That is hilarious!!

Now that’s a cute story! I have dogs, but can’t think of a funny dog training one. Nigel was a year old when we got him. He ate crayons. Didn’t make cleaning up after him funny, just more interesting :) Zoey was 6 month old when we got her. It should have been a hint of what is to come when she ran as soon as they opened her kennel at the shelter. Got a professional trainer after pulling my hair out for about 3 month.

At first I thought, 'Not a good idea' but after thinking about it, it could turn out to be brilliant. Maybe she'll think everything on the counter is yucky. :-))))

Georgy is a counter surfer.....never in our presence. She's too clever for that. If no one is around, another story. For the most part I've taught myself to put things either way out of reach, or surround something with lots of pots. The problem with that, some times you just forget.

I had a schnauzer who would occasionally steal food. One night I was eating sushi and she wouldn't leave me alone. So - as a deterrent - I put some wasabi on my finger and gave it too her. Not too much, but of course that stuff is strong.

She licked it down and looked at me. Then her nose started to water up....I know that feeling.

Then she wagged her tail.

That’s hilarious! Our first set of dogs were out of control. We hired a trainer to come to the house and we would all work together every day. After a week he quit showing up and wouldn’t return phone calls!

LOL crayons ... would make it easier to know exactly who did what, where!

"Bitter Apple" is supposed to taste awful. But I've heard of dogs not minding it. Maybe the same ones that wag for wasabi!

That's hilarious!

Not a dog, but my dog-like cat. I used to feed him tidbits. Bad idea. One day, I had cooked a turkey breast and was slicing it up to store in sandwich portions. I’d slice a few, then turn slightly to put them in a bag. Turn back, slice a few, turn slightly to put them in a bag. Turn back . . . to see the scalawag in mid-air with a slice of turkey breast, spin around while in flight, and land halfway throught the dining room door and in a flash he was on the other side of the room with his loot.

Another time, I was sitting on the floor, using the coffee table as my dining table for a Wendy’s burger while I read a book. Out of the corner of my eye, the same scalawag slides the patty from between the buns!

Like I said, pretty dog-like lol.

cats are full of personality too, aren't they! bet he didn't give you any of the turkey or burger back, lol!

Do not encourage your dog/pup to " put her paws up there to see what was going on."

That's a terrible indiccator of what you are doing wrong in general.

Have you and the pup been to Puppy Kindergarten or similar? Is your "pup" housebroken? Crate Trained? Walk comfortablyon a led or leash.

Yeah, I'd discourage the putting paws up to look ASAP. Countersurfing can be a real PITA. Yeah, cute when you want it, not so cute when she steals things the minute your back is turned!

Our pups have always loved lettuce. So when I'm making salad, I make sure some of it goes to the dog. Nice and crunchy. One day I turned my back and Kesey stole a whole head of Romaine. No salad for us that night.

Nickel, I did share my milkshakes with him. I still occasionally give our cats tidbits, but they go in their dishes, not from the counter!

That story is hilarious!! When I had Murray, he would occasionally get something off the counter, so I started putting things down into the sink thinking it would be safe there. Well I had put a store bought cake that was mostly already eaten and I came home to find Murray with purple ears!! They were full of icing from him sticking his head inside the box to eat the cake and then pulling his head back out. I didn't know whether to be mad or just laugh at him.

The first dog I had as an adult was Jessica. She was a 45 lb Boston Terrier mixed with something with spotted legs, maybe a hound or another field dog. She had never counter surfed before, so it never occurred to me where the slab of ribs left over from dinner went. I went to put it away and it was gone! Hubby's band was practicing in the garage, so I thought maybe he had offered the ribs to one of the guys. When practice was over, I asked my husband about it and he said none of them had even come into the house. We had all of the lights on this time and he pointed out the grease smear on the floor. It led out of the kitchen and out the doggy door to the back yard. He could see the smear on the porch, but never found any of the bones. Boy, was the dog fat, though! She made it thorough without any vet visits.

I've told this story about little Paco, a little stray cat who adopted us about 12 years ago. Robert fell in love with the brown bedraggled little guy and brought him inside for a visit. He never left!

The vet estimated him to be in the neighborhood of two years old though he was so tiny, I was sure that he was a kitten. Everyone commented on his brown fur, the color of pale mink. Well, after a month or so of good food, his fur turned luxuriously black.

Paco came into our home with impeccable manners on all counts. He has never so much as glanced up at the counters and the closest he goes to a dining table surface is to sit on a chair. He won't jump on a bathroom counter, either, though he likes to play in the tub or shower, where we will often find a toy or three.

His good manners have saved both of us a lot of fussing, as I really, really hate hate the thought of cats roaming around on surfaces that shouldn't have foot prints or cat hair all over them.

Smart dog....he likes kale as much as hubby did!

We kept the catnip in the bottom of the wall unit. Bud (cat) knew it was there and without fail, every night after dinner, he'd rattle the hanging knobs so that we would give him some.

One day hubby was in the armchair, watching tv and Bud rattled the knob. Tom went to open the cupboard and Bud immediately jumped into the armchair and settled in. He just wanted the chair!!

LOL good stories, everyone. Murraysmom, one of the trainers I'm following says when your dog does something bad, roll up a newspaper ... and give yourself a couple whacks! Bad owner, for not teaching your dog a better choice in that situation!

Marilyn_c, you have such a way with animals Smitty is lucky he got a second chance with you. I hope the rescue re-evaluates who they place pup's with ... obviously at least one home was a serious fail -- not funny at all.

Stax & sushipup, our pup (Shasta is her name) is actually doing well
with most of her training. I have a local professional to help occasionally.
I'm mostly following the plan outlined in "My Smart Puppy" by
Kilcommons & Wilson. Which leads to one more Shasta training fail story.

We were working on the "Out" command, as in "spit it out of your mouth!". Method: offer your pup a low-value item, let them take it in their mouth, then say "Out" and offer them a high-value item. Repeat until they understand "out" means drop whatever you have for a better deal. Good plan, except the suggested "low value item" was a stale bagel -- and Shasta's a growing lab puppy. I got ready to train with stale slice of my sourdough bread, and a piece of yummy cheese. Well Shasta thought that stale sourdough was the greatest thing she'd ever had and instead of trading for the cheese, ran off with the bread and ate the whole slice.

Whack! that rolled-up newspaper on my head, laugh, and adjust method going forward.

Try the low value item as kale! When we had Sparky it was the only food he counter surfed that he didn’t eat. I’d find a leaf undamaged across the room! He liked crayons too. At the time my kids were young and had glitter crayons. Let’s just say it was easy to find his sparkly poop for yard pick up.

This dog is qoing to continue to have terrible problems that will cease to appear cute. At some point I suspect this poor "pup" reach some form of tipping point as far as behavior goes.

Pets really know how to play the humans, don't they? ;-)

I remember the best training advice I ever received - if you don't want them to do it when they are fully grown, don't let them do it when they are young and cute.

DawninCal - that is how my son and his fiance are training their 12 week old golden retriever. Cutest thing ever but this is going to be an 80-ib dog and what's cute now can be out of control and risky when he's bigger.

Young Cute, does not translate into Grown Cute. Absolutely agree!

But: I'm not perfect 100% of the time and enjoy sharing a laugh. :-)

I am with your dog on the kale. I would have brought it back as well. :)

Nickel it is a funny story. And just like dogs can go to a new home with new rules, your dog can learn 'no counter' at your home.

Marilyn Smitty is very cute and looks smart, she has that same 'concentrated' look as those flyball dogs do.

I have gone to my library every Wednesday for forty years. My husband and I always have three or four books each at the house. In that time I never incurred a fine and have never lost a book. But years ago, my greyhound, Ruby, for some reason ate the cover off a book titled "How to Train Your Dog". It cost me $25 and I still have it on my shelf as a reminder of her. She also ate a whole loaf of Baguette bread when I dashed into the post office for two minutes.

I was watching a YouTube video of a family with four Labs. They tested three of the dogs individually for behavior when left alone at home with food that was forbidden but reachable. The female dog whined and cried a little at being left alone and then ate all of the food left out. One of the male dogs waited one second after the door closed and then promptly ate all of the food. The other male waited patiently at the exterior door for a while, then checked upstairs to see if anyone was there, came back downstairs and laid on the floor awaiting the owner's return. That dog didn't even check the food traps. All of the dogs have the same training. It's interesting how some dogs are motivated by food and some by affection and some by toys. BTW, I got a little teary seeing how disappointed the dogs were at being left alone.

Nickel, I completely agree with your last post. Dogs and cats are intelligent individuals with minds of their own and sometimes their wants and desires don't mesh with what we're thinking they should do. We had plenty of mishaps over the years with our dogs, but were able to laugh it off and now when we look back, those incidents are some of our fondest memories.

At one time, we had a pen that the dogs stayed in when we weren't home. One day, I got home and saw a pointy little nose poking under the gate next to the driveway. By the time I got inside the house, the little sneak was back in the pen acting all innocent like she'd been in there all day. Hubby busted her once too. She didn't hear him drive up and he caught her sleeping on the patio furniture. Boy, did she look embarrassed to get caught. :-)

We also had an escape artist. One time she got out of the outdoor pen. We searched and called and looked for about an hour. Just about when we decided to quit and let her find her way home, there she was. Sitting pretty as you please in the dog house, pretending to wonder what all the fuss was about. Grrrrr!

I remembered a story with my parents dog Chimo. We all knew she was not allowed on the couch which was fine. So she would sleep on the couch but she recognized the sound of the cars and would jump off of them when she heard them coming down the street. Until she was older and got hard of hearing. By that time she had my dad wrapped around her little paw and he just put a blanket on the couch for her.

My cat "was" trained not to get on the kitchen island....but...he wants to see every item I bring home grocery shopping. He cries. He seems to think I'm unloading kittens! :0) It's just easier to let him sit on the counter, he has no interest in the food and wash the counter down when I'm done.

" It's just easier to let him sit on the counter, he has no interest in the food and wash the counter down when I'm done. "

That is quite a lifestyle you are advocating. No, it's an incredible lifestyle you are advocating!

Stax, that's a silly thing to say. If it's not your cup of tea, don't do it. But don't insist we all live by your rules.

We have a friend who absolutely insists that his cat isn't allowed on the counter or table. We mentioned that he's away 8 hrs/day with the cat having free reign.

The other night I heard a thump, a cat jumping down from somewhere. It could be the counter, table or top of the cabinet in the kitchen. Regardless when I make bread, eat at the table, etc, it all gets wiped down well.

I highly encourage training for dogs (it's really the human that receives the training though). I've had animals and never had issues with them in the kitchen because I kept the kitchen doors shut. I also closed the living room doors with the Christmas tree was up. Just like children they can only go where you allow them too.

" But don't insist we all live by your rules."

And yet you insist that I live by your rules - lol

I had a cat many years ago who defied any training whatsoever. Luckily, he didn't have too many vices other than getting on the counters, in all of the sinks, and stretching out on the dining room table. All twenty pounds of him.

A squirt bottle filled with water didn't phase him, and a rolled up newspaper resulted in play time. Bad to the bone, that cat.

But I've never had a cat that messed with Xmas tree, thank goodness. They have all simply considered the pretty trees as backdrops for their own personal beautiful-ness.

I think there are a couple kinds of rules. I think safety rules are important: leash your reactive dogs. Don't leave a teething puppy in a room loose with electric cords. Don't leave poisons like cleaning stuffs, in pet accessible areas. Teach your dog to sit on command, while in the sat position, a dog can't run away, jump on a guest, bite another dog.

Other rules? I think they depend on dog and owner. Whether a dog or cat is allowed in various places, furniture, counters, bed, varies from person to person and from pet to pet. A puppy snitching a piece of kale one time is not necessarily destined to become a juvenile delinquent.

I'm too allergic to cats to ever live with one. They don't seem to be as trainable as dogs, judging by the number of dog training books, videos, professionals, certifications, etc.

Those of you who have cats, is their behavior 'luck of the draw' or can/did you influence it?

The cats rule in my house. They aren't allowed on the soapstone counter but are allowed on the island. In fact, there are two little matching beds for the two who like to be there. The third one never has jumped on anything but my lap. I don't prepare food on the island but I do eat at it. That's what soap and water are for and I eat off a plate on a placemat. We humans and pets are all healthy.

Nickel I have had my current cat so long that I've forgotten whether there were any teaching attempts, but she never gets on the counter and very rarely on the table. She knows she is not allowed outside but will step right outside the door and then come back in sometimes if I am standing in the open doorway. She does not jump on the houseplants. However, movable objects like housekeys on the coffee table get played with, so she has trained me to put my keys in a container near the computer where they can't be nudged out, batted around and lost. And I've changed rules. She did not used to be allowed on the bed while I was sleeping, now she is, so I do think that critters can assimilate changes in rules.

That's the appeal of cats & dogs (and probably horses) -- the longer you live with them, the better they read your mind, and vice versa. Getting them off to a good start helps, both in accepted/unaccepted behaviors, and in a strong emotional attachment between pet and owner.

Cats can most certainly be trained. I can't speak for all of them, but this is how I train my cats. Now, you are going to think I am crazy....but, I am sure you figured that out a long time ago.

When a cat does something I don't want it to do, I growl, make a hissing noise and touch it firmly on the nose. I don't tap or hit them, just a firm touch with a little pressure.

No one told me about this....I figured you should "talk" to them in their language. I've told other people this and I was basically laughed at, and if they tried it at all, they weren't consistent.

A couple of weeks ago, on the radio, they interviewed a man who makes a living going to people's houses and training and showing them how to train their dogs. It was either $700 or $750 that he charged, but for the life of the dog, he would consult for free after the initial payment.

He didn't say much about his methods, except you communicate with the dog in it's own language. When pressed a little by the interviewer, he said he growls at the dog and gives a snap of the leash. So, I feel vindicated. 8-))

When I lived in Liverpool and had a lot of cats, they all knew their individual names. I could call any of them by name and they would come to me.

When I went to school to be a vet tech, we had to teach an animal a conditioned response...a trick. I taught a cat to sit up on command, which is very easy, but all the cats watching me, learned to do it too.

Nickel, that is just adorable and many people share your pup's opinion of kale. :) I think as long as they are taught not to jump up on people and to be gentle and to walk nice on the leash and obey voice commands, they are okay. When we had larger doggies, one of whom would occasionally counter surf, we soon learned not to leave anything out. Problem solved.