Greedy Labrador puppy!!!!

[Hedgyhoggy]

First Labrador I've had and I know they have a reputation for being led by their stomachs but I can't get over how greedy our 16 week lab is and it's starting to cause issues. She is constantly on the prowl. Jumping up on work surfaces, tables, kids, fruit off trees, trees and has learnt to open the bin. I try to keep everything out the way, bin is emptied whilst still out of reach but with 3 kids (one with learning disability) it's difficult. it's the constant hunt that's the problem. She's a good weight on a quality feed and doing well in puppy training. Trainer (and I don't want this to be a criticism
Because she's great) says make the floor interesting, so I do I hide her food, use sniff mats etc but I would literally have to smoother the floor in food constantly to keep her paws on the ground. Help please!!!

16 weeks is very young to have any form of self control - and she may never really develop any. Honestly, whilst I appreciate it is difficult, the best thing you can do is make sure she NEVER is rewarded for getting onto surfaces - which basically means all food must be locked away so she cannot get to it. Do this well enough and for long enough and she will slowly give up hunting for food.

A warning though... because of the way dogs (and humans, for that matter) work, finding food on just one or two tries will make her hunt more determined even if there are 20 times she doesn't find food. She needs to NEVER find food for this to work.

Another way you could try is by using a 'no food' marker. This would work by you putting something on the surface when you know there is NO food at all on it. It could be anything - a specific toy, for example. Do this enough and she will associate the toy with no food. You can then use it, even when there is food and she may not bother hunting for it. Again, you need to be totally reliable in the early days. Just one or two examples where the toy is on the surface and she finds food will undo everything.