Will It Take Long?

[dncelley]

Our dog used to be brilliant. He wouldn't lurke around waiting for scraps or anything.

We have been bad lately though (ok for about 6-7 months) and have started giving him crusts and everything. You know just throwing them to him as we finish.

He is now a pain in the butt! He drools and cries and creeps closer when we are eating. He has never taken food without us giving it to him before but last night we left a whole pizza in the box on the couch while we attended to our crying daughter in the other room. Yep. You guessed it! When we got back the pizza was gone! My husband flipped.

So my question is if we stop feeding him again how long will it take for it to sink in? He is a VERY food motivated dog. Seriously he will do anything for food.

How do we do it? Do we just not give it to him or should we use a command?

He is a very intelligent dog but like I said his world revolves around his food!

[KitKat]

I'd perhaps start doing 'leave' work and food refusal...i mean like he can still have the pizza crusts...but he has to wait until you guys have finished eating - even if it means the crusts are building up in front of his nose while he waits etc...then when you give him the ok word it's like getting a 'jackpot' lol. Build him up to it of course tho!

I do that with my dogs at times...leave food out but they know they aren't allowed to have it unless i give it to them or give them their food word. It tends to be a fav trick as well...lol

[dncelley]

We can usually do that.

We put his food in front of him and say "no" and he drools and cries but wont take it.

The bit I really want to get rid of though is his expecting food from us. I want him to not even be interested in us when we are eating! hahahahah!!!!!!

It has got to a point where we have to put him outside when we are having tea because he drools all over the tiles and makes them slippery.

Is it asking too much for him to lye on his bed when we are eating? Even if we give him food at the end wont he be excited because he knows he is going to get it? Am I crazy expecting him not to stare at us wishing for something when we eat?

[KitKat]

I think you will find it will take longer then it did the first time around - but you have to be consistant from here on in.

As to the how's etc...i don't think i know enough to help...lol...most of what i have done with my dogs is because i know how their minds work...one being with completely different workings to the other

Edited August 19, 2007 by KitKat

[Bubitty]

My little guy loves food as well and we've made sure we're really strict with him when we eat.

He must not look or hassle us for food or else he will be sinned binned. Sin binning works like a dream for my boy as he is a nosey little thing and hates to miss out on family action. We've only had to do it 3 times in his life. If he looks at us and appears interested we say "no food" and he will walk away to do something else. He gets 2 chances and third time is sin bin.

Also even though we do save him a tidbit of what we are eating we wait until he is napping or focused on something else or off somewhere else and then we will call him over to us and offer him the treat. This way he seems to know he needs to be calm and to stop focusing/expecting food before he will get any food.

[dncelley]

How long did it take you to train him?

When our dog was trained last time it was from a puppy. So it was like he never knew that he could get food. I'm worried that now he knows he can get it it will take months for him to give up!

[Bubitty]

We adopted him when he was 1 yrs old (he's 2 now) and its something we have consistently been doing since he came to live with us. I was always told "begging is a bad habit" so we've always made sure he doesnt stare at us while we eat.

Mine has never actually stolen food though. I leave food around to cool on a regular basis and him alone in the house with it and its never touched.

Its only every once in a while that he will look longingly at us having dinner and then we are on top of it straight away with the "No food" command.

I think you need to be vigilant and continue being vigilant.

Perhaps one of the dog trainers will come into this thread and help you out.

[leopuppy04]

Aside from what KitKat and Bub have advised - can you send him to bed when you start eating?

Do you have a crate or something similar in which, to make it easier for yourself, you can 'send' the dog away and confine it, while not using this in a negative connotation?

All of our dogs, when we eat know to pretty much go to their beds as soon as food comes outside. Like you, we are a little lax now, but they don't beg, they usually just sleep at our feet. I guess the main reason for teaching this is that whenever visitors used to come over with our old dog, they would always feed her, despite us saying no! It was one of our pet hates.

Basically - use a command such as 'mat', 'bed', 'box' etc etc etc. As soon as the food is set up and ready - tell your dog to get on their 'mat' (you may want to practice this a little first, so that the dog knows WHAT the mat means).... initially - go with them to their mat - tell them they are 'good dogs' for staying there..... then go and eat dinner. If the dog gets up, just say again 'mat' and place them back. The dog will learn (if you are 100% consistent) that if it gets off the mat, all that happens is it gets put back on!!! Whenever the dog is on the mat, tell them how good they are. Then, once you have finished dinner (with the dog still on the mat) clear out the table and when you release him, give him a few titbits (either your dinner or dog treats) to reinforce that staying on the mat brings good things.

Obviously, due to your dogs past experience, you may be unable to start off with this as I do with pups/ new dogs.... so perhaps teach it as a separate exercise initially and confine the dog for the time being when you are eating.

As for leaving the food alone - as Kit kat said - introduce a 'leave' command and REALLY test it with you going out of your dogs sight (but somewhere that you can still see him out of the corner of your eye).... if they move toward the food to take it.... shock horror, this HUGE bellowing noise comes out and scares the begezers out of them - trust me - you only need to do it once, and the dog learns that touching food on tables when no humans are around is SCARY stuff!!!

Hope this helps

ETA - in regards to the mat thing.... it really doesn't take long to teach as the dogs quickly learn they are getting nowhere by jumping off.

An example is our dogs are not allowed inside except on their mats. We started this with Leo as a pup and it took about 30mins of putting him back on the mat for him to understand.

Kinta we got at 5mths and it took her around 1-2hrs to understand. Every time they got off, I just picked them up and put them back on saying mat. When they stayed there I would pat/ feed (don't feed your dog though!). So all good things came when they were on the mat.

both dogs were allowed free reign around the breeders house

Edited August 20, 2007 by leopuppy04

[dncelley]

Thanks for your help!

We do have a bed for our dog but it is right beside our table. He knows he has to sit on it but seriously has big shoe laces coming out of his mouth because he wants the food so much. Maybe we will have to move his bed away when we are eating! We put him outside but he is a GSP and oh boy does he cry. Bad enough for us to feel sorry for the neighbours!

As for telling him to leave food he is very good at it. We can tell him to leave a bone or a piece of meat or anything and he will. It is the times where we just put something down and walk away that he will take it. Our dog is not allowed on the carpet yet he will travel 5-6 metres over it to take a piece of cake left on a plate on the coffee table.

[MrsD]

We have been bad lately though (ok for about 6-7 months)

I'm worried that now he knows he can get it it will take months for him to give up!

I think you have answered your own question - if it's taken months for the dog to learn to do it (with food as the reward), I think you are kidding yourself if you think that you can get the dog back to the way it was (if you EVER can) quicker than what it took it to learn it in the first place.

It's called reaping what you sow .

I have a serial kleptomaniac & food theif - it doesnt matter what it is, he can't be trusted. I got him as a rescue, so the problem started long before I ever got him & despite tryng to change the sitation, he's still the same & I have accepted that. I just don't trust him around food, no matter what it is. He's been known to steal grape stalks & tomato stalks out of the bin if that gives you an idea of how obsessed he is with stealing, it doesnt even have to be edible .

And FWIW, I put ALL my dogs outside when we eat, so no chance of stealing, no staring & drooling & most importantly no chance of them learning that they can scrounge food while we are eating .