Consistency, consistency, consistency.
I was at my mates House for tea the other day, about half way thru the meal He asked me if I could give Him some advice to help stop His Dog from begging. My reply was-'is it the Dog you've let put its head on your lap all thru the meal, the one you've been
giving bits direct from your plate to?' 'Yes that's Him' was His reply. I couldn't believe He didn't make the connection between Him feeding His Dog from the table & the Dog not leaving His side whilst He was eating. I have no issues with my Dogs in the room
whilst I'm eating. They've never had anything from my plates directly to them. Their meal begins when mine ends & they get all the left overs. If I'm having a brew & a biccy I regularly put a bit for each of them on my knee, they know it's there, they know
they will get it but they never move towards it. It's not clever or rocket science it's consistency, consistency, consistency. I never break the rules they live by. That way they never get confused, they know what will happen & just let the scene play out.
My Grandson is learning the rules, He's a little over 3.5yrs old the Dogs have never snapped at Him or ignored Him, He gives them food from His hand direct into their mouths so they know they'll get it without worrying. He gets them to sit & wait for a few
seconds to allow them to settle. Consistency, consistency, consistency.
Comments
-
So true rocky. Applies to all dogs children etc. If I want always gets....... Our dog assumes her seat under the table whilst we eat, no dropping of food EVER been allowed, and occasionally if there any many legs she'll get an accidental nudge by a foot,
her choice to sit under the table . Her meal time is when we've finished, she knows that. If were having a biscuit she gets her treat when we've finished, like you do she knows it's there.0 -
Consistency rules the day. Dogs aren't human and inconsistency confuses them as they don't understand differences in circumstances.
0 -
Good post, Rocky. Ours are very much the same. They've learnt that their meal time comes after ours and they've learnt that when we finish we will give them a little something, usually a left over vegetable of some kind at the end of our meal. They don't
do begging!
0 -
It's good to read others know how to be good Dog lovers, thanks
It's more upsetting for a Dog not to know its place in the hierarchy.
My Dogs respect both my Grandkids as they know they're higher up the ladder, they're happy with that too0 -
Our dog has to wait in another room in his basket until we have finished, cleared the table and are ready to vacate the dinning area, only then is food put down for him and he is allowed to approach his food bowl and sit until told he may eat. It wasn't
difficult to train him and it makes sharing space with him so much easier.0 -
Agree re dogs Rocky! Cats however.... another form of training required! Recall our small kitten hurling itself into a bowl of prawn bhuna, the little blighter went berserk at meal times. We had to resort to locking him in his carry basket. Takes some getting
out do curry stains! He wasn't much better fully grown, part tiger we thought!0 -
I don't know if anyone watched the recent Anne Robinson episode on pets - WHAT an eye opener on the different approaches to dogs (and rabbits and cats!). The episode on Children was incredible too!
I hadn't realised quite how many different ways people view their pets. I am proud to say that my neice and namesake Pippa - appeared as the owner of the cancer detecting labrador Nan. Awesome that a family dog can work like that. I had a couple of dachshunds some years ago and they were definitely not treated like the ones on the programme - but I must admit to some reservations when the owner of the ones on the programme vowed she would try and train hers like the man who had Flatcoat Retrievers. I wish her the best - as they are not the easiest breed to train - but they could certainly be better than the zero training their owner gave them before meeting Anne Robinson. But I SO believe in Consistency as Rocky says!
0
