How do I stop my rescue dog from stealing food off the counter?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! More than focusing on the negative of when he does that behavior, ideally, you would focus on positive reinforcement. This means that when he does something negative like that you let him know that it is wrong. However, it is more important to focus on the positive. When he gets close to the table and is not trying to get food off the table, praise him and give him a treat. This will help him associate not getting food off the table with something positive and can help with this undesirable behavior. Good luck and have a good night!

It's very normal for dogs to be interested in what you're eating, and most dogs will happily try to snatch food from tables or trays if they have never been taught what you want them to do during mealtime. In the short term, I would recommend using a baby gate or other barrier to keep Diesel out of the room while you're eating. You could also put her in her crate, if she's crate-trained. This will prevent her from being able to practice the unwanted behavior of trying to take your food, and allow you to eat in peace. Another option would be to give her something to chew on, such as a bully stick or a Kong toy stuffed with peanut butter, to keep her busy during mealtimes. As a longer-term solution, you can work on teaching her to stay on a special mat or dog bed while you eat - this gives her something specific to focus on, and a more polite way of earning a treat. You can start by encouraging her to lay on her bed, and rewarding her immediately with a treat when she lays down on it. Reward her frequently at first for staying put, then gradually work up to longer and longer periods without a reward as she gets better at this. Eventually, you can ask her to lay on her bed during the entire meal, in exchange for a single treat at the end.

If you can catch them in the act you can startle them with a sound and then redirect behavior. If you find the evidence later then ignore it. If they constantly pull from the counter then you may need to work on training him out of it. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

Some dogs experiment around this age and if you continue to correct him when he jumps on the counter he may 'grow out of it'. Other dogs are just too tempted by food on counters and tables and will continue to counter surf. Unfortunately it can be a hard habit to break since you rarely catch them in the act. The best way to prevent this behavior is to make sure no food is left unattended on the counters or to prevent Koda's access to areas where food is unattended.

Dogs can develop habits just like humans. It’s possible Zeus was unaware that he could reach the human food until recently. Dogs learn by cause-and-effect. He jumped on the counter, got something to eat and that is a positive experience for him. He will likely continue this behavior because it is a positive experience every time. You must prevent him from having this experience or else he will just continue it. Sometimes increases in appetite can be related to endocrine disease. You may have his blood tested to look for hypothyroidism or Cushing’s disease. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

It's a natural behavior for your dog to want to be a part of the action (especially when food is involved). To keep your dog away from the dining area it would be a good idea to crate train him so he is not around at meal time. Also, giving him his own snack that will occupy him (like a Kong stuffed with frozen peanut butter) while you are having dinner should help. This article on crate training should be of help to you: https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-crate-train-your-puppy-or-older-dog/ Thanks for using PetCoach!

Hello, silly Chloe! She now knows that there is food on the table. When eating, I would distract her with an extra activity and maybe remove her from the dining room to keep her from getting into food or developing a begging behavior. Its really hard to resist delicious pizza, but begging behavior in dogs takes time and patience to control. You may feed her at the same time in a separate room as well. Ive found, that removing them from the environment that elicits unwanted behavior works best. Hope this helps.