Counter Surfing... It Will Happen to You
Another common issue we as Breeders see posted online is some poor and naive soul wants to know how to curb their whippet from the ongoing counter surfing. Surely there must be some amazing training tip or device that will deter the annoying habit of cruising counters and sometimes even cruising on TOP of counters?
Yes there is. It’s almost foolproof. Clean your counters! Yes that’s right, you heard me. Clean your counters, put away your food in cupboards and leave nothing out. We can almost hear the protesting from here. The moans, groans and sighs... but that is the key. Keep your counters clean.
There’s a few other things you need to keep in mind when you bring your new whippet puppy home. When your puppy is 3 months old he or she might want to counter surf but in all practical senses they can’t very effectively. Once a whippet gets to 6 months of age or shortly there after there will be a war waged on those counters if you haven’t already made some adjustments.
Additionally we like to think instead of curbing behaviour, how can we prevent them, if possible. So in order to set up your dog for success here’s a few quick tips.
Clean off your counters before your puppy comes home. Seriously. You’ll be too busy later!
Meal prep is a very exciting time of day not just for puppies but adult dogs as well. Instead of letting your dog follow you around the kitchen while you’re juggling pots and pans keep your puppy outside of the kitchen if possible. This would be a perfect time to work on crate training or feed your puppy in their crate or give them a Kong stuffed with frozen peanut butter.
Meal time: IF you leave your food unattended you WILL lose it. We don’t care how mature and well trained your current dogs are. One thing you need to understand is that whippets can be pigs.
Meal times; here’s another perfect time to work on crate training. Crate your puppy for the first 5-10 mins of your meal until you’ve settled into it. Then let your puppy out. Slowly you can work up the time so your dog doesn’t expect handouts (don’t get us wrong, dogs are optimists, they’ll always dream, but they’ll be settled into their routine).
Lastly and this is the second most important point. It’s nothing personal but remember if your whippet calculates that the distance between them and your food can be covered faster than you reaching them, guess what? You just lost your meal! Scolding, yelling or sternly correcting NEVER work effectively. So don’t get angry at your dogs, because you’ve been warned! If they steal your food, sorry but it’s your fault.