Our 15 week old puppy, Damson, is making life pretty tricky when it comes to food preparation. From the moment I start preparing our evening meal to the moment when we eat our last mouthful she drives me potty. I have tried teaching her to lie in her basket and rewarding her with a "click" and a treat. All that happens is she leaps into her bed, sits beautifully whilst I click and treat and then leaps straight out and starts the whole process all over again. She jumps up at me, bites my cardigan sleeve etc. When I ignore her she just keeps on only higher and harder. I don't want to put her in her crate from 6pm until 7.30pm when we finish. I've tried the frozen kong thing but I find that she doesn't want to eat her evening meal 'cos she knows the kong is due! Any advice gratefully received. I used to like cooking but meal times are a nightmare atm.
Hi @Victoria Amphlett - ugh that sounds super stressful. I remember the exact same problem - especially at that age when they're really bouncy and experts at hanging off clothing with their ridiculously sharp teeth. I guess the first obvious bit of advice would be - are you able to keep her out of the kitchen during this time with a stargaze? Either in a utility room or in another room in the house that she can't get into mischief? Having food prepared and within sniffing distance is just too much of a temptation for a little one and training her "in situ" will be really difficult. If you're able to do that then that's probably best. If, like us, you're in the position where you have a kitchen/diner in one room, or she only has access to the kitchen in the first place, then these are some of the things that we did to keep our sanity. We still do these actually even though she's 9 months old: Feed her at the same time as you eat. And make her meal last as long as possible. You can do this with dry food or wet food. Our pup eats a combo of the 2, so we mix her meal together and stuff it all into a Kong. She then munches on that and it lasts her about 15 minutes. With any left over dry food we popped that into a Buster Cube or Wobbler and let her bash that about the kitchen for her “pudding”. Mealtimes end up a bit noisy, but you can at least eat without a wet nose appearing by your plate. When you’re preparing food, use some of her meal allowance and put it in a food dispensing toy to keep her entertained. Or, what I find keeps her entertained for ages is to hide food in a rolled up towel and hide it in between the dining chairs for her to find the kibble. A friend of mine has a spaniel who used to jump up at the worktops incessantly. She popped her on a house line and put her foot on that to stop her jumping. That didn’t work for us, but could work for you. If I’m cooking something that needs me to carry hot oil, open the oven etc then I always used to put her in her crate. It keeps her safe and I don’t feel bad about it. In the meantime, set up some training sessions to teach her to stay in her bed, or to sit and stay for longer and longer each time. But you’ll need to train these when you’ve got the time - not when you’re preparing food for the family. It’s not fair on you or her to expect to succeed when you’re busy. Good luck with it - remember she’s only a baby so it will take her time. Just try and keep her distracted with food so that she’s not getting under your feet. Kibble is your friend!!
Thank you so much Loopy Luna. It's good to know there's someone out there who understands how stressful it can be. I think I'll just have to be patient. I did have some success training her to stay in her basket for longer today. My husband is going away for a week soon and I'll be alone with her. I think I'll just have beans on toast for dinner and get it over with quickly! Many thanks for taking the time to reply to me.
Hi @Victoria Amphlett One cannot expect a 15 week-old dog to stay for 90 minutes. I would not even attempt to get a 5 year-old dog to stay for that length of time. @LoopyLuna has given you many useful suggestions. I don't understand your aversion to the idea of a crate. Toilet her before you put her in the crate. So if she whines you can safely ignore her. Before the evening meal mix up her entire meal, stuff it in kong and freeze it. Give it to her in the crate while you prepare and eat your meal. When you're finished you can then play with your puppy, teaching her to say stay for 5 seconds. Bussey's eBook on using a pot to teach stay is a clear and well thought out way to teach stay. If you decide on that route then save half of her meal for training.
Our 18 week old pup tends to bark at us at mealtimes I give her a frozen kong with stuffed wet and dry food she also has a big green thing you put dry food on that takes ages for her eat. She sits and watches my hubby in the kitchen when he preparing food.
Thank you for your suggestions. I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I was trying to make my 15 week old puppy stay for 90 minutes! That really would be completely bonkers. I suppose I have got to just get over feeling guilty about putting her in the crate. It's like hearing a crying child - it's really hard to ignore it but I just need to toughen up I suppose! She's really good about the crate at night-time and for 15 minutes here and there during the day. Thanks again Michael.
Hi @Victoria Amphlett I didn't think you were bonkers. I just could not work out what you were trying to get the dog to do. I guessed it was stay. If your dog makes a noise while in the crate, then just ignore the noise [as long as the dog is not distressed]. Dont even look at the dog. The whining will extinguish if there isn't any payoff. So have the kong in there before the expected whining begins. Good luck.
My Springer would whine after being told to go in her basket when we were eating she was 18 months when we got her. They get used to it and accept it.
My dog was horrendous when I got him for whininig, jumping, barking when food was around. Crate was impossible, he was so distressed. We decided to allow him a pretty steady stream of treats (from our own plates) as long as he was lying down and not barking (difficult to start with as he didn't know the words for down or stay). If he breaks the down he has to go to his bed or a mat further away from the food. He got the message very quickly and we phased out bthe treats although I always give him a little something cos I'm soft like that! I appreciate I've basically trained him to beg, but he begs very politely and discretely and I can live with that!
We used to have a pot of kibble nearby and treat for quiet behaviour when cooking and eating. There was a lot of handwashing involved! Now that Chewie is a bit more mature he makes less of a fuss- especially at mealtimes. At dinnertime we have a nice little routine where we get our dinner ready to go, then he gets a dental treat. after he munches on that he comes and checks on us to see if there are any scraps for him (there aren't), then he sighs and lies down. I think with persistence and time you will be fine.
This is covered in "Train Your Dog Like a Pro" by Jean Donaldson - "Begging for Food 1. As soon as your dog presents herself with pleading eyes, drooling mouth, and perhaps a paw on your lap when you are eating, ask her to lie down (or go to her mat or crate, which is covered in the tricks section). 2. If she lies down, praise her. It is entirely optional whether you also reward her with the occasional tidbit from your plate for holding a Down" 3. If she doesn’t lie down for either a verbal or a hand signal, banish her. 4. If she lies down but pops up, cue Down again and praise more often (“Thank you for staying down, so good!” “Oh, wow, you’re still down, how clever, here’s a little something…”). Try to time your praising and rewarding to coincide with longer stretches of being down. Avoid the trap of only remembering to praise and reward after your dog pops up and you cue her back down. This not only rewards her lying back down but the popping up! 5. This will take several meals to perfect. If you are using the mat option, and the mat is not next to the table, unless you are a good throw, you’ll have to get up for the first couple of meals and pay her for staying. This legwork is well worth it, however, to have a polite dog" Start reading this book for free: http://amzn.eu/5dpSPaD Start reading this book for free: http://amzn.eu/6Ezeyxp
Thank you for your honest reply. I'm giving a steady stream of treats too. I'm pretending they're her food but I don't think she cares as long as I feed her. I'm a big softy and I'm making a rod for my back!
As long as you're rewarding calm and take the treats out of her overall food allowance so she doesn't get fat I wouldn't worry. Meal times were the easiest of my dog's behaviour problems to fix. I think I'd whine if you locked me in a cage while you ate a roast dinner next to me!
Crate, crate crate... I can't imagine raising a puppy without a crate as a tool and management device - and I'm a dog trainer!!
