimulation from being off-leash, and having to manage recall and other commands. That mental work helps wear them out too.


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## Cavedog (Oct 21, 2010)

My previous V was a counter surfer. I took a treat and tied a foot long piece of string around it then placed it on the counter. I then tied the other end of the string to the trigger of a mouse trap. When he pulled the treat it set off the trap making a loud noise which startled him. After two or three times he never did it again.


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Our 18 week old girl started doing this a few weeks back. Non-stop paws on the countertops. We were consistent in correcting her with a firm NO, then praised her when all 4 paws where on the ground. Whenever she's in the kitchen with us and she was behaving, like just watching us/sitting there. I would randomly praise and reward her for that behavior. I think she finally realized she wasn't getting anything out of counter surfing but us correcting her, yet when she is calm and keeping 4 paws on the ground she gets random praise and rewards that now she has for the most part forgot about counter surfing. It took a week or so of doing this to have effect. Now its her game... "come into the kitchen while we are cooking and behave nicely game!"


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