Dutch Shepherd Forum

I have a 7 month old Dutch shepherd. She is good when I am around but if I leave her for a few hours or with family she becomes the biggest food thief there ever was. Counters, shelves, anything she can get to. She's smart. Knows she shouldn't. When you get back in she goes and hides and then you know she's done something. Bad thing is when I put her in a crate she looses her mind. Freaks out, her stomach gets upset too.

I'm interested to see what tricks of the trade there are. I don't have this issue yet and to not ever. Good luck in finding a solution. There are lots of smart people here that might be able to help you.

Crate training. Search crate games. You've gotta make the crate a fun and pleasant place for your dog.

she sounds high drive. counter surfing is hard to break because its a self rewarding act. i lost track of how many butters sadie ate.

just keep counters clean and free of stuff to get.

ive used a cat scat mat but sadie just surfs when its not threre

Hire a dog trainer

Steve Gossmeyer wrote: ↑Wed Aug 09, 2017 12:45 pm Hire a dog trainer

I train horses for a living. I'm not completely obtuse to training animals. Just looking for answers, and not a snarky remark.

Carpediemtara wrote: ↑Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:35 am

Steve Gossmeyer wrote: ↑Wed Aug 09, 2017 12:45 pm Hire a dog trainer

I train horses for a living. I'm not completely obtuse to training animals. Just looking for answers, and not a snarky remark.

This wasn't a snarky remark... asking the internet of people who have never seen your dog don't know how this is happening or what's going on in the home... if she's counter surfing I'm sure there's many other issues... it was just a suggestion! If you train animals then it should be simple to figure out for you but I didn't know you train horses and yet your dogs counter surfing which means A you aren't paying attention to the animal before it happens or B you aren't sure how to correct it! It's hard to tell someone how to correct an animal or stop a behavior when they have no clue about the dogs temperament or what the situation is! So no it wasn't snarky it was a simple yet effective solution to your issue!

As far as the dog knows she did something bad... this is a very common misconception! So she counter surfed you came home got upset and she was punished improperly so know when you come in she automatically thinks she's in trouble! So no she doesn't know she did something bad she's gotten used to when you come in she's in trouble! This come from your behavior when you've caught her... now the dog reads your vibes and goes shit I'm in trouble not oh crap I was on the counter she's reading your behavior...Dogs don't remember things they've done like this! You have to catch them in the act to stop the behavior effectively! As far as the crate goes try covering the crate with a blanket! That settles down a lot of dogs!

Back to my original point with the issues you are having a professional DOG trainer sounds like it is needed

Steve is right on point. Its not being snarky, its the truth. You wanted an answer and he gave you an answer, It may not have been what you had in mind

I am a horse trainer and have been for over 40 years, it is not really the same as training dogs. I have trained Ring SPort for many years as well by a Champion trainer.

Counter surfing is a self rewarding action. Its the human who must clean up after themselves as to not leave treats for the dog to get .

any time the animal does something the humans do not like, it is the humans fault.

its also called lack of self control, they don't have as much as you would like them to have. so if there is a yummy on the counter, sure as hell they will get it when you are not looking, or even if you are. So its up to you to clean up.

we put human things onto dogs. we know what we would like to go on around the home, they are animals, they have a whole different idea, food out?? its mine . Simple as that.

people think that dogs know when they did something bad, they don't, they are reacting to your body language, your smell , your voice. they just know' oh shit, mom is mad. they cant associate because THEY don't think counter surfing is bad. only humans do.

Trainers ARE the answer to many problems. I was a winning event rider, don't think I didn't have my own trainer to make sure I was not picking up bad habits,

If you go on my Instagram now you'll see videos of me training a well reknown horse trainers malinois!