We're tawlkin' dinner time, because we seem to have seen a slew of well trained dogs that totally lack manners when it comes to dinner time (with the humans that is).
Take you pick! While you eat, is your dog...whining, pawing, nudging, laying against you, barking or army crawling towards you as you eat? My personal favorite- a
dog square staring at you or panting heavily in your lap, (just kidding). Well, look, there are a lot of dogs that get aroused when the food hits the table.
Here are a few sanity savers to begin with:
· Proactive management- (prevent annoyance behaviors/and ignore your dogs)
Yes, ignoring your dog works, (really). The harder part for most two footers is totally committing to IGNORING the dog (no eye contact, no talking, no touching).
Often using a short leash (or tether) can work well to empower the "ignoring" part and keep them in a spot (near a dog bed or a comfortable place to hang out).
How? Wrap a leash to a heavy piece of furniture a door knob or put an eye hook in a baseboard for the beefcakes.
· Ignore
Yep, just ignore!
· Enrich
Before your dog begins to whine, bark or otherwise try old tricks to get your attention (and maybe a piece of food)- give them something to alleviate stress and nosh on- a frozen stuffed dog bone or Kong toy is a great start.
· People food
If you want to feed a bit of something from the table- you could always do this- BY putting it in a Kong or bone before you settle in to eat. Or better yet, as you begin to build and get a
more reliable, calmer behavior at the dinner table...you can simply reward calm, cool behavior by a good ole' dinner plate licking if you'd like.
Dogs usually beg because they have been reinforced for it- hey- that means the two footer- has given them food or attention (positive or negative). So keep in mind, most dogs that
get a taste of "human food" if it's used to reward in the correct context (i.e.- "hey you're being calm and cool- here's a french fry") won't turn into human food begging monsters.
Remember folks, everything in moderation :) And those highly tuned noses won't miss a whiff.
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