This page on Dog Training Basics is part of the Beginners Course of the
D.S. Dog Training Workshop, and an element of the Dog Science Network

Question:

How can you plug in the formula to keep your dog from begging for food at the dinner table?

The Formula

  1. Give your dog something else to do.
    (something rewarding that is incompatible with the problem behavior)
  2. Remove all the pay-offs.
    (for the problem behavior)
  3. Make sure that it becomes an unpleasant experience.
    (every time your dog engages in the problem behavior)

Answer:

  1. If practical, have someone play with your dog or take him for a walk or, otherwise, keep him engaged in some other engrossing activity that will keep him occupied and away from the table during dinner.
  2. Make sure that no one ever gives your dog food from the table, so that begging for table scraps never pays off.
  3. Make sure that asking for table scraps always brings an unpleasant consequence that your dog would rather avoid.

Go back to the page on which the question was asked

This page on Dog Training Basics is part of the Beginners Course of the
D.S. Dog Training Workshop, and an element of the Dog Science Network