Yocum Dog Training

Counter surfing is something I hear about a lot and honestly… I don’t really think it starts at the counter.
It usually shows up there, but it’s coming from how the dog lives everywhere else. Mind blower, there are so many behaviors humans don’t like that come down to this concept, which is why I touch on it so much.
In my house my dogs are around food constantly. When I’m cooking I’m usually making their food too, so they’re right there with me.
But they’re not in the kitchen. They stay right at the edge. They don’t come into my space while I’m cooking.
If something drops, it just sits there. No one dives for it, no one creeps over if I don’t pick it up right away, no one waits to get it when my back is turned, and I don’t have to tell the to leave it. It’s a boundary they respect and an expectation they follow.
And that didn’t come from me saying “leave it” a bunch of times or more training.
It came from how they live.
They don’t take things that aren’t theirs. Not food, not space, not access to people. It all ties together.
So when food is involved, it’s not special or different… it’s the same rule they already understand everywhere else.
I think a lot of dogs live in a way where they’re constantly testing things. They can get on the couch when they want, move into people’s space when they want, grab things if they’re fast enough, get corrected sometimes but not always.
So they learn to try to take those opportunities that come up.
Then we put a cue on it… “leave it.” But now the dog just learns “wait until I’m told what to do.” So if nothing is said or you’re not around… they go for it.
That’s where the problem keeps showing up.
I’m not really interested in having to tell my dog what to do every time something exists in the environment. It’s like telling your child not to steal from every store you walk into, it should be an expectation not a constant reminder. I want them to already understand how to carry themselves.
And what I’ve found is when a dog lives like this, it’s not just about food anymore.
They start to think. They start to choose.
They’re not just reacting or waiting on direction, they understand the rules well enough to move through the world on their own. And that makes life a lot easier for them. They’re not sitting there thinking about the food, not watching for a moment to grab it. There’s no internal conflict. They just… leave it alone and move on. That’s what I want.
Not a dog that listens when I say something, but a dog that understands what applies even when I don’t.

If you notice in the photo my dog Bear is laying next to the couch my son was on, he got up to get something and left his food, Bear didn’t even turn around to look at the food. I’ve left cake, chips, all sorts of food on the coffee table, the counters, full trash cans. Opportunistic animals can be taught how to not take every opportunity that is presented, they can learn to wait for permission to gain access, and they can learn to leave things alone completely. You end up giving your dog a crucial skill. How to make good choices in this complex human world.

Thinking about rescuing a dog?
I love that, but I also want you to go into it with your eyes open.
Most people expect it to feel like adding a new family member.
What it often feels like at first is adding stress, confusion, and a lot of moving pieces.
A new dog means new energy in your home.
New dynamics with your current dog.
New boundaries that need to be clear, especially with kids and busy households.
And if you don’t have a plan, it can get overwhelming fast.

That’s why I created a free rescue dog guide.
It’s everything I find myself explaining to clients after things have already started going wrong just given to you before that point. If you’re thinking about adopting, or you’ve recently brought a dog home and you’re realizing it’s harder than expected, this will help you get ahead of it.
Message me to get your free guide!

If you’ve ever said your dog is “protective,” I want you to think about what that actually looks like in real life. Most of the time it’s not some big obvious moment. It’s little things.
Your dog gets a little tense when someone comes close.
Watches people a little too hard.
Puts themselves between you and someone else. Maybe reacts a bit.
And instead of questioning it, people like it. They call it protective. It’s flattering and makes us feel loved and important.
But what’s actually happening a lot of the time is the dog is starting to take responsibility for the situation. And nobody takes that responsibility back.
So it builds.
The dog starts deciding who can approach. Who can’t. What feels like a threat. Maybe they’re reacting more or more intense. Maybe they’re actually landing bites now. And because it feels like loyalty, it gets allowed. And then it continues to grow and habits develop.

Dogs are more than capable of protecting us, but a stable dog does the job differently than an unstable dog. A stable dog that’s actually protective doesn’t do that. They still look to you. They don’t take over, they don’t escalate on their own, they don’t make decisions about the environment. They defer to you, if you relax they relax. In other words if you say it’s okay, they trust you.
If that piece is missing, it’s not protection anymore.
It’s a dog running its own show.
And that’s where things start to go sideways.
A man in Vermont was killed by the family dog last week. That dog had already attacked someone before. The city got involved and the dog had serious mandates. In the city hearing the owner repeatedly stated she believed her dog was being protective of the family and then ended up taking the life of a family member.
Around the same time, a 7 year old boy in Colorado was killed by a foster dog with known issues that had been explained away before being placed in a home with kids. The potential was minimized because we have forgotten that dogs are powerful domesticated predators and we don’t want to acknowledge that uncomfortable truth.
Those situations didn’t come out of nowhere.
They build over time, and when a dog practices that kind of behavior over and over, it doesn’t stay neatly directed at “strangers.” It spreads. That’s why people are always shocked when a dog turns on someone they know.
But it didn’t come out of nowhere.
It was rehearsed.
The photo attached is from a level 3/4 bite I took last year. One bite and release. That’s all it took. One bite from a large dog could be life ending for a child. A bite from a small dog can still cause great harm.
This isn’t about fear or hating certain groups of dogs. Some dogs bring greater risk to your life though. It’s about being honest about what you’re seeing in your own dog before it becomes something bigger.

You don’t get a redo when it goes bad.