Here’s a detailed description of how to stop a dog from begging, along with key takeaways.
How to Stop a Dog from Begging
It’s natural for dogs to try and obtain a tasty bite of whatever their humans are eating, but persistent begging can be frustrating for owners and unhealthy for dogs. Let’s explore the reasons behind begging behavior and how to stop it effectively.
Why Dogs Beg
- Natural Instincts: Begging is a deeply ingrained survival tactic. Dogs are opportunistic and will naturally try to get any food they perceive as available.
- Learned Behavior: If a dog has received table scraps or attention while begging in the past, they’ll continue the behavior because it was successful.
- Miscommunication: A dog might beg with sad eyes or other behaviors as a way to express basic needs – hunger, the need to go outside, etc.
Why Should You Stop Your Dog From Begging?
- Health Problems: Human food is often too rich or difficult for a dog’s digestion, leading to upset stomachs, obesity, and other health issues.
- Behavioral Reinforcement: If begging works, the dog learns that the behavior brings rewards and will continue or even escalate the actions.
- Owner Inconvenience: Begging can be disruptive and even spoil the pleasure of meals for owners.
Steps to Stop Begging Behavior
- Feed Beforehand: Give your dog their meal just before yours. A satisfied dog is less interested in human food.
- Command Training: Teach cues like “go to your place” or “sit and stay” and use them during meals. Reward compliance.
- Consistent Meals: Schedule meals at regular times so your dog doesn’t beg out of hunger.
- Ignore the Behavior: Do not give any attention, even negative, when your dog begs.
- Crating (If Necessary): As a last resort, use a crate during your mealtimes, but only after feeding your dog.
- Consider Diet Change: If none of the above work, try a tastier, high-quality dog food. Consult with your vet when making dietary changes.
Key Takeaways
- Prevention is Key: Avoid giving table scraps or any attention when your dog begs – this will prevent the behavior from being reinforced and becoming a habit.
- Consistency Matters: Be consistent with your chosen training method. Conflicting signals confuse your dog.
- Patience is Necessary: Changing a dog’s behavior takes time and effort. Don’t be discouraged.
- No Punishment: Scolding creates mistrust. Positive reinforcement (rewarding good behavior) works much better.
Additional Considerations
If your dog’s begging seems excessive or out of character, consider whether their basic needs are being met or if a medical issue might be the cause. Consult your veterinarian as needed.
By following these steps and understanding the roots of begging, you can teach your dog polite mealtime manners and enjoy a more harmonious relationship.
Why Do Dogs Beg their Owners?
Almost all dogs of different breeds possess this behavior of begging their owner naturally. Most of the time, the dog owners gave their dogs delicious treats or workout sessions or played sessions when they noticed their canine was having a sad face.
This creates a misconception in the canine’s mind that they will get delicious treats or their favorite things like play sessions and a walkout whenever they make such sad faces in front of their owners. This is the main reason why the dog begged their owners.
But rather than this, dogs used to beg their owners to communicate with them when they wanted something, as they can’t cry like a baby or tell their owner like us whenever they need something.
It is often noticed in some dogs that they beg only when their basic needs get missed by the owners due to a busy schedule.
Why Should the Begging of Dogs be Stopped?
Now, as we have discussed why dogs beg their owners, it becomes important for the dog owners to know why this canine behavior needs to be stopped before getting into the actual steps of stopping the dog from begging. The factors which the canine need to be stopped from begging are discussed below :
Tummy Troubles
It is often noticed that most dogs keep begging their owners whenever they are at their dining table, as they are fond of the taste of human food. This makes the dog troubled by certain tummy problems like severe pain due to overeating and difficulties while digesting it.
Health Problems
Dog owners give their dogs food from their plates as they can’t see their lovable friend, which is so much sadness.
Thus overfeeding dogs makes them suffer from digestive issues like indigestion, canine obesity, and many others.
This often happens because the nutrients rich foods of humans are quite difficult for the digestive system of the canine to digest.
To Prevent Misconceptions
As we have also mentioned above, dogs get a misconception that they get delicious treats or their favorite things while they beg their owners.
This behavior needs to be stopped to clear the misconception of the canine that they do not get treats for their begging; they get it as the owners can’t deny them when they make such sad faces.
To Save Time
As it is noticed, dog owners also gave their canine play sessions whenever they urged for such things.
Therefore, stopping the canine’s begging behavior becomes important, as it can save the extra time taken in those extra play sessions.
All the above discussed are the factors which are the most significant reasons why the begging behavior of the canine needs to get stopped.
So if a dog owner is confused about why they should stop the dog from begging, they can go through the abovementioned steps.
How to Stop a Dog from Begging?
Now, as we have discussed, why should the dogs’ begging behavior be stopped, and why do they do so.
It’s time to know the appropriate steps dog owners can follow to make their canines stop begging. So let’s dive in. The steps that the owners should follow are:
Always Feed Them First
This can be one of the most helpful steps while making the dog stop begging. Most of the time, it happens that the owners feed their dog almost one to two hours before their meal, which makes the pet attracted to the food of his owner.
If the canine’s stomach remains full when his owner is eating, then he will not at all ask for food from the owner.
To do this, the owner has to feed the canine five to ten minutes before his meal time. This can work well if the canine is begging out of a little hunger strike.
Give Them a Command
If your dog is well trained and follows all your commands, then it’s going to be quite easy for the dog owners to make the dog stop begging.
All the dog owner has to do is just use a cue word which can make the dog understand to move away from the table and sit in a separate place. Cue words like ” go and sit there” can be a good choice in such cases.
The owner can use this cue word whenever the dog begs at the dining table. Using this word for a couple of days will familiarize the dog with the habit of staying away from the table whenever the owner eats.
The owner is suggested to treat the dog every time the dog follows the commands of the owner and moves away from the table.
Schedule the Meal at the Same Time
We often used to feed our dogs before and after our meal time, making them feel more attracted to our human food. So to solve this, all we can do is just schedule the meal at the same time.
This can be beneficial because when the dog is also given the meal at the same time near their owner, they will be more engaged in their bowl of a meal. Thus, their attention will get removed from the owner’s plate, and they will stop begging their owner.
Ignore the Unnecessary Moves
Some dogs are very stubborn that they keep on begging even when you have filled their stomach or given them a meal with you at the same time. This happens because the canine is more attracted to the delicious taste of human food than dog food.
At this point, all you can do is ignore the behavior, which will make the dog understand that this technique will not work now, and the canine will simply get back to his bowl of the meal.
Use a Crate at Meal Time
It sounds rude, but it works well in keeping the dogs away from the eating table. It is suggested to the dog owners that they should only go for this step when all the above-discussed steps don’t work to stop the dog from begging.
All the owner can do is keep the dog in a crate whenever they are going to have their meal, but the owner should feed the dog with his meal before getting him into the crate.
Using a crate for a couple of days will automatically make the dog understand that he must stay away from the dining table.
Change the Diet of the Canine
The last and final step a dog owner can go with, while none of the steps work to stop the dog from begging, is to change the dog’s diet. This works well because sometimes the dog begs as he is not getting his favorite flavor or such great taste as his owner’s food in his meal bowl.
So, in that case, if the owner changes the diet and chooses a delicious food for the canine, then it can take all the canine’s attention toward his bowl of the meal.
The owner should ensure that the new diet changes do not lack nutrients. The owner can also go for the best by comparing the percentage of nutrient level with the dog foods of different brands.
Additional Tip
Make sure you are not using any kind of punishment or negative reinforcement like using bad words such as “bad dog” or scolding your dog whenever the situation gets out of control and the canine is still not stopping.
In that situation, all you can do is express some more love towards the canine to make him understand, and you should always give extra care and love to the canine whenever he takes time to understand a thing instead of scolding him.
Scolding the pet will only create trust issues with your pet and present you as a source of threat to your canine.
Controlling a dog from begging is not as easy as it sounds. The owner can just prevent the occurrence of this behavior by fulfilling their needs at the exact time. Hence, dog owners should strictly follow all the steps mentioned above while applying the methods of how to stop a dog from begging to get the best results.
