6 Tips to Help Prevent Dog Begging in Peoria, IL

Do you have a dog who loves to beg? Begging can sometimes be cute, but it is also a bad habit that causes dogs to get into trouble more often than not. If your pet is prone to dog begging, it’s important for you to train this behavior out of her before it potentially gets worse.

What You Can Do to Prevent Dog Begging in Peoria, IL

In the article below, you’ll find a handful of tips that can help you teach your dog to stop begging. With the help of this information, you should be able to provide your dog with the right structure to stop this habit. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact a veterinarian in Peoria, IL for additional guidance.

Below are 6 tips to help prevent dog begging:

Give Your Dog Her Own Space—Away from the Table

Teach your dog how to go to her own comfortable resting place while the humans in the family are eating. This way, when she does go to her correct spot, she will be likely to stay there without complaining or trying to get your attention during the meal.

A crate is a good choice for dogs who may need to be secured in their spaces while the family eats. However, if at all possible, it is best to give your dog an open place like a bed in the corner where she can choose to rest on her own. She will eventually learn to make good decisions instead of begging.

Make Sure Your Dog is Not Hungry

If your dog hasn’t been fed yet, she will be much more interested in the food you’ve got when you sit down to a meal. Instead, make sure she isn’t hungry by filling her bowl and giving her a chance to eat before there is any human food on the table.

Dogs should be fed some distance away from the human dinner table, preferably in another room altogether. This way, they do not learn to associate their feeding spaces with human dining areas, and they are less likely to beg as a result.

Teach Sit and Stay

Another tip for helping to prevent dog begging is to teach your dog the sit and stay commands. Sit and stay are both some of the most important commands you can teach your dog. If you want her to learn how to be well-behaved, even while human members of the family are eating, you should focus on these two commands above all else. This way, she will know exactly what she should do while you’re heaving a meal.

If your dog learns a strong sit and stay command, then you can tell her to sit, and she will wait patiently until the meal is finished. This goal may take a while, but the end result is well worth the effort it takes to get there.

Ignore the Begging

Do not respond to your dog’s begging behavior—at all! Do not tell her “no” or otherwise interact with her, even in a negative way, because this still functions as attention in the mind of a dog. Instead, just calmly keep eating your food without responding at all to her begging.

If your dog starts to get in your face (or in your food) and you need to respond, try some of the other suggestions on this list instead of just scolding her and pushing her away.

Redirect Your Dog’s Attention

Consider giving your dog something else to occupy her mind and keep her invested while you’re eating at the table. A puzzle toy is a great way to help your dog stay focused on something other than begging, and she can get treats out of this type of toy, too.

A Kong stuffed with frozen peanut butter can usually keep a dog in Peoria occupied throughout a human’s whole meal. Prepare this type of treat for your dog so she has something else to do instead of sitting there watching you eat and waiting for some table scraps.

Give Rewards

Finally, another tip to help prevent dog begging is to give your dog a reward when she sits politely and doesn’t beg for food from the table. Be sure you do not hand her the reward while you’re sitting at the table yourself, however, or this will teach her that begging gets her exactly what she wants.

Although it can be a little annoying at first, it’s better to stand up and walk a few steps away from the table before giving your dog a treat for sitting politely. Over time, she will figure out that waiting by the table doesn’t get her anything.

Contact Whitney Veterinary Hospital for More Information About Dog Begging in Peoria, IL

It may take a little while for your dog to get the idea that she is not welcome to beg any longer. However, with enough patience, effort, time, and training, you can teach your dog to behave politely when people are eating around her.

If you find yourself struggling at all with your training, consider working with a professional trainer in Peoria. A professional can help you determine the best course of action for training your dog and can monitor to be sure you’re working with your pet correctly.

For more information about how to help prevent dog begging, or if you have questions about your pet’s general health, contact our team at Whitney Veterinary Hospital today. Our staff is not only trained in caring for your pet’s health, but we’re also able to provide help and insights into your dog’s behavior. So don’t wait, make an appointment for your pet by calling us at (309) 685-4707 or scheduling an appointment online.