Dog Begging Problem

The scent of food is usually what entices the dog to the table in the first place. Dogs are clever animals that will take advantage when you give in to their demands.

A dog’s begging face is very adorable, your dog knows it and will use it to get what he wants, when he wants it.

Begging should never be encouraged; it will only get worse with time. Since the dog views the family as part of his pack, if you establish yourself as the pack leader early enough, you can stop this problem before it develops.

Failure to do this will result in a dog that sees himself as more dominant and will try to establish his position by acting the way he wants.

Do not feed the dog from the table, even if you are giving the dog his food, do it away from the table. Feeding the dog table scraps will only encourage the dog to beg. Beside, table scraps are not good for your dog and may cause him to gain a lot of weight. Some substances present in human food are toxic for the dog and by giving such foods to the dog you may be slowly killing your dog.

If the behaviour is already present, then you can bring it under control using the following steps:

- Remove temptation for your dog, by keeping him away from the dinner table. You can place him in a crate till you are done with the meal.

- Never feed the dog from the table. Ensure that every member of the family knows this, especially the younger members who might do this to try and avoid eating some of their food.

- If the dog’s feeding time correspond to dinner time for you, then take the dog to a separate room and give him his feeding bowl. Do not feed him in the same room unless it is necessary. This is because your dog may notice that your food looks better than his and refuse to eat his own food. As a result, the dog will then come to beg at the table.

- If the dog insists on coming to beg at the table, ignore him completely. Turn away from his “begging” face and focus your attention elsewhere. Reward the dog for moving away from the table

- Obedience training will get you to stop the behaviour. Give the dog firm commands if he comes near the table. You can tell him to “stay” if he starts to greet up and approach the table.

- Set up boundaries and make sure that your dog respects them. If you don’t want the dog to come beg for food in the kitchen, then don’t let them come to the kitchen in the first place. Make the kitchen a no-go zone for your dog. This will also aid in keeping the dog safe since if he comes to the kitchen when you are not around he may consumes something toxic.

Be consistent in the rules you set out and in no time your dog is bound to stop the begging behaviour.

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