Training Your Dog Not To Beg
A common problem, dog begging. Or is it? A problem, that is? A
begging dog is cute, no? A dog who begs for their supper, tidbits or ‘a
bit of what you’re having’ is all part of the canine charm, is it not?
Ultimately, that’s entirely up to you. You see, the begging ‘problem’ is only a problem when it becomes a problem.
If you follow me. Dogs who learn to beg for food often fall in to that
horrible grey area of learning a behaviour/habit that is, as far as
their owners go, OK sometimes and totally not cool at others. Hmmm. This
is no good. Not really. Dogs are far happier if they understand that a
behaviour is either OK, all of the time, or not OK, all of the time.
Begging is one of these behaviours.
Learning to beg or steal food is the easiest of all life’s lessons
for a puppy. The art is most often taught by the pup’s owners. In some
cases, it is learned when food is accidentally dropped on the floor, or
left unattended where the puppy can get at it.
Human taste discrimination is so crude when compared to the dog’s
that many owners fail to appreciate the mistake of giving their pups
little treats of the family food fare. Many times it only takes one
taste of highly spiced table food to ruin a puppy’s appreciation for its
less-seasoned commercial diet. The result can be a pup that turns up
its nose at dog food and becomes a roaring menace around the dinner
table.
Training a Dog to Stop Begging
The
training
method of extinguishing begging takes time. The time it takes depends
on the duration of the habit, the pup’s tenacity, and the consistency of
its owners in carrying out corrective procedures. It requires that
absolutely no attention be given the begging pup, regardless of its
antics in trying to gain tidbits.
In the case of food stealing, the training method of extinguishing
the behaviour requires even more careful control of the environment,
especially when young children are involved. They usually love to share
their goodies with their pets, but it is impractical to explain the
cause-effect relationship to such youngsters when they complain that
“Sparky jumped up and stole my ice cream cone!” Children also tend to
leave articles of food around on low tables and chairs, an irresistible
temptation for most puppies.
Help! How Do I Stop My Dog Stealing Food?
To eliminate stealing, whether it is overt (taking food from
children) or covert (pilfering the thawing dinner steak), it is
necessary to initiate a program of at least 4 weeks, during which no
food is ever placed within the pup’s reach. It goes without saying that
no tidbits should be given during this period.
Remedies that often fail include lacing some food with pepper or
ammonia, saying “No-no” while tempting the pup, and physically punishing
the animal when it approaches the family’s food. These fail because
they require the presence of some agent other than the food, either the
aversive-tasting element or the owner. When these elements are not
present, the pup is rarely discouraged from stealing the food. It learns
to discriminate between treated and untreated morsels, and to avoid
food in the owner’s presence.
Begging food from the dinner table is one of the easiest things to
teach a dog, and also one of the hardest habits to break. Your pet’s
training to beg begins when he is a young, adorable puppy. It does not
take too many repetitions before he learns that he gets fed from the
table by begging. Then he sits by your chair while you are eating and
stares at you. Occasionally he’ll get up on his hind legs and paw you,
or he’ll nudge your arm and remind you that he is waiting. And he
drools, that’s the worst part. He looks as though you never feed him.
If you don’t have this problem, prevention is quite simple. Don’t
start giving your dog food from the table. If you must give your dog
table scraps, give them in moderation and in his own dish after you have
finished eating or, better yet, with his regular meal. Once you have a
dog that begs, it becomes a self-perpetuating problem. Begging is
rewarded with food.
Chances are, if you have this problem, you’ve tried to stop his
begging, you’ve yelled at him when he begs, pushed him away, and even
gotten really angry, but he just gets more persistent. So you’ve had to
give him something to be able to eat in peace. What you have done is to
reward his persistence. Each time you have tried holding out longer, but
have ultimately given in, you have further trained him that no matter
how far away the rainbow looks, there is a pot of gold at the end if he
simply waits.
When you are tired of this behaviour and want to end it, when you get
to the point that you can’t stand the drooling, the whining, the pawing
and the sad eyes staring at you, then you have to steel yourself for
the cure. Using the positive approach, give him the command “Down” and
have him do a long “Down” by your chair during dinner. Be prepared for
many interruptions initially, while you reinforce his “Down.” Each time
he gets up, repeat the command and replace it if necessary so that he
remains down during your dinner.
With a truly persistent begger, your first week of dinners may be
quite a trial. Some dogs bark repeatedly and go through all manner of
random actions to try to get you to feed them from the table. But once
you have begun the training, stick with it. If you give in at any time,
no matter how small the tidbit you sneak him, not only have you lost
that battle, you may very well have lost the entire war. If you have
made up your mind that you don’t want begging, then it’s just a matter
of time before you have your dog resigned to the fact that the party is
over, at least at the dinner table.
When your dog is steady enough to do the long “Down” away from your
side during dinner, then establish his place where he stays while you
eat. He should be put in his place every evening while you are eating,
and praised when you release him at the end of the meal. It won’t be too
long before you will be eating dinner in the company of a well-trained,
well- behaved dog lying quietly in the corner.
The Hardline Approach on Dog Begging – Why You Should Never Let Your Dog Beg For Food & Attention
Unless they are trained not to do so, most dogs will form the natural
habit of begging for both attention and food. Some dog owners except
this behaviour and think it’s cute, but most people get annoyed very
quickly when their dog starts to beg every time he wants love,
attention, and especially when he smells something tasty cooking in the
house.
What is wrong with begging you might ask?
For starters, begging is another form of demanding and it gives your
dog an aspect of control within the family “pack”. I describe your
family as a pack because that is exactly how your dog sees it. Anyways,
while it seems adorable when Sparky rolls over on his back expecting a
belly rub every time you enter the room, or just sits all teary-eyed
staring straight at your plate of food when you’re eating dinner, this
behaviour has the possibility to gain momentum and become aggressive.
Just how aggressive can a dog possibly become?
If you do not think that your dog could ever possibly bite your hand
because he expects you to give him food every time he begs, think again.
For years a friend of mine would hand feed his puppy pieces of food at
any time of the day he was eating. If it were breakfast, his dog would
get a two pieces of bacon. At lunch time my friend would hand feed his
dog a few bites of his sandwich. The same went for dinner.
After some time, his dog matured and grew bigger, and my friend did not realize that he was reinforcing a dominant leadership
role into his dog every time he gave in to begging. Once he decided to
change this behaviour with his dog, he learned quickly just how
dangerous the situation was. At one of his meals, my friend absolutely
refused to feed his dog anything and the begging and crying turned into
aggression and barking. Then without notice, his dog leaped up onto his
plate and snapped at the food, taking a little bit of my friends flesh
with it.
Begging can be eliminated with proper training
The above example may seem a bit extreme and you still probably could
never imagine you’re adorable dog biting you in the attempt to get food
that he was expecting. However, the problem is real and you must start
early in your puppy’s life with instilling the rules when it comes to
begging.
During your meals, you need to train your dog to sit and stay in a
specific area when the family is eating. This may take some time but
eventually he will remain in a sit position until after your dinner is
over and then of course you should praise his actions by offering him up
a nice hot meal that he can eat in his own food bowl, and only after
everybody else is finished eating.
Article posted by K9 Magazine filed in: Dog Training
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