Just seen this in another thread and thought i would creat a new one instead of hijacking that one. Dieter can just reach the top of the counter now..and he loves jumping up and licking anything he can. I just tell him "down". If he does i praise him with words and actions. (i dont really want to give him a treat for gettin down from the counter). If he doesnt listen i just calmly put him down. Repeat! haha. I was wondering if anyone had any good tips for this...I would like to correct this now before he gets any bigger.

makes sense...that pretty much the same reason i didnt want to give him a treat (his treats are his kibble..hes very food motivated)

My pup isn't much of a counter-surfer for food.  She just likes to see what's going on "up there" when we are making dinner, etc.

Here's what I did:

1) I use "OFF" for things like counter surfing, and when she's on furniture she shouldn't be on.  "Down" is our command for lay down.  I try not to confuse the two.  Not sure if you use the same commands but many people I know use them interchangeably, which can be a mistake.

2) I would do something completely different when she's counter surfing to reinforce the other behavior (not counter surfing).  For example, I tell her OFF.  When she complies, I lead her to another area and "Down, Stay".  I only treat her when she complies with the "down, stay" commands.  This way I am reinforcing a behavior I want when she's in the kitchen...a down-stay.  We are now to the point that she will just lay down in the kitchen or won't go near the counters at all.

I think GSPs are counter-surfers by nature because of their curiousity, intelligence, and sense of smell.  Lets be honest, there are a lot of good things that are kept "up and away" from them.  The challenge is to give them something BETTER when they stay OFF of counters, etc.

Tessa is very bad with this. Part of ouor problem is the layout of my place, semi-open kitchen, no doors, but the counters are out of my sight; so I can't keep her out (unless I babygate everything) and I can't see her from the living room. That meant a lot of getting up or making sure she stays in the living room. I also don't like the concept of the spray bottle because you will need to be there to apply it, and believe me, the dog will figure that out in two seconds.

Here are my suggestions:

1. Keep everything up, away and out of reach and keep the counters clean. Any crumb the dog finds is a reward and will encourage him/her to keep surfing. Very challenging, but I actually got used to it.

2. Correct the dog when you catch it (we use "off") and shove him/her off the counter. Sometimes I just shove. It gets old but it will get old for the dog, too.

3. When you are in the kitchen with the dog, keep a close eye on the dog and learn to anticipate a jump for the counter. Put the dog in a sit-stay BEFORE he/she jumps to surf. After a while (longer as the dog matures, remember, puppies have short attention spans), release the dog from the sit-stay, and reward as you release the dog. Keep watching him/her. Repeat as necessary.

4. Keep a drag leash on the dog. (A drag leash is a very light leash without a handle). All my puppies "wear" one in the house. When the pup tries to jump, step on the leash so it is immediately anchored back on the ground.

There is a thread somewhere here that I started when I was close to despair. Tessa is now 14 months old and has gotten much better; although she still surfs, she is much more responsive to my commands. If I am watching TV and I feel she is going in the kitchen to surf, I call her back to me - good practice for the in-house recall - it tends to automatically redirect her to a toy or chew bone.

Taking a photo of the bad deed is NOT a correction and should be avoided LOL. Note the distance of her food bowl - not far enough back! She was 4 months old.

This when , "the leave it " command comes in handy!! No Rocky didnot get a cookie cut out!

Taken a few years ago at Perfect Table height!! Down side of having a tall GSP