Does your dog steal food when you are not around to discourage it?
When your dog takes liberties with foodstuffs left on the counter in your presence, a stern, “No”, or “Leave It” often suffices. For most dogs, the message is clear enough that they actually become trustworthy when your eyeballs are elsewhere. For the dogs who somehow miss that message and are on your plate faster than you can say “Surfs Up!” there is help.
Allowing your dog to up onto the furniture is the most common contributor to stealing food off of surfaces. Yes, you read that right! Dogs that are allowed up on the furniture generally believe that if they can reach it, it is available to them. Think about this. If your dog is allowed to sit in a chair, why would she think that the sandwich sitting on the table is off limits to her? Dogs that are not allowed on the furniture intuitively understand that things above a certain height are not directly available to them. Unless a human gives it to me, that resource is not mine. After all, this is what the boundaries of obedience training are based on. All resources must be obtained through the human! See my section on getting your dog off the couch. If you follow this bit of advice you will find that in a short time, the table or counter surfing fades away.
