My parent's sheltie has the same problem, he is obsessed with food.
Lucky for us, he is small and can't get onto the counters, but we still have to watch him closely. After eating dinner if we don't push in our chairs then he is on the table stealing food. He will also sneak into the kitchen and check if we've left any food close to the edge of the counter. If we have he'll jump up and steal it. He's very sneaky about it too. He'll often wait till my Mother is in the laundry room in the basement, then sneak in to steal food. You can actually hear him jumping up and down in front of the counter! He'll eat anything he can find, even if its just a bun. He has a very sensitive stomach so he often gets sick from what he steals.
Milo is now 8 and he's mellowed out some with age, but nothing really cured his behavior. Some things that helped us keep our sanity were:
- No people food, except carrots (Beans are fine too). These were NEVER fed to him at the table, but were either put in his food or given as treats (meaning he'd have to work for them)
- Milo was NOT allowed in the kitchen He'd get fed else where. His outside access was only through the kitchen so he was let out at set intervals. On the rare time he really had to go out he'd run to the back door in the kitchen, at which time he did not get in trouble. If he was caught sneaking in the kitchen, he'd be made to go lie down in his corner or be crated till someone could keep an eye on him.
- No begging. If he begged he was made to go lie down in his corner.
This helped us considerably. Once he realized the consequences of sneaking in the kitchen he stopped doing it so often. Of course, being smart, he still waited till we'd leave the room to sneak in.
Maybe stop leaving things on the counter? Maybe he'd eventually give up going on the counters if he stopped finding things there?
My only other suggestion would be to maybe try a higher protein food? I read on several web sites that a dog's hunger better satisfied by higher protein foods.
Hoping this might make you feel a bit better. I new of one other dog who had a severe food obsession. I baby sat for these people when I was in college and this dog was unbelievable. He was an irish setter and obsessed about food 24 hrs a day. He was constantly searching for food, he'd look under furnature, in plants, etc. He would pace and bark non stop, all of the time (Just about drove me out of my mind while I was there). He could not be taught to stay off of counters. They had to hide all of their food away all of the time and tie cupboards shut, because he could open the doors. He would steal plastic bags and eat them because he associated plastic with food. When his owners returned from grocery shopping he would steal canned soup, veggies etc. run in the back yard and chew the can apart to get at the food inside. They tried medicating him but it didn't help much. I often wondered if it would be more humane to put this dog down. I think after dealing with him for 6-7 years they gave him to a family on a farm, where he lived till the end of his days. I never heard what happened with the food obsession. Maybe he was too bored as a house dog.
Dealing with Milo's food obsession was a walk in the park conpared to this dog!
