Countersurfing Is Not a Sport

Now that the holidays are over, we’re going to return to our series about service dog house manners. So far, we’ve discussed general house manners (Mind Your Manners) and no jumping (Four on the Floor: Training YourDog Not to Jump). Since it’s getting close to lunch time, and we’re feeling a little hungry, we’re going to talk about canine kitchen manners, specifically manners during people food preparation and countersufing.

Contrary to what many dogs might wish, countersufing (jumping on counters to investigate and/or steal something) is not a canine sport. Our dog learn that they must ignore things on the counter and stay out of the way when their puppy raiser or partner is preparing food.

During food preparation for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, dogs should not be underfoot, standing next to you, or sniffing at the counter. In fact, you should be able to leave food on the counter and walk away without your dog countersurfing or stealing the food. You should be able to leave steaks out to thaw all afternoon or store your apples in a fruit basket without worrying that your dog will jump up and swipe them.

To teach good kitchen manners, we start by leaving young puppies in a crate in the room while we’re preparing food. Once they learn the “go to bed” cue, we can use that to keep the dogs in one spot. “Go to bed” means that the dog goes to a designated bed or blanket, which can be in the kitchen, lies down, and stays there.

If the puppy is out of his crate and starts sniffing or jumping on the counter, we use an “eh eh” sound to let them know they shouldn’t be doing that behavior, and we reward them when they keep all four paws on the floor.

If an older dog jumps up on the counter, it’s perfectly acceptable to use a loud “Hey!” and gently use their collar to pull them off. These rules about countersurfing apply for food, toys, and anything on the counter or table.    

It’s very important to teach a dog not to investigate counters and tables. A dog that countersurfs may not be able to be placed as a working service dog. Their future partner may not have the physical strength to remove the dog from the counter. Plus, service dogs are supposed to fit seamlessly into their partners’ lives and to help them be more independent. Providing someone with a countersurfing service dog would only add additional stress to their lives.  

By teaching service puppies in training that countersurfing is not a sport, they will be well on their way to becoming a service dog and changing someone’s life.

Dinner with the Dogs

Sixteen dogs, over 25 people, countless dishes of delicious food - do you think it's possible for all of that to be in one room without mishaps?

We think so. In fact, we know so.

On Wednesday evening, we held our annual Dinner with the Dogs. Puppy raisers and the dogs-in-training met in the big conference room at Keystone Children & Family Services so the dogs could practice table manners during a meal. We hold a potluck-style dinner in the conference room rather than go to a restaurant so we have more control over the environment and can set the dogs up for success.

The food was delicious, and the dogs did a wonderful job! During the meal, you wouldn't have known that there were 16 dogs in the room. The dogs lay under the table and practiced becoming "invisible." Even the young puppies did a great job - which in turn means that their puppy raisers are doing great!

When we're teaching table manners, we often wear our treat pouches or keep a cup of kibble at the table, so we can reward the dog for good behavior. If the dog is in a nice, quiet down-stay, we will reinforce that behavior by giving him a treat. Because there were so many other distractions at our Dinner with the Dogs (smell of food, lots of people and dogs), our puppy raisers used power treats like cheese whiz, chicken, and hot dogs.

Check out these photos of some of the dogs and their table manners:

Part 4: Canine Manners Around Food

While meals are being prepared, regardless of whether it's a four-course dinner or a quick midnight snack, our service dogs must stay away from the food. Dogs can either remain in a down-stay or just remain out of the area. We do not want our service dogs sniffing or counter-surfing (running their nose along the counters in hopes of swiping tasty people food). We actually do not even want service dogs to be underfoot when food is being prepared. The dogs could become a danger to both themselves and their partners if they're wandering through the kitchen while their partner is making a meal. Service dogs must also ignore any food left on counters, the stove, tabletops, etc. when their partner leaves the room.

We start teaching dogs to leave people food alone when they're still puppies. We start by crating them during food prep. Now, many people associate crates with punishment, but that isn't true for our service dogs. Crate actually become sources of comfort for the dogs, especially because service dogs are working dogs. When our dogs go in their crate, they know that work time is over and they can just relax and hang out.

If we don't crate puppies during food prep, we keep one eye on the puppy so we can proactively discourage any attempts to check out the people food. For example, we might use a gentle "eh-eh" sound or push them off the counter. When the puppy stays away from the counter on his own, we reinforce his behavior with good things, such as attention or treats.

To help teach puppies to ignore people food, some of our puppy raisers begin by eating a snack at a coffee table. They may use clicker training to reinforce the puppy's behavior when the puppy ignores the food. Using this method, one puppy raiser can now eat on the couch with her service-dog-in-training at her feet, and the dog shows no interest in the food!

When we find our older dogs (4-6 months or older) sniffing around the counters or with their paws actually up on the counter, we use stronger verbal correction and push the dog off the counter. For older dogs, a dog bed can serve as a good place to "anchor" the dog during food prep. The dog learns to stay on his bed while his partner is preparing food, unless instructed otherwise.

When teaching dogs not to counter-surf, it's important to remove any items from the counter that might tempt the dog, especially if you need to leave the room.

At meal time, our service dogs must lie quietly or just "hang out," meaning the dog stays away from the table and shows no interest in the food. This will take lots of practice. If dogs sniff at food, we use a verbal "eh-eh" sound. Some of our puppy raisers keep a cup of kibble on the table to reinforce their dog for good behavior.

Ultimately, our service dogs need to perform good manners around food regardless of where they go. This means that in restaurants, they must lie quietly under the table without sniffing, whining or barking. It's easiest to teach good behaviors at home and gradually introduce the dog to other environments to generalize behaviors.

Check out the photo on SSD Hawk's blog to see an example of a service-dog-in-training's self control around food. Even though some of the goodies are dog treats, it demonstrates the skills around food that we're looking for in our service dogs.

Look for our next post about dogs and bolting through doors.