Make Your Dog’s Begging Less Bothersome

Today’s project is to teach your dog to beg for table scraps. “Wait, wait,” you’re thinking, “my dog totally knows how to do that already!” Yes, of course. Some dogs –okay, most dogs –seem to be born knowing how to put their nose in your lap while you eat. And how to paw your knee, and how to nudge your elbow at the exact moment you lift the soup spoon. There is a better way.

How to Get Your Dog to Stop Begging

First, a housekeeping point. You may have heard that you shouldn’t give your dog “people food.” True, your table scraps won’t likely supply your dog with a complete and balanced diet. But it’s okay for a healthy dog to enjoy a few fingernail-sized bites of your chicken, pasta, or Moo Shu vegetables. Scrape off rich or spicy sauces unless your dog has a cast-iron stomach. And don’t share the human foods that can really harm dogs: some biggies are onions, raisins, grapes, avocado, certain citrus fruits, and chocolate. Check with your vet if your dog has any food-related medical problems.

Also, a word of caution: if your dog gets excessively mouth-on-people or seems outright aggressive when frustrated, this exercise isn’t for her. Get help from a qualified behavior professional.  And if your dog is more into stealing food than begging for it, check out the episode of my show on stopping your dog from stealing food.

Teach Your Dog Polite Begging

Now get ready to teach your dog polite begging.

Normally, if you’re using food rewards, you’re better off starting with a slightly hungry dog. But ignoring your pot roast or tempeh has got to be harder for a hungry dog than a sated one. So feed your dog before your meal. You can do this training at breakfast and dinner since most adult dogs should get two meals a day.

Next, place your dog’s wonderful, comfy bed somewhere near the table. Your dog does have a wonderful, comfy bed, right? It should be far enough away so the dog isn’t underfoot when lying on it, but close enough that when you throw food at the bed you won’t miss.

Let the Begging Training Begin

When you sit down to eat, set aside 5 or 10 tiny pieces of whatever you’ve got that your dog likes. And then be patient and ignore her.

Ignore her if she looks at you pleadingly. Ignore her if she barks. Ignore her if she rests her big sweet head on your thigh and whimpers because she’s about to drop dead, she’s so famished. If you smile at your dog while she’s begging, push her away, reprimand her, or give the behavior any attention at all, you’re rewarding it. Completely ignoring your dog will be the toughest part of the whole process. Whatever you do, don’t hold out for 29 minutes and then cave on the 30th. You will have built a dog who has learned to pester for 30 minutes, and you will want to knock yourself upside the head. And this may seem obvious, but nobody at the table should slip your dog any food during the meal.

Sooner or later, if you resolutely ignore your dog’s begging, she will give up and go away. Ideally, she’ll lie down on that comfy bed. But if she chooses to lie on the floor, call that good enough. The instant she lies down, toss her a piece of the food you’ve set aside. Lying down quietly is now the one and only behavior that will buy her table scraps.

Continue the Training

Odds are close to 100 percent that as soon as she’s eaten the treat you tossed her, she will get up and start begging again. Your mission: keep ignoring her. Eventually, she’ll give up and go lie down again. Then toss her a scrap and repeat, repeat, repeat. Be absolutely consistent. Within a few meals she’ll give up begging faster and faster, and she’ll go lie down more and more readily. That brings you to the fine-tuning stage.

As your dog gets proficient at begging by lying down quietly as soon as the meal starts, you can stretch the interval between treat tosses. With enough practice, your dog can learn to wait patiently through the whole meal for a single bite. I don’t bother to push that far. Our despairing dog settling onto the floor with a deep, deep sigh, makes us laugh, and I can’t resist tossing him a treat every few minutes in exchange. The house manners that keep you and your dog happy and comfortable are the house manners that are right for you.

Take Your Training to the Next Level

Here’s another refinement you might like: move the dog bed farther and farther from the table, a foot or so at each meal, until it’s in the location where you’d like your dog always to rest during meals.

Troubleshooting the Begging Training

When I know my dog has no way to get what he wants, and so will eventually try the behavior I want, I find it easiest just to wait him out. Though if that idea sounds miserable instead of restful to you, try this. Put the dog bed right next to your seat and ask your dog to lie on it. As soon as he does, give him a table scrap. You can give him the cue “Stay,” if and only if he already has a lot of practice at holding a stay in the face of distractions. Give him treats frequently as long as he’s lying down. If he gets up, you can cue him to lie down again. But I suggest ignoring him and letting him figure it out, instead. That way he’ll start lying down automatically at every meal, without waiting for a cue from you.

When your dog is good at lying quietly, you can start stretching the time between treats just as with the wait-your-dog-out method I described first.

Another point to remember: how quickly you can teach your dog any habit depends on how long he’s been practicing other habits. Expect a puppy to take a few days to learn that successful begging entails lying down. Expect an adult dog who’s been mooching successfully his whole life to take a good long time to unlearn that habit. Remember how long it took you to start working out regularly? Ahem.

Questions or comments for the Dog Trainer? Call 206-600-5661, or email me at dogtrainer@quickanddirtytips.com. Bye for now, and don’t forget to have fun with your dog!