This may seem like a stupid problem to have.

[misdee]

Ralph keeps jumping onto the garden table. He sits up there happily for a while till he gets fed up then barks and howls to get down.

Although we have shown him how to get down hundreds of times, hve rewarded him when he does it on his own etc etc. he still wont do it most of the time.

what do i do? is it attention seeking? is he is just a scardy cat? does he belive he is actually a cat, and then remembers when he has got stuck that he is actually a dog and shouldnt be climbing things?

He has even got onto the playhouse sloping roof before now and got stuck.

He weighs loads these days, i cant keep lifting him off things.

Surely he's attention seeking? Or likes the view/smells from those place?

Or maybe it's that eventually he's rewarded (even if only when he gets down). So maybe you should just be firm about getting him down from his high places, rather than rewarding him (which sort of turns it into a fun game).

Dogs don't always like jumping off tables (having groomed my standard poodles on grooming tables, they'll jump up but hate jumping off) as the table often shakes as they bounce off and it unnerves them. Not a great idea teaching him to jump off a table unless as agility command as your groomer will have a fit if he tries to jump off on her/him. I'd probably just leave stuff sitting on top to deter him from sitting there!

What sort of a dog is he? Apart from a stupid one

I think I would be teaching him to not go on the table in the first place rather than teaching him how to get down. s Tchootnika says you are indirectly rewarding wrong behaviour.

s = as

i have tried teaching him not to go on the table. but he still gets up. he doesnt do it in the house, just in the garden.

he is a labradoodle, a rather smart/dumb one depending on his selective hearing.

right no more rewarding for getting off the table.

but how do i stop him?

i am often surprised that he gets up there as he cannot jump to save his life in any other situation, and will often walk away from things with an air of disgust if it involves effort from him.

He is a total nut, and i love him. but this is his only 'naughtiness' and drives me insane. and i cant keep lifting him down.

Tchootnika we do joke that he thinks he is a cat. as purrs and paws things like cats do. and loves fish.

If possible, misdee, make sure you're around when he's in reach of the table, so that you can say a firm 'No!' as he approaches it. As long as you can be consistent with this, he should get the message quite quickly that it's a no-go area.

Well the labrador bit explains it to me. I have two full labradors, totally bonkers, playfull mischievious and most lovely little (bloody huge actually) dogs ever.

They do like to explore and everything they find is theirs , once they claim it.
So you have to reclaim the table.
The moment he goes to jump on it throw a bunch of keys (or something similar that makes a noise but not a bang) on the floor or against a shed ,the noise will slightly startle him and make him wary of jumping up.

Well thats hypothetically , in theory......... and because its a lab breed [insert whistling emoticon here] good luck

jsut like to add this distraction technique worked with one of my labs, the younger one run off with the keys and claimed them too

If I chucked my keys at the dogs my pair would be off with them!

a firm NO when approaching the table might work. I wouldnt reward him for getting off if he does get on the table though.

Maybe try newspapers on top of the table. That was the only thing that kept our labs off furniture they werent to go on.

@ coffeeIsMyFriend but please can I clarify , I never said throw the keys at the dog , no no that would not be nice but I know what you mean x

ahem yes, not AT the dog - near the dog.

Lol at coffee.

Well I had a cuppa outside and had my feet up on the table claiming it as mine. He went nowhere near it.

Kids went out in the garden with him, and he climbed up. Tsk. Took him down via chairs without a word and shut the back door,