![]() ![]() Soon, the trainer had told them, they might need to add another, stronger, “stubborn dog” collar.īucks owners felt sad, overwhelmed, and frustrated all at once. He was actually getting better at counter surfing and “not getting caught” and he was becoming immune to the lower levels of shock, and the family felt bad about using more painful shocks. Buck was afraid of the collar and was starting to hide when the trainer came over, or when the family would try to put the collar on him, and then whenever someone would reach for him. This was all getting very expensive, overwhelming, and upsetting. So, Buck continued to counter surf, and the owners had been told to buy and install a “Buck Cam” in every room of the house so they could watch him, and zap him from another room. Very quickly Buck learned not to counter surf when an adult was nearby, but he continued to grab stuff when the children were in the room. A trainer had recommended it, and sold it to them, when Scat Mats hadn’t helped. The second thing I noticed was Buck was hiding from me under the large dining room table, and wearing an electronic collar, and not a cheap one, that was used to give him a painful shock when he leapt onto counters (or even the top of the refrigerator!) to steal food or items. These had “helped a little” but I was told what they were best at was shocking the children, Buck meanwhile would simply stand on them, or drag them off the counter. The first thing I noticed was the Scat Mats, at least 5 in the kitchen alone. While Buck was not the first GSP I had worked with for counter surfing, his case reminding me of how I had struggled with Crusher. I thought about Crusher 20 years later when I was called to the home of a very nice family with a beautiful German Shorthaired Pointer. But the more stuff I bought, the more clever Crusher got. The Scat Mat, a plastic mat designed to deliver an unpleasant but not harmful shock when touched, certainly hadn’t been the first device I had purchased to try to stop Crusher’s counter surfing habit, I had started with mouse traps, then something called a Snappy Trainer (that snapped and made a loud noise when touched) before investing in the Scat Mat.Īll in my arms race to keep Crusher, a very tall and athletic red Doberman, from stealing things from, or standing on, my counters. I knew I had wasted my money on the Scat Mat when I awoke in the middle of the night to find my Doberman, Crusher, standing on the Scat Mat, on the kitchen counter, playing in water from the kitchen sink he had turned on full blast. Let’s face it, counter surfing is fun, that’s why dogs do it. ![]()
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