beagle behavior

Question
I have a beagle that will be 3yrs old in February. She recently started jumping on the kitchen chairs and taking food off the table, she also has learned how to pull on the garbage bag and pop open the lid to the garbage..could you suggest the best route to take in correcting this.

Answer
Basically, she's a smart dog who has figured out some ways to reward herself. If she is doing this when you are not around, the only way to keep her from finding her reward without you is to manage what she has access to. Limit her access to the kitchen and the trash. Any type of correction you try to make after the fact will only confuse her and be ineffective. If she's doing it when you are there, I'd train an incompatible behavior, like "leave it" (she can't steal and leave it alone at the same time)Sandy Case BFA MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com