That’s too big!!
A dog that can snatch food off the counter without jumping… I cannot fathom dog-proofing a house for that.
I mean I have a greyhound who can countersurf, you just put baby gates around the kitchen and food. Keeping stuff out of snoot height/range removes most issues.
Part of it is training them that it isn’t an appropriate thing to do. It usually helps that if they behave (and we’re eating something the pup can safely have) they get a bit of food as a treat.
Training is a must and especially with a dog that big you need to make sure they know what is expected and appropriate. Doing that sets them up for success and makes it much easier to care for them overall.
When my aunt had a puppy, she set up a barrier to prevent the dog from going upstairs. It was low enough for humans to step over, but the puppy couldn’t get over it. Amusingly, as the dog grew up, it never seemed to occur to it that it could now step over the barrier without much fuss.
We used to be able to put up a blanket “wall” across two chairs to stop the dogs from crossing. It took them a few years to realize they could simply walk through/under the blanket.
I have an Akita that can do the same and is (mostly) very good about asking for permission / knowing he needs to be handed food.
I do feel like smaller dogs generally get minimal or zero training because people know they can just pick them up or otherwise stop them and it makes pet ownership worse for everyone involved.
Training, lots of training. It also applies to you as well!
I think our dog got past 2 years old before we had eaten more pork chops than he had stolen.
He’ll still swipe my daughter’s dinner, if it’s left unattended. At least he will no longer steal it while she’s sat in front of it.
This is an area where size may not matter. Our first dog was an 11 pound mini poodle. He was so tiny, but he got huge air. We also had no way to dog proof.
- My ex was fond of saying he got enough air to have time to slowly scan the counter.
- My story was that he could be sitting nicely, seemingly behaved, but if you glance away, he could be standing on the table from a sitting leap
Lol I’ve always had food aggressive dogs but my current GSD is a saint by comparison. She doesn’t really mess with our food and we have left food on our coffee table overnight more than once and she didn’t touch it. Counter food is more than safe despite the fact that it would take her almost no effort to grab it.
The one exception is carrots. If we’re chopping carrots and walk away they’re as good as gone 😭
That Dane sure is Great
That is a horse.
Man, how do you keep him from just casually eating everything on the counter? I’m looking at that hat Skippy jar in the background lol.
If he gets excited his tail would knock things off counters and tables.
I don’t like to say crass stuff like this, but in this case it’s worth sharing: I’ve been tail-thwacked in the testicles by my happy dog, who’s about this size.
That tail’s lethal. We’ve lost drinking glasses, food and all sorts of knick knacks to an excited tail swipe. You learn to put things high up.
