Unless they are trained not to do so, most dogs will form the habit of begging for attention and food. Some dog owners actually allow this behavior and think it s cute…not. Many people get extremely annoyed very quickly when their dog begins to beg every time he wants love, attention, and especially when he smells something delicious coming from your kitchen.
What is wrong with a begging dog?
Everything! Begging is another form of demanding and it gives your dog an aspect of control within the family pack . I describe a family as a pack because that is exactly how your dog sees it. While it may seem cute when Rex rolls over on his back expecting a belly rub every time you enter the room, or just sits all teary eyed staring straight at your hero sandwich when you re eating during the Super Bowl game, this behavior has the possibility to gain momentum and become hostile.
Just how hostile can a dog actually become?
If you do not think that your dog could ever actually bite your hand because he expects you to give him a fun snack every time he begs, think again. For years a friend of mine would hand feed his dog pieces of food at any time of the day he was eating. If it were breakfast, his dog would get a two pieces of toast. At lunch time my friend would hand feed his dog a few bites of his Rueben sandwich. The same went for super.
Months later, his dog matured and grew larger, and my friend did not realize that he was reinforcing a dominant leadership role into his dog every time he gave in to begging. Once he decided to alter this behavior with his dog, he learned very fast just how dangerous the situation was. At one of his meals, my friend refused to feed his dog anything and the begging and crying turned into hostile barking. Then without suddenly his dog jumped up onto his plate and snapped at his cheeseburger, taking a little bit of my friend’s finger along with it.
Begging can be eliminated with proper training
The example of my friend may seem a bit extreme and you still probably could never imagine you re cute dog biting you in the attempt to get a meal that he was wanting. This can develop into a real problem and you must start early in your dog’s life with instilling the rules when it comes to begging.
During meal time, you need to train your dog to sit and stay in a separate area when the family is eating food. This may take some time but eventually he will remain in a sit position until after your dinner is over and then of course you should praise his actions by offering him up a delicious meal that he can eat in his “own” food bowl, and only after everybody else is finished eating their meal. |
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