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DOG
LESSONS - Dog Begging at Dinner Time
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Does your puppy
or dog Beg, Borrow or Steal from your dinner
table? Turn the tables on him! You can turn
begging, "borrowing" or stealing from the dinner
table into an asset by following this simple
plan.
So many times we see behavior we don't like and
think "how can I stop that?" We do ourselves a
great disservice because then our focus is on
'stopping' the behavior we don't want rather
than training the behavior we DO want.
Why do dogs beg or steal from the dinner table?
Quite simply, they want food.
Some dogs are particularly brazen (and agile)
and will attempt to steal food directly from the
table. This is usually met with some sort of
reprimand, but if your dog has ever been
successful in his raid then the pattern is set.
If you leave your plate unattended (except by
your vigilant dog), then don't be too surprised
to find half your dinner missing when you
return.
It has nothing to do with dominance. It has just
become reinforced behavior.
Other dogs aren't quite so brazen, or would have
physical difficulty in stealing directly from
the table. These dogs tend to 'beg', by staring,
drooling, pawing or whatever works to get them a
little of the delicious meal you have prepared.
Their behavior only needs to be reinforced once
and it will take a very long time to go away
without any further reinforcement (and that
means from anyone, even by accident).
However, we can turn this begging or stealing
into an asset by 'turning the tables' (so to
speak) on our pet!
First up, we need to decide what we would prefer
our dog to do instead of begging or stealing. I
would almost always prefer a 'down' - as in
'lying down quietly'. My dogs are big, and when
they sit, long shoelaces of drool dangle
disgustingly from their mouths. Laying down just
looks better to me.
To begin with, during actual meals we will lock
our dogs out of the room or put them in their
crates. This is so we can enjoy a meal without
having to train. In the early stages we need to
concentrate on training.
If you have more than one dog, just work with
one at a time at first. Lock the other dogs out
of the room.
Have your dog's normal meal in a bowl on the
dinner table. Obviously, a clean bowl is
preferred for reasons of hygiene.
If your dog doesn't already know how to lay down
on command, then take a piece of food and lure
him into position. If you don't know how to do
this, find out.
Silently, count to 1 in your head and give him
some food if he is still laying down.
Now count to 2 in your head, and give him some
food if he is still laying down.
Now count to 3 in your head, and give him some
food is he is still laying down.
If at any point your dog gets up, then ask him
to lay down again and re-start your count at 1.
When your dog can stay laying down for a count
of 30, you can start using this exercise during
normal meals unless you have another dog. If you
have two or more dogs, start working with both
of them when they can both stay down for a count
of 30. When they can both stay down for a count
of 30 together, then you can start using this
exercise during normal meal times.
*
Please note that the opinions of the
dog lessons articles do not
necessarily reflect the opinions or
practices of any or all employees of
dog-bed-directory.com.
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