# Advice for Training a Dog to Leave People Alone While Eating



## Mercy Medical (Jul 6, 2010)

We don't have a dining room table in our apartment (we made the dining room into an office, although we are looking at purchasing a small dining room table in the near future) so my girlfriend and I eat in front of the TV, on the couch, on the coffee table. This provides a problem as it is a perfect height for Vincent to attempt to take a bite. It can become quite obnoxious at times especially if we have anyone over that isn't used to it (as I think he knows that he would probably have better odds bugging them then bugging his two Moms). We've tried to train "leave it" although I think it's (or we are) failing miserably as he doesn't tend to listen.

Does anyone have any tips on how to get him to stop bugging us while we eat? I don't necessarily need him to sit still in one place (I have tried to make him go lay down on his bed while eating) as much as I just want him to not be interested in us eating. I realize that might be a lofty goal for a dog and I may be a bit out of my range with certain expectations, so if you want to bring me back down to earth a bit feel free. Basically I just want him to realize that he shouldn't be coming up to us while we're eating, I suppose that is my general goal.

Thanks!


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## schnauzermommy (Sep 13, 2010)

Yes, your dog can be trained to stay away from your food while you eat in your living room! BUT it will take a lot of patience and perseverance from you! First of all, your dog doesn't take you seriously. Every time, and I mean every time you sit down to eat you have to go through a routine in order for your dog to know you mean what you say. One way: (I suggest you don't do this with food that you want to eat hot, because this might take a few minutes). Set your food on the table. When your dog comes over, then use one word that you want your dog to recognize as the "leave us alone while we eat" word. Don't use a word that it associates with something else like "sit". You don't have to yell the word, just say the word with conviction in a strong voice. Then physically (no yanking, dragging) lead your dog over to the place in the room you want the dog to go to and lay down while you eat. Look your dog in the eyes and say the word again with conviction. You will have to do this every time you sit down to eat until the dog "gets" what he/she is expected to do. Dogs have to be conditioned, so your dog may get the message in a couple of days or a couple of months. Each time it looks like the dog is edging over to you while you eat, say your word with the same conviction, and then get up and lead the dog back to the same location. You may have to do this several times during your meals. But sooner or later your dog will get it. Once you're in this training, under no circumstances do you allow the dog to come over not even "just once", because you'll be back to square one. Make sure your friends and family don't allow the dog to be near them while they eat either. Each person with food that the dog is bothering will have to do the same routine or your dog will pick his targets...the softies. All humans in the house have to let the dog know that it's not okay to bother them while they are eating. It is quite satisfying when your dog is trained! We can leave food on the coffee table for extended periods of time and our mini schnauzer won't bother it unless we physically feed it to her. Hope this helps!


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Long story short, all dogs should be taught how to "stay" in one place/area. You must teach the stay 1st and then you may start stay work when food is available. You make no mention of any type of dog working goals accomplished.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

My method would be considered "similar" to the above...especially the being consistent part. BUT I would be using reinforcement once Vincent IS where you want him to be.
So it looks like this:
What do you want him to do INSTEAD of bothering you when you eat? Then train it and put in on cue. 
If it's "go to your mat" then you work on the training when you are not eating to start. 
You choose the place you want him to go.
You can shape or lure this (I use a clicker, drop a treat on the mat to "start" and then click when he takes the treat. Then I c/t for looking at mat, then sniffing mat, then putting feet on mat ( I think you get the picture). Eventually you want to be clicking and treating for LAYING on the mat in a down. I will often toss the reward a few feet away at this point so that he leaves it and then goes back (reinforcing the ACTION and the result). Once he is reliably running to get the treat and then then running back and laying down you add the cue while he's moving toward the mat. Repeat. 

Now, this looks like a lot of work when it's written down but it's not. I taught Cracker to go into her crate on cue using this method in three sessions of about fifteen minutes. 

You've built a cue, built a reinforcement that being on the mat is awesome etc. So therefore being on the mat happens more often. Then you build duration. You CAN tether him to something stable near the mat, give him a stuffed frozen kong or a chew stick and then enjoy your dinner. He learns that when you are having dinner he gets something FOR STAYING AWAY and he gets reinforced for it.

Keeping this up is important, being consistent is important..but making it more rewarding to HIM to stay on the mat is the key to behaviour being stress free and fun for all.


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Try playing the "its yer choice" game (sticky) and use a bed/mat like above. The its yer choice game is what really helped with Nash trying to take our food.


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## schnauzermommy (Sep 13, 2010)

All the advise is good, it's just what method will the humans stick with! For training our mini schnauzer we didn't use working goals or reinforcements. We used "what dogs do in the wild" training in which dogs know the pecking order of each member of the pack. So, the alpha dogs (humans in the family) let the other dog(s) in the pack know what's acceptable and what's not with pack rules. All of it done with firm commands and consistency. However that doesn't mean that Mercy Medical can't add working goals and reinforcements as part of the conditioning/training of their dog.


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## Mercy Medical (Jul 6, 2010)

Thanks for the helpful advice, guys.  I do already have a clicker and have worked on "loading" it with him, but I really haven't done much more then that. I might try the clicker with the mat to hopefully reinforce the behavior a bit. 

Question, is it bad if there's any time that we can't do the training while we eat? I know we have to be consistent, but it the real world scenario people have to get to work on a certain time in the morning and can't commit so much time to being consistent? Just a general question, not trying to be whiny.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

schnauzermommy said:


> All the advise is good, it's just what method will the humans stick with! For training our mini schnauzer we didn't use working goals or reinforcements. We used "what dogs do in the wild" training in which dogs know the pecking order of each member of the pack. So, the alpha dogs (humans in the family) let the other dog(s) in the pack know what's acceptable and what's not with pack rules. All of it done with firm commands and consistency. However that doesn't mean that Mercy Medical can't add working goals and reinforcements as part of the conditioning/training of their dog.


Dogs aren't people, and wolves don't lead each other by the collar away from the dining room table, either...


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

For times you can't train, manage, put him in another room or tie him away from you while you eat . . or eat standing up.


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## schnauzermommy (Sep 13, 2010)

LazyGRanch713 said:


> Dogs aren't people, and wolves don't lead each other by the collar away from the dining room table, either...


They actually bite, bark and growl to get the others to get away from the food, but we just went with firm commands!


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## MichelleLovesDogs (Sep 14, 2010)

Mercy Medical said:


> Thanks for the helpful advice, guys.  I do already have a clicker and have worked on "loading" it with him, but I really haven't done much more then that. I might try the clicker with the mat to hopefully reinforce the behavior a bit.
> 
> Question, is it bad if there's any time that we can't do the training while we eat? I know we have to be consistent, but it the real world scenario people have to get to work on a certain time in the morning and can't commit so much time to being consistent? Just a general question, not trying to be whiny.


Prevention is key if you don't have the time to train, put him in another room. Teach success instead of failure. Having delicious food at eye level for a dog is extremely hard to resist, so you need to make time when u can. Do you eat before he does in the morning, after, or at the same time?


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## schnauzermommy (Sep 13, 2010)

Mercy Medical said:


> Thanks for the helpful advice, guys.  I do already have a clicker and have worked on "loading" it with him, but I really haven't done much more then that. I might try the clicker with the mat to hopefully reinforce the behavior a bit.
> 
> Question, is it bad if there's any time that we can't do the training while we eat? I know we have to be consistent, but it the real world scenario people have to get to work on a certain time in the morning and can't commit so much time to being consistent? Just a general question, not trying to be whiny.


There will be times that it'll be hard to train, but stick with it as much as you can. However, don't stress yourself out (nobody, even your dog, likes stressed out training). When you're not consistent it just takes longer for your dog to "get it". When your training starts showing results, believe me, you'll feel like a proud parent and it was all worth it! Remember to use the firm voice command even when you can't use your clicker. Dogs do get that certain tones of voice and mannerisms mean certain things. Just train YOURSELF to use those tones and mannerisms consistently. You'll be surprised how quickly your pup will catch on when you are consistent with your habits! Keep us up-to-date on your progress.


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## yappypappymom (Oct 22, 2009)

This is my #1 pet peeve(aside from being house trained), that drives me maniacal! An old friend of mine I used to visit alot had a pretty little black cocker spaniel. Sweetest thing. But, anytime there was food involved, well, literally it was watching the people battle the dog for THEIR food. I remember being horrified watching the dog knock down the 2 yr. old daughter to get the little girls food., or, watching the parents try to eat a sandwich on the couch while the dog was trying to eat the food at the same time. Ever since seeing that, I have NEVER had a begging dog. Its not cute to me - at all.

Its really not too difficult to train, although, to me its not really training, its just "THE RULE"...I don't negotiate about it. I also don't ever break "the rule" - EVER! Whenever food is out, I ignore them. Its kinda like they become invisable even. I don't look in their direction at all. If they try to come into my area, they get a head turning, full on stare, & told "away" & give this backwards hand fling signal where I fling my wrist, & my fingers fly out into a backwards high-5. Early on, I had to get up & body-block them to an acceptable distance, but, now, I really don't have to do any of the above(maybe the hand fling thing at times) because they just know better. Its nice. All of my dogs have always been very well behaved when food is involved. Same thing at my fridge, or when I am cooking, or when we are at the table. Or on the couch w/ food. If something hits the floor, they cross their paws & say silent prayers to the doggie gods that I have not seen it, cuz I don't even allow that. (that one may seem mean, BUT, I had to include that into "the rule" to deter the people in the family from having "innocent mistakes" in which food has magically dropped to the floor, so, in that way, food was sneaked to them, which just reinforces begging...damned hoomans).

Just be CONSISTENT!! If you don't want to have "holes" in your plan, don't break your rules yourself. Not even if its "just one little chip - what could it hurt"?? EVERYTHING...if you allow it sometimes here or there, your dog will never give up boring a hold in you with its laser-beam stare just waiting for that 2% chance that you will cave.

Good luck!


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## Mercy Medical (Jul 6, 2010)

MichelleLovesDogs said:


> Prevention is key if you don't have the time to train, put him in another room. Teach success instead of failure. Having delicious food at eye level for a dog is extremely hard to resist, so you need to make time when u can. Do you eat before he does in the morning, after, or at the same time?


Well, our (human) schedule is a bit all over the place. I work the standard 8 to 5 (more like 7:30 to 5:30 with my commute), but my girlfriend is still in school and works, so her schedule is a little bit all over the place. In the morning, he typically eats before we do. I wake up at 6, take him out for his morning walk, come back home, take a shower and then after I'm all dressed and ready I go downstairs, get him breakfast and do some other stuff while he eats. Eating is typically the last thing I do in my morning routine. The evenings are a bit all over the place, but he usually eats before we do just because our schedules are a bit every where so we may eat at 6:30 one day...may eat around 8 depending on what we have going on that night. I try and feed him earlier in the evening though so he doesn't have that burst of after eating energy at 8PM.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

schnauzermommy said:


> They actually bite, bark and growl to get the others to get away from the food, but we just went with firm commands!


Firm commands are fine, but it's a lot nicer and easier on the dog (and quicker FTM) if you actually take the time to TEACH the dog what you want them to do, vs. just barking commands at them, don't you think?


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## bigmac (Sep 25, 2010)

I find the various methods suggested here helpful and interesting. I agree you are trying to manage a dog--train him/her if you will. I aslo agree that consistency is core to the success any training you undertake. When it comes to food, however, you are asking a dog to overcome a basic need--to eat. The smell of food is a very over riding element. If you choose to have your dog near where you eat you press your pup to control natural instincts. Consider feeding your dog a small amount of it's daily ration when you eat. This does two things: (1) lets the dog engage in what's natural, and (2) sets a timeframe when they are likely to be fed. They don't have to be fed their entire daily need at one meal. Giving them food when you have food eliminates some of the stress they feel. And, for heaven's sake, don't ever begin the bad practice of feeding them human food from the table. Once you do this all further training becomes near useless. A good balanced diet recommended by your vet is what they should always eat--supplemented with treats your vet also recommends as circumstances dictate . . . when they respond positively to a training command, etc.


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## yappypappymom (Oct 22, 2009)

Something new that I have incorportaed within the past 2 weeks, is, I now use the oven timer. I set it around 9ish so that it will go off at 10pm. Gives us time to eat, & get all cleaned up, &, a clear line is drawn as to when its THEIR dinner time. The first couple of nights, the dogs didn't really understand what that "beeping" noise was for, but...now, they hear that sound, &, like magic, they go to their beds, & just patiently wait. Its done wonders!! I find that stringent schedules remove the "but...when do we get to eat"? problem. They hear the cue, &, know whats to happen. This works well FOR US!!


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