Hi
Life as you know with my two young boxers (18 and 8 months) is never dull. I'm the one who had to turn the handles on the doors upside down to prevent them escaping from the kitchen!
Whilst in the the kitchen they stole and chewed everything left on the kitchen table or the counter tops, place mats, kitchen rolls, we have even found the electric kettle in the dog bed.
To stop this happening I invested in a baby monitor with a wireless camera and a small 6" black and white television. (I never knew they existed - my babies are 37 and 35 now!). We rigged up a set of car airhorns operated by a wire and push button.
I set the bait, cheese in shunks on plates on the table and the kitchen counters.
We shut the dogs in the kitchen and retired to the lounge to watch the pair in action.
No sooner was the door closed when the older dog Sam was up a the table trying to reach the cheese. We blasted the airhorns and he retreated quickly.
They both curled up in the dog beds and went to sleep.
Next day we tried again and this time Meg the puppy was up at the counter. Again we blasted the airhorns. Straight away they were down and in the beds and asleep.
We have only had to do this twice and we seem to have cured the problem.
The only trouble is that my son blasted the airhorns whilst I was waking across the kitchen having just made two cups of tea. I jumped three feet in the air and the tea went flying. We both laughed and laughed and the dogs came to see who had been taking things off the counter!
They are wonderful animals and make us laugh each and every day, they run in the fields and have now learnt to come back immediately when the whistle goes, ignore other dogs down the end of the field - now all I have to do is cure them of eating cow dung!
Life as you know with my two young boxers (18 and 8 months) is never dull. I'm the one who had to turn the handles on the doors upside down to prevent them escaping from the kitchen!
Whilst in the the kitchen they stole and chewed everything left on the kitchen table or the counter tops, place mats, kitchen rolls, we have even found the electric kettle in the dog bed.
To stop this happening I invested in a baby monitor with a wireless camera and a small 6" black and white television. (I never knew they existed - my babies are 37 and 35 now!). We rigged up a set of car airhorns operated by a wire and push button.
I set the bait, cheese in shunks on plates on the table and the kitchen counters.
We shut the dogs in the kitchen and retired to the lounge to watch the pair in action.
No sooner was the door closed when the older dog Sam was up a the table trying to reach the cheese. We blasted the airhorns and he retreated quickly.
They both curled up in the dog beds and went to sleep.
Next day we tried again and this time Meg the puppy was up at the counter. Again we blasted the airhorns. Straight away they were down and in the beds and asleep.
We have only had to do this twice and we seem to have cured the problem.
The only trouble is that my son blasted the airhorns whilst I was waking across the kitchen having just made two cups of tea. I jumped three feet in the air and the tea went flying. We both laughed and laughed and the dogs came to see who had been taking things off the counter!
They are wonderful animals and make us laugh each and every day, they run in the fields and have now learnt to come back immediately when the whistle goes, ignore other dogs down the end of the field - now all I have to do is cure them of eating cow dung!
I can just picture the tea going flying across the room and you jumping in the air. But I'm so glad you figured out how to get your babies to stop counter surfing. Good idea.
