Counter-Surfing and other Self-Rewarding Dog Behaviors
What is Counter-Surfing? Whether you have recently brought a puppy into your home or you have adopted an older animal, you may be experiencing what is commonly known as counter-surfing, where your dog will help himself to any food that is in reach, regardless of whether it is in his bowl or on the kitchen table. Like raiding the garbage, it is known as self-rewarding behavior; in self-rewarding behavior, a dog takes the initiative and is rewarded food. This is completely natural behavior, however undesirable it is from the dog owner's standpoint, but it is still behavior that can be trained out. The first thing to realize is that self-reward behavior is normal to dogs; if food is left unattended or unguarded, it is normal dog behavior to take advantage of this. This does not mean that your dog is greedy or ill-behaved. Instead, this implies that your dog has a healthy self-preservation instinct. In the wild, scavenging the leavings of other hunters is often a less dangerous way to get food than killing it yourself. When your dog counter-surfs, he is simply carrying through an a healthy instinct. Unfortunately, this healthy instinct can be annoying at best and fatal at worse; many of the things your dog might find in the trash can can kill him, from sharp chicken bones to things like antifreeze. Although it is frustrating, try to keep yourself from being upset or angered by this behavior. Anything that is left in reach of your dog is fair game, at least according to the way he sees the world! When you notice that your dog has made a habit out of counter-surfing, you will need to decide what actions to take. You need to make the choice between never leaving any food within reach of your dog or training your dog to such an extent that he will leave your food alone. Even with the later option, keep in mind that there is no reason to take chances and you should still never leave anything very tempting within reach. If you decide to keep all food out of your dog's reach, one way to do this is to segregate your dog entirely. Designate food areas and food preparation zones as off limits and divide them off with stretch gates or similar barriers. When it comes the garbage cans, make sure that they are behind closed doors or have very tight fitting lids. You may also want to make sure that the garbage can is metal and thus harder to tip over. Similarly, you can choose to move your garbage can outside to the garage or a similar area. If you are willing to put in the time and the effort, training your dog stop counter-surfing and raiding the garbage can is ideal, but keep in mind that no dog is perfect, especially in the face of strong temptation. A set-up is where you arrange a trap to to be waiting for your dog when he goes after something that he should not. Ideally, you will set up the situation to closely mirror what the dog would encounter when he is getting ready to chow down. One way to do a set up is to pretend to be ignoring him while you are actually paying very close attention. Set up some food and when you notice your dog getting ready to take a bite, you scold him. When you "catch him in the act" you can punish him and have it stick; he will begin to associate the action with the scolding and learn that he wants to avoid both of them. Keep in mind that if you don't catch him in the act that scolding him will only confuse him. Some people also get positive results by booby trapping the food and using something to make the food itself repellent. You can use snap traps that are designed to make a loud snap or deliver a stinging pinch to your dog when he gets into them, or if you are trying to keep him away from your trash cans, you can use a fence charger to deliver a mild electric shock to the offender. Make sure that your tactics don't hurt your dog, but also make sure that they are strong enough to get the point across. Remember that when you train your dog and remove temptation from his path that you are doing everyone a service. You'll be happier when your dog stops counter-surfing, and your dog will be happier when you are no longer constantly angry with him!
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