Naughty Dogs!!!

[AuntieMom]

I feel like we have the naughtiest dogs in the world.

Scout is a tall Brittany. And too smart. At twelve years old, Scout has figured out how to loop his paw on a pan handle even though it is on the back burner then pull it towards him, dumping all contents on the kitchen floor. Last night, he shared chicken noodle soup with our other Britts. The week before that, he ate an entire pan of shredded chicken. Interestingly, he did not share that. I had been out of the kitchen less than a minute both times. He can open drawers so we have had child locks for years.

Then there is Trapper. He is between ten and twelve years old and is obsessed with toilet paper. I will close the door on one of the bathrooms but the other is a sliding door so I put a mouse trap (not loaded) on the TP to alert me if he messes with the roll. Woe to the roll if I forget to put the mouse trap on it. He eats it, cardboard and all.

CharLee and Kallie behave most of the time, thank goodness.

[Cindy]

Well that just made me feel better about Layla, who only counter surfs. But it's totally amazing how quickly she can grab the smallest item placed as far to the back of the counter as possible. I don't even know how she smells it let alone swipes it off and into her mouth in a split second. The good news is that John and I are slowly but surely being trained not to leave anything within reach. But cooking on the stove raises the "surfing" issue to an entirely new level. Part of you has to admire their nose and sniffing abilities ... or not!

[MaggieRocks]

I'm glad I don't have any real tall brits. Maggie is bad enough-she gets up on her hind legs on her "tippy toes" and stretches her tongue out as far as she can reach to grab a crumb off the counter!

Thank goodness none of them have figured out Scout's pan trick. I thought it was bad when Sammy uses his nose to lift the lid off the kitchen wastebasket-I guess better the wastebasket than my dinner!

[adele]

Oh no! I'd worry about him getting burned. But since you are laughing I guess no body got hurt so it is kinda funny.

You guys make me ashamed that my two don't counter (or stove) surf (Which is totally backwards, I know) Our counters are piled with dirty dishes, lumps of lung treats, roasts for sunday dinner, kibble and peanut butter spilled everywhere - it's a total mess. The dogs keep their feet planted firmly on the floor. We have an armchair beside the counter, the dogs are allowed in the chair. They could stand on that and reach kibble, bananas,open peanut butter jars, a selection of dog treats.. all kinds of goodies..... and they don't (knock wood). I don't know why they don't... the only thing I've ever done to teach them is say "off" a couple of times when Lola was young. Before we got Tramp I warned my husband that we may have to change our ways since Tramp didn't grow up in our house and has probably survived at least partly by scavenging... but he came into the house and has never taken a thing from the counter. (knock wood again.... and one more time for good measure).

So I guess you'll have to learn to take the dogs with you when you leave the room for one minute. Or put something tasty on the floor that takes about one minute to eat.

[DLDoiron]

Luckily Daze Dew is to short to counter surf. She tries but just can't reach anything. CJ tries but she is to short too. My sweet Doc who is a very tall Britt has never tried. Nancy you can't leave the kitchen unless Harlan is in there to protect the food.

[PCTech01]

I am so thankful to read these posts about NAUGHTY DOGS and now feel free to come out of the closet and say: "My OSCAR too is a naughty dog!"

Oscar (BBBB -- Big Bad Boy Brit) is a counter surfer and loves to pull things out of the kitchen garbage can and drag Chinese food containers, banana peels, saran wrap, etc. to his coop where-upon he licks and chews them. Just the other day I was home sick and had eaten the lunch my wife had packed for me-- homemade minestrone soup packed in one of those wonderful QVC containers designed for the microwave. I was sitting in the other room eating my soup and I heard some commotion and did not think much about it but my Oscar had grabbed the cover and had chewed a good size piece out of the lid! I have lost count on the number of chicken, sausages, hot dogs, buttered roles and other items that have disappeared into that crate. Now Oscar gets 2 squares a day + treats-- and I don't have a clue as to why he is always looking for food. I suspect that 4 years ago when he was on the lamb in Illinois in January the craving for food kicked in big time with him.

And as for the bathroom, he loves going through the waste cans and pulling out dispose Q Tips. He loves chewing on them! Oh, can't toss any candy wrappers in there either or else they end up on the floor. We have tried hot pepper sprays for the garbage cans and double sided tape for the counters. Nothing stops him. We will be putting some new counter tops in the kitchen this February and their will be a new cupboard for the waste container! No more pulling out the Dyson Animal to suck up the coffee grounds!

(PS American Brittany Facebook posted a couple of pics of Oscar on vacation about 3 weeks ago and I hope you had a chance to see him in action in Old Orchard Beach, Maine this past September!

[Cindy]

I forgot to mention that Kayla (who is getting old at 13+) has figured out how to open the center console of our Toyota 4Runner. Now she only does this when there are dog treats in there so we've leaned to put them in the glove compartment. For those of you who are familiar with the Toyota Rav, there's a regular glove compartment and another smaller one that opens with a push button. When we got the car we thought this was a perfect place to store dog treats - NOT!! Layla pushes on the button and opens up the compartment!! Mind you, sometimes even we have a hard time doing this but perhaps we are not motivated enough by food!! All I can say is where there's a will there's a way.

PS YES - I did see the pictures of Oscar on the beach. There's nothing more fun fr a dog than running and chasing birds on the beach. We're heading to Cape Hatteras for Thanksgiving and the dogs will be doing plenty of that.

[WaterTiger]

For some reason Cody quickly decided she likes to tear paper. A bag, a napkin, gift paper, a food wrapper, it doesn't matter. She will deftly nab it as she casually walks past, and immediately pin it with a paw and start tearing long strips in it. She doesn't care if it contained a burger - it's all about the ripping.

I guess it's her version of bubble wrap for humans.

She counter surfs a little. She's good because she knows she's not allowed to - but definitely needs supervision, she can't quite resist exploring even if there's no food. Maybe that junk mail will be fun.

I also nicknamed her "The Great Codini" after she lifted the slide-up side door of her crate and nosed it up onto the catch.
It's the 42" version of this one : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002AT3ME/ref ... UTF8&psc=1

It's not a light door. The Great Codini knows no fear ! Come and be amazed !

[Daniella]

I'm not sure how it is possible that this thread is so short, so I will have to contribute. Dallas has actually become SO much better than when he was a puppy, finally stopped biting and we can occasionally even leave the room without worrying about something being destroyed (if he is asleep). He sometimes nips a little when overexcited by a greeting, but that has been rare lately, thankfully. I attribute this to adding at least an hour of the dog park every day since we do not have a yard.

We certainly can't let him in the bathroom (or the closet, or the office, or anywhere that something is within mouth's reach that is not bolted down). "Leave it" and "drop it" remain elusive, though other commands are perfect until he goes deaf in the great outdoors.

His latest "game" is reproducing the chase routine we've practiced dutifully at home - stealing a napkin from the dining room table and dodging our lunges - diving between the legs of tables and chairs and zipping by just out of reach... now in the dog park with other people's bags, clothes, coffee cups, and water bottles. Today he had a grand time with no fewer than four rounds of several humans and dogs chasing him and others laughing and calling his name as he pranced around gleefully with their personal belongings. This prompted me to seek comfort of reading your posts, which always bring a smile.

Good thing my fellow dog parents have patience- I've said more than once in response to "but he's so cute!" that this is surely the primary reason he is not yet dead. If he were not so damn fast and clever it would be a problem. I am going to work on extinguishing by planting booby traps soaked with bitter apple over the park. I don't think I can go back to the days before the park was part of the daily routine.

Then I might be able to tackle counter surfing and the destruction of socks, shoes and toy-like objects such as TP and electronics.

[Cindy]

I loved getting this update and as long as things are "improving" then you're on the right track. He's such a good looking dog and I'm sure his "sterling personality" will serve him well in life. Certainly people are finding him entertaining so you've got to appreciate that As most of us will agree, you've got to figure out how to be quicker and smarter than your Brittany to co-exist in the same household. But hey - that's what keep me young!!