Is Your Dog Trustworthy In The Kitchen?

As you know, I've recently acquired a new puppy. He's now four and a half months old. I'm taking it very gradually with his training; he's quite immature still and I don't want to push him unduly.

When I talk about 'training' in this context I'm talking about stuff like walking to heel off the lead, sitting and staying etc.

But regardless of how slowly I choose to progress on that front, one thing I insist on is that he's got to learn to fit in around the house as soon as possible.

House training to my mind doesn't just cover toilet training. Yes, of course he has to learn that he can't go to the toilet inside, but there are a whole load more 'indoor' issues as well.

Like learning not to chew on the furniture. Or grab hold of dangly things and pull at them (such as towels on rails, aprons hanging on hooks etc etc).

And one of the real biggies is learning not to try and get up at the kitchen worksurfaces to steal.

I have to confess I'm having something of a challenge with my pup on this last front at the moment. He's probably now about 20" at the shoulder - roughly the same sort of height as an adult springer spaniel. If he stands on his hind legs he can easily get his front feet far enough onto the table or one of the worktops to be able to reach whatever's on it.

And he's now managed to get hold of several 'prizes' this way, which of course has only served to reinforce in his mind that it's something he wants to keep doing.

He quickly learnt that he'd be told off if anyone saw him do it, so he became very sly about it, only attempting it when he feels confident there's nobody about to catch him out.

So what now?

Well, I'm pretty limited in my options really. One is to just accept it sometimes happens and put up with it. Sorry, but that's unacceptable to me.

Or I could always shut the kitchen door when there's nobody around to keep an eye on him, thus preventing it ever happening again. But that still isn't acceptable as far as I'm concerned. It's not actually making any attempt to solve the problem, merely to disguise it.

Besides, what happens if someone ever forgets to shut the kitchen? Or if we ever have to stay in someone else's house? And what about those times when it's just plain inconvenient to keep closing the door?

No, I'm afraid the only outcome I'm prepared to accept is making him understand that - no matter how tempted he might be to do it - it is absolutely forbidden.

So how can I solve the problem?

Well, I have 2 possible lines of attack at this stage. And they both involve a degree of 'entrapment'.

The first is to rig up a booby trapped 'bait'. By carefully balancing some very noisy metal baking trays on some sort of hair trigger device and linking it all in with a tempting morsel of food, it may be that when he takes the bait he'll get such a fright that it'll put him off the whole idea.

However, I have to say I'm not at all convinced about this.

He's a very bright young thing, and I wouldn't put it past him to 'smell a rat' and not take the bait. Or to take it very carefully. Or even just to think 'to hell with it' and see it all as a big game.

I just have a gut hunch that this isn't the right approach for this particular dog. It definitely works for some, but instinct tells me to be a bit wary in this particular instance.

So instead I favour the 'smokescreen and mirrors' approach. Let me explain -

As you step in through the back door of my house you come into a smallish entrance hall. This is known as 'the dog room' where their beds are, together with a water bowl and a storage bin and shelf where their food and old towels for drying them off are kept. Directly ahead is the door through to the sitting room and all the rest of the house *except* the kitchen. The kitchen is through a doorway to the right. It only has that one doorway in and out of it.

So when you're in the sitting room it's impossible to see into the kitchen. The only way of seeing into the kitchen is either by looking in through one of the windows from outside or else by standing in the dogs' room.

As the puppy has sussed out not to try and get up at the table while someone's watching him, it follows therefore that he only does it when we're all in the sitting room or rest of the house.

So what I intend to do is to rig up a series of mirrors in the dogs room that will allow me to see into the kitchen from the sitting room. There's a narrow shelf above their beds that I can put them onto without arousing any suspicion.

The plan is to get all the mirrors set up so I've got the whole of the kitchen 'staked out'. It's a time consuming, fiddly job but I know it can be done as I've had to do it in the past for Ripple, my last puppy.

Then I lay my trap in the kitchen - spread a few tempting bits of food, dangly bits of string and overhanging bits of paper. All the sorts of things he's gone for in the past which I know will tempt him.

Then I have to lie in wait. But I have to be subtle, and not alert him to the fact that I'm watching him. That's actually an awful lot easier said than done. As I said, he's a sly little toerag and if I'm not careful my game will be up before we even begin.

Assuming I get this far I just have to watch patiently.

And I have to get my timing *absolutely spot on*. I need to descend on him like a ton of bricks the very second he gets his front feet up onto the worksurface or table.

If I time my run in too soon or too late I won't actually catch him in the act, which is absolutely critical.

And he'll get the telling off of his short sweet life. I shan't be hitting him or any of that nonsense, but I'll grab him roughly by the scruff of the neck, stare straight into his eyes and tell him 'no' in my sternest, gruffest, angriest tone of voice.

I hope that just one of these honey traps will be enough to do the trick, but sadly I'm not convinced it will be.

Why do I say that?

Just because I've come to know his personality pretty well over the last few months, and he can be a stubborn so-and-so when the mood takes him, and it wouldn't surprise me if this is one of those issues he wants to take a stand on.

Time will tell. I have to tell you that this is without doubt going to be the hardest challenge I've had to face with him yet and it's quite possible he'll manage to pull the wool over my eyes somehow.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.....

If you have a small dog this is a problem that you'll probably never encounter. But if you have a medium or large sized dog there's a good chance at some point you'll have to deal with it. I hope my two suggestions have given you some possible ideas as to how you might deal with it if and when it becomes an issue for you.

And if it's something you've successfully tackled already using a different method, please do write and tell me what you did. I'll pass on your tips in the next issue.

Recommended reading "Dog Training Blueprint To Success".

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