Counter Surfing - will this work?

[Londongirl]

Henry is a very 'jumpy' boy. Despite my never giving him any reward for jumping up, only when he has his butt and feet on the floor, he carries on jumping up.

I'm trying to address the jumping in various scenarios. The one that is particularly annoying is his 'counter surfing' in the kitchen. My current approach to this is first to make sure (as best I can) that he doesn't actually get anything from the counter. If I'm not doing something potentially dangerous to him (hot pans, knives) I ignore the head at my elbow, turning my back if I can and saying nothing. The minute his feet go back on the floor I say 'off' (to pair the cue and the action) and give him a treat. I'm also trying to preempt jumps up when I see them coming, giving him the option to sit down for a treat instead of jumping (but these are rare as he just pops up at random!) I'm thinking of doing this for about two weeks before using 'off' as an actual command, and also hoping that the lack of reward from surfing will make the behaviour trail off.

My question is: any chance of this actually working??

[lescef]

I think there sre several ways to teach this, you could probably google it.
Bramble tries to counter surf but isn't quite tall enough except if something is over hanging the edge!
They do however get round my feet, waiting for bits to fall, and sometimes have a fisty cuffs about it. So I've taught them to stay in a down on the doormat behind me and I reward periodically.  It also wears them out with all the concentrating!

[Pearly]

If my experience is anything to go by, yes!

Coral was a monkey at around 10 months old for counter surfing - her idea of what that meant was slightly different in that, from a sitting or standing position, she could (still can but doesnt) concertina her body and spring onto the worktop! Nothing was safe...... Including her!

She's out grown this although did pinch the kitchen TV remote off the worktop last night and changed channels  but that was by reaching not jumping!

I think its a phase they go through - there is hardly any shredding now either!

[Londongirl]

Unfortunately Henry is a tall boy and can get his tongue quite far along the counter. But he's not a jumper - that sounds both hilarious and terrifying. I do make him go to his mat when I'm really focused on cooking and try not to laugh as I hear him whimper with concentration. I might have to move his mat - it's on the far side of the kitchen island so he can't see me when I'm at the stove.

It's good to hear he might grow out of it. These adolescent months are SUCH fun. Feels like everything has gone backwards and I have to remind myself it's not my fault.

[Murphys Law]

Millie 'bounces' when I am preparing the dogs dinner and I am sure it won't be long before she can jump up onto the work surface.
When she starts I put down the dinner and stand back with my arms crossed. She realises that nothing will be coming her way until she is in the sit position and she stops bouncing.
The thing is, I have to go through this rigmarole every time they are fed.

[Londongirl]

Millie 'bounces' when I am preparing the dogs dinner and I am sure it won't be long before she can jump up onto the work surface.
When she starts I put down the dinner and stand back with my arms crossed. She realises that nothing will be coming her way until she is in the sit position and she stops bouncing.
The thing is, I have to go through this rigmarole every time they are fed.

When Henry was very little he used to get agitated as I dished up his food, barking and bouncing. One day I was about to give it to him when I realised I'd left the baby gate open and I ran off to close it - with his food bowl in my hand. From that day he has sat silently on his butt waiting for his food!

[Mudmagnets]

Branston can be a bit like this around food, either the dogs or mine, so I put him in his pen whilst I sort it out. At first he started to complain, but then realised that the longer he got agitated the longer it would take for his food to appear. He also goes in the pen when I am serving up my dinner - and eating it. Saves a lot of hassle and it teaches him boundaries of behaviour.

[Londongirl]

If it was just when I'm cooking one meal it would be fine. But it's when I'm making breakfast, making the kids' pack lunches, making my lunch, making the kids' tea, making my dinner, maybe baking a cake. Then there all the times in between when he bounces up on the off chance, leaving muddy papaw prints everywhere. He'd be in the crate all the time!

Funnily enough, he's pretty good at leaving us alone when we're at the table. 

[Londongirl]

So tonight my daughter was carving a roast chicken at the counter and Henry bounced up once but then sat behind her, twitching with concentration, one paw hovering off the floor as it does when he's really focused on controlling himself. After a week of getting rewards for NOT bouncing up he realised there was a jackpot on offer if he stayed down! And sure enough, he got a piece of roast chicken for keeping his feet on the floor. I'm sure we'll have to keep reinforcing it, but seems like we've made a breakthrough.

[lescef]

Success I'd say!

[Mudmagnets]

Sounding very hopeful 

[CrazyClover]

Watching this thread with interest as clover is also a bouncy dog who has been known to do 'the concertina' !  I've also been trying the clicker training from the KikoPup YouTube training videos where you put increasingly tempting things at the edge of the table and reward for leaving them there. I think we are making progress but she definitely knows the difference between a training set up and real life!

[Londongirl]

I've seen all those videos that recommend teaching 'leave it' as a basis for curing for counter surfing, and Henry has a pretty solid 'leave it' on command. But it hasn't helped with the constant bouncing up, on the off-chance he'll find something. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, with the consequence that he's doing it lots. Just for fun. The method I'm using now does seem to be helping. He's still bouncing up, but less often, and is starting to correct himself, sitting back down for a treat without me saying or doing anything. Still a work in progress, though! It's all about teaching him impulse control at the moment.

[CrazyClover]

Def going to give your method a try