Have you ever come home to pot roast packaging decorating your kitchen floor? Or sugar or cereal strewn about?
Believe it or not, there is help, so start by asking yourself these questions:
- Is your dog bored? Is he using your kitchen as a personal entertainment center? Try teaching him a new skill like Frisbee to burn off excess energy.
- Have you puppy proofed your kitchen? This means putting all food away when you’re not there to supervise. You could also clean your counters with fresh lemon which will taste bitter to the dog but make your kitchen smell great.
- Does your kitchen have a boundary? This is an invisible line that your dog is not allowed to cross without permission: it keeps pups safe and out of trouble. You can also use a baby gate to block Bowser out of your kitchen.
- Does Fido have food toys? Try keeping him busy with Kongs and Twist & Treats while you’re in the kitchen cooking or when you have company.
- Does Your Dog Know a Super Solid Leave-It? It can work wonders for counter surfers. Set up training sessions and reward dog for ignoring food on counter and progress to dropped food on the floor. Teach dog that she can only have dropped items when invited. Practice lots of different training scenarios including food on table & on coffee table and anywhere else you can think of until she’s super solid.
NOTE: Set your dog up for success and don’t let her fail. Shoot for a 80% success rate before making training harder and don’t forget to reward her for being good!