# Got a few things in here. Come on in.



## hk45shooter (Apr 7, 2009)

How do you teach a dog not to beg? 

In with teaching the Alpha role it says you are supposed to eat first, right? Right. So if you are eating first & the dog is hungry, you are sitting at the table eating. Where is your dog? Mine is sitting there watching me eat, & I do not like that. 

It feels to me that he is begging when he does that, even though he is not whimpering or barking for attention. So to prevent him from being right there, what do you do? I put him outside or in the crate till I am done. I want to hear what you do with him/her in that time.

<span style="color: #000099">FWIW, I am laid off right now & being around him all the time is great, sometimes, other times he is just driving me crazy with his gotta be glued to me ways. I love the fact that he wants to be right there, but I need some space sometimes. When you need time away (if you do), do you feel bad for leaving your dog at home in the crate (providing your dog is still young like mine). If you don't need time away, all I gotta say is WOW.

What about if you are not going anywhere, do you feel bad for putting him in his crate? I put him outside & he will play with sticks, roam around the yard, or lay by the door till I am done with "my time".</span>


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

I don't believe in the whole "eating before your dog to be Alpha blah blah blah" stuff. My dogs usually eat before me, and I don't have any issues.


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

I agree with Aubie-I feed my dogs before I eat. They do still try the sad look on me for a taste of my food, but I tell them to go lay down and that's the end of it. They never get table scraps.

As for 'my time'...that consists of taking a shower with the door closed. They are both velcro dogs and it does get complicated because this house is teeny tiny, but I like velcro dogs (I think







)
The only time either are crated is when I go to work, and only because of SA issues in order to avoid the destruction. 

When I am cooking, they are not allowed in the kitchen cause it is so small so that is when they are out on their own. They run off a lot of the days pent up energy. BUT I am always very aware so if they bark I am out there in a matter of seconds.


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## DSudd (Sep 22, 2006)

hk I completely understand how you feel. We always eat first and feed Rocky after. He will not beg but he will sit there and stare, so we send him out of the room. IT doesnt bother DH but I cant stand it. 

Not sure how old your pup is, but I dont see anything wrong with putting your pup in his crate, as long as he is happy and safe, whether it is because you want sometime without him underfoot or it you have to leave the house. My choice would be his crate way over outside. Too many things for him to get into outside.


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## weber1b (Nov 30, 2008)

We have always fed our animals first just as a convenience to us. Frankly I can't imagine the cats leaving us in peace in the moirning if we didn't. It has never been an issue. Our two GSD's are not counter surfers. they have sniffed along the edge of the table as that's how they read life, but NEVER have taken anything off the table.

Clover was more of a Velcro dog before we added Max, but they still like to be where we are. Fortunately our house is large enought to accomodate two large dogs. We generally only crate when we are out of the house or at night (only Max at this point) but occasionally crate Max to give the cats some space. Given that he goes into the crate on his own at times, I really don't think he has any issue with it.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

If your pup doesn't have dominance issues, don't but too much faith in the so called alpha methods. I prefer leadership methods. At 105lbs, I need psychological control over my dogs - they have to want to please me, not do as I say becuase I am the hand of god.

I usually feed my dogs before I get started making dinner - they're not underfoot while I'm getting things ready and while we're eating, they usually want to lay down and rest off their food - rather than beg for table food. This doesn't always work for my female - she's not into food so she likes to see if we're having something better.


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## hk45shooter (Apr 7, 2009)

There is no dominance issues, unless he has a chew bone, then I just tell him "Mine!" when I take it away, & he will give it up with a little discouraged growl. Which is why I do not give him chew bones. 

He is 5 months old, so he does not get full run of the house when I am gone or outside. He does get the laundry room to himself (which is where his crate is, & is the same room my bedroom door is in), contained by a baby gate since there is no door to the laundry room. I take him outside w/me every chance possible.

There is nothing outside that can hurt him. My driveway is 1/4 mile to the county road. I keep my place well trimmed & stuff put away. I check up on him every few minutes when he is outside by himself, & 9 times out of 10 he is on the porch just chilling. He does not roam from within 25 feet from the house.

I guess I am just a little different than most then, cause I like to be alone sometimes, or maybe I am still getting used to the fact that there is some one around 24/7 again, & I get periods where I don't need/want some one around.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

At 5months old, he still needs naps which is good you time. My dogs aren't velcro - either that or they figured out I don't care for that - so I can't help you with that. When I'm watching TV, my 13 month old is usually right on the floor infront of me but that's no big deal.


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## Woodreb (Oct 27, 2008)

We usually feed our dogs before we eat. It's never caused any problems with them.

As far as begging, your dog may do that even if he has already eaten. Mine will do that, especially the puppy. We've taught ours to go and lay down on their pillows when we are eating. That usually ends up with them going to sleep and there's no begging. If Rica starts begging, we'll tell her no begging and she looks away. Not sure how we got her to look away, because she learned that almost 12 years ago. 
Caleb, the puppy, hasn't really learned that he is expected to lay down and not bother us while we're eating. I'm working on him learning to do a down near me and lay quietly. It's a work in progress and when he chooses not to cooperate he'll get some kennel time. We have a crate set up in the family room for him right now. So he's still near us even if he's in the crate.

I agree with Jenn that at his age, your puppy still needs naps. We do that with Caleb (14 weeks). He usually has a morning and afternoon nap.
Mine are velcro but more in the sense that they want to be in the same room, not necessarily glued to my side.


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## RavenSophi (Feb 23, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: hk45How do you teach a dog not to beg?
> 
> In with teaching the Alpha role it says you are supposed to eat first, right? Right. So if you are eating first & the dog is hungry, you are sitting at the table eating. Where is your dog? Mine is sitting there watching me eat, & I do not like that.
> 
> ...


I give Blake food before we eat and he still sits there but I don't mind. I suggest you teach him 'Go spot' and when you're eating you send him to that spot. Another thing you can do is...ignore him! This behaviour is taught most of the time by owners feeding out of their plate while they're eating. 

Regarding alone time, Blake was crate trained from 5 months old and I don't feel guilty when i leave him. He enjoys it in his crate and feels safe there. He usually is the one who goes and hides there when we're giving him too much attention. So I wouldn't feel bad. IMO it is good for the dog to be alone some times. We don't want a dog that suffers from seperation anxiety so putting them away and teaching them they're fine without you for a while builds their confedence and gives you some time alone!


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## RavenSophi (Feb 23, 2009)

I read up about Judaism a lot before I had Blake and they actually have a rule that you feed your animals before yourself. I'm not Jewish but that kinda stuck with me and now I feel guilty if I eat before him. A little OTT.


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## PipiK (May 25, 2009)

We've always fed our dogs before we ate too. The old girls would still beg, but that's because we were naughty and threw them scraps from the table. But that was after they got older and I figured, what the heck...it's not like they're going to be doing it for the next ten years or something, so we let them get away with it.

With Nikki and Lucy, though, if I want to give them a couple of pieces of leftover chicken or a few bites of mac and cheese, I wait till we're done and no longer sitting at the table. They don't beg.

But anyway, I usually feed them before we eat, despite the whole "alpha dog eating first" stuff. We reinforce the humans as leaders thing by using NILIF, which I'm a great fan of... Just about everything comes with a price tag, even if it's only a "sit" or "give me paw".


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

> Originally Posted By: hk45How do you teach a dog not to beg?


Ignore him. Eventually he'll learn that staring at you while you're eating doesn't work and he'll give up. If you don't want him even looking at you at all, crate him in another room, or put him on leash in a down stay. Step on the leash to prevent him from getting up. I don't worry about who eats first, sometimes it's us, but more often it's them because that happens to be convenient at the time.


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## Colorado (Nov 25, 2007)

My answer here is going to be a little bit different as I do have a dog with a few dominance issues. Not aggressive type dominance but dominance nonetheless.

So it my case, I do eat before her. When I am making dinner she's learned to stay out from underfoot. Her favorite place is on the cool hardwood floor, just outside the workflow area of the kitchen. There she is able to be a velcro dog without being in the way. When I'm at the table eating, she's not a allowed to be within 3-4 feet of me. If she "begs" by staring at me, I just ignore her. She's given up begging and just chills nearby waiting for her dinner.

In terms of alone time, the biggest issue I had was watching a movie. She would come up to me on the couch and just lick/poke me until I paid attention to her. It got so that I couldn't watch a movie in peace. Once again, I asked for some personal space when I decided to watch a movie. Now I give her a chew toy and she hangs out on her pillow at the foot of the couch. So we are still watching the movie together but I actually get to see the movie.

If all this seems cold, then I'm describing it wrong. When I'm not asking for personal space, I have a complete velcro dog. We have our daily walks. We go on long hikes on the weekends--how many dogs get to play in the shadow of the Rocky Moutnains?







There are frequent games played both inside the house and out in the yard.

The best way I heard it described was as follows. Most GSD owners discover quickly that a GSD needs a job. Or many jobs. Well, chilling out can be a job. Focusing on your chew toy instead of bothering people watching a movie can be a job. You shouldn't feel guilty about this anymore than someone asking their dog to track should feel guilty about giving their dog a task.

I can assure you that when I'm on the couch watching a movie and my pup is on the floor working on some new toy that it is a shared experience. I'm just setting the rules on what we will be doing, not her. If I don't step up she surely will. I love being a dog owner. I just like to be the one in charge.


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## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

One aspect of being the leader is that you should get your space when you request it, if you even have to request it. Dogs do not swarm all over the leader, they give him space. Have you read what Lou Castle has to say about yielding (e.g. having your dog move out of your way)? Once a dog knows the leader is moving through, he'll get out of your way. I have used the words "Get outta here" with my dogs, which I use if they want to sit in front of me and stare while I eat. But in actuality, I very rarely have to say it, because they have learned that when I am eating, they never get anything, in fact they get told to move, so they don't bother in the first place.

It's very easy to teach, just say the word and use your body to direct the dog to another area, then go back to where you were. Repeat if necessary until he stays out of the area that you are in.

For your dog with the growling with the bone, I would nip that in the bud NOW while he is small enough to handle.

I don't know what the preferred modern day method is (if there is a positive one..) but I have used a grab/alpha roll type technique that was purely instinctual on my part that my dog (a female GSD mix who was around 9 mos at the time) had the audacity to growl when I tried to take a rib away. Right after that, I give the bone, take it back, over and over until there is no growling and then show her there are no hard feelings. After that episode, I taught her (and dogs I got after her) the word "out" (to release the bone) so they give it up without any fuss...


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