I wondered if anyone had any tips for discouraging jumping up at the dinner table. We are finding ourselves shouting "no" and "off" which (a) doesn't work unless we physically move her off or make her sit and (b) doesn't feel like a very positive approach. She is only 14 weeks old and I appreciate this is completely normal behaviour, but it's not a behaviour I want in the long term and would like to address it as early as I can.
First off, don't ever feed her at the table at this point in her life. You may want to crate her while you eat, and reward her if she does sit or lie down quietly while you are eating.
Some things that we have found work are giving a tasty chew while you eat (we use bully sticks sometimes) and, as Ski-Patroller suggested, treating (we just use some of his kibble ration) for a quiet lie down. In our case this results in a dog who lies down and pays very close attention to you while you eat though. It doesnt bother us, but might bother some people. At shorter meals like breakfast I often give him his breakfast at the same time in a food dispensing toy like a wobbler. We still have food manners issues, and it's a work in progress but there are some small improvements. Working on general impulse control might be a good idea, teaching your pup to wait even a few seconds for a piece of kibble. It's so good to watch them progress with self control. Its a real "my baby is growing up" moment!
In addition to the excellent advice already given, this has worked for us: - separate dog meal times from your own. Don't get in to a routine where the dog always gets fed after your own meal. - don't even give any eye contact when you are sitting at the table. Totally ignore the dog. You can practice this in the early stages by just sitting at the table for a few seconds, ignoring the dog. Then getting up again. If the dog has been peaceful, give reward (but reward him when he is position on his bed/mat). Build up to longer periods over time. (During this training period, it might be worth putting the dog in another room whilst you eat). - train your whole family, relatives and friends to follow the "no food, no attention" routine when at the table. We've failed any many training areas, but we have at least ended up with a dog that just goes and lays down whenever we sit at the table. It's quite useful, e.g. when we need to discuss something important and don't need the dog distracting us, we go to sit at the dinner table, where we are left in peace
We tried keeping Ziggy in his pen when we were having dinner but he'd go ballistic which made mealtimes rather stressful! Our solution was to have him lie on his mat next to the dining table when we are eating and throw him a piece of kibble now and again. Works well for us (as long as you have kibble on you ) and also extends to cafes and pubs
Hi there, along the same lines as above, you might find my reply in the 'table manners' thread helpful https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/table-manners.24592/#post-376341
