How to keep Dog from jumping onto table??

[LLee]

I have a rescued puppy - about 18 months old - part Doxie and part Beagle-ish. Cute little guy! But he has the bad habit of jumping up on the dinner table the minute we are out of sight. I forgot to put the butter away last week and he ate an entire stick of butter. Then barfed it back up on the floor under the table. :mad: You’d think he learned his lesson, but nooooo.

This is making me nuts! Anybody got a method to keep him off the table? We tried pushing in all the chairs, but he manages to wiggle through that little barrier…we tried putting the chairs facing the wrong way, but that didn’t work for long. The chairs all swivel and are on castors. I really need to break him of this habit.

[jetsmom]

For now, gate him off in another room, crate, or tether to something. Then work on teaching him an incompatible command. Or “Go to your bed”.

[Forktomouth]

The biggest thing is to put all food away. Any training or deterrents will be forgotten if he can reward himself with delicious food.

[Riverotter]

You’re going to have to set him up to fail, and make it a self-correcting exercise.

You say he’s a rescue pup, so I’m going to assume you haven’t had him long. Work on some positive reinforcement obedience and tethering him to you (also known as “umbilical cording” google it) and limit his access. The more time you spend with him, the more he will bond to you and see you as the reward, instead of the table.

He’s a little guy, so feeding him several times a day might help as well. Also, get some food based toys. Stuff a Kong with wet food and freeze it, that’s always fun. And Buster food cubes are great, one of the all-time best dog toys.

Do all that and put something unpleasant up on the table. A scat mat, a carpet runner, nubby side up, upside down mousetraps work GREAT, they make a big noise and fly up into the air. Do your best to keep temptation off it, so that he never finds a reward up there, just various not-fun things and let him self-train.

We’re also going to cure counter-surfing. Get a few soda cans with the tab attached. Put 4-5 pennies in each, then tape over the opening. Put a string through the tab and tie 2-3 together, then, with a longer string, tie them to something wonderful, like a chicken leg. Leave it peeking over the edge of the counter or table. When Pup pulls it down, he also pulls down Thunder Itself right onto his face. When you hear the clamor, dash to him and scold - and rescue if needed, I once had a pup reflexively clamp down on the bait when he ran, dragging the cans after him - to his horror! He was too startled to open his jaws, but never stole food off the counter again.
And no, this does not give a pup a fear of loud noises, gunshots or thunder. I’ve done this with a LOT of pups and never had an issue (owners always think it will). Shaking that can will set them walking the straight and narrow even years later though

[SportingSun]

I heard putting double sided tape on the surface so their paws stick works for cats. Maybe dogs too?

I don’t know how dangerous this would be but maybe putting a table cloth on the table so when he jumps up he slips? You might end up with a hurt pup though.

[wendy]

it’s just like training a dog to not get on the couch or the kitchen counters- 1) the dog isn’t allowed near the table without supervision during the retraining period; 2) remove all tempting goodies from table; 3) go in the room often with the dog and reward the dog vigorously for not jumping on the table. The dog learns that all good things come to dogs who are on the floor. Then it becomes a habit to not get up on tables and counters.

Alternatively, train an incompatible behavior:

Since it’s a dining room, consider training the dog to lie down on a mat in the corner while people eat. Dog lying in the corner cannot jump up on the table, plus most people really appreciate not being bothered by dogs while they eat.

[tallyho392]

all these ideas sound great…wish I had known of them many years ago when I had a beagle, the world’s MOST food driven dog…
she ate holes ijn a tablecloth that had food spots, could open my counter drawers to use as a ladder to get onto the counter, could open cookie jars sitting on the counter or table, chewed a hole in the toe of a Christmas stocking that was hanging up because it had a small package of candy in it…
sweetest tempered dog, but BOY, did she have a nose for food…should have been a drug dog

good luck with your pooch…both of those breeds are pretty tenacious, so you have a very determined little bugger on your hands!..pictures??

[S1969]

[QUOTE=Forktomouth;7999813]
The biggest thing is to put all food away. Any training or deterrents will be forgotten if he can reward himself with delicious food.[/QUOTE]

I agree. There are lots of ways to train him not to do something, but definitely make sure there are no rewards on the table. Some very well trained dogs won’t help themselves to free food that is just sitting there, asking to be eaten. Others might behave perfectly while you are around, but still find a way to sneak onto the table or counter if left unsupervised.

[cheval_convert]

Scat mat http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3452