# My puppy goes mad when preparing meat...



## gsdemack (Feb 19, 2013)

I have never feed her off the table or the counter...she loves meat and was originally eating a lot of cooked meat in her diet but I am now giving her burns which includes everything for her diet.

She is 9 weeks old and was eating meat up until about 8 weeks ago predominantly in her diet.

She is having trouble adjusting to her new diet and I have been covering all her burns with a meat mix so she will eat it.

We have been eating bacon today and every time she sees it or smells it she goes mad trying to jump up on the counter and yelping, looking up. We don't give her any contact. It's ridiculous behaviour.

Can anybody advise on this? She is here a week and is really beginning to get bold - I'm trying not to spoil her - she is going to be going for a training session on Tuesday. It's more a session for me as opposed to her. 

Thanks.


----------



## gsdemack (Feb 19, 2013)

I think the trainers methodology is more the "alpha" type approach though. tbh, I've been using positive training methods with treats when she does the right thing but it's just not enough.


----------



## Rua (Jan 2, 2012)

LOL! She is very bold! I have a bold boy as well that tried to do that too when we first got him. He still behaves like a big drama king sometimes, but overall, he's calming down a bit. Here is what worked for me:

You are right to ignore her when she does her dramatic behaviour. Try to limit your corrections to a simple but firm "AHHH, AHHH!" or "NO" or "HUSH" when she starts up. But otherwise keep your back to her. Don't talk to her, as this will just contribute to the problem of "any attention is good attention" mode of thinking that a lot of dogs get into.

Alternatively, keep her in a separate room while you prepare food. Sometimes the anxiety and excitement of watching you prepare it is just too much for them!

Finally, give her a pizzle stick to chew on while she waits for her food. It will keep her distracted while you get on with what you need to do. 

I saw you are feeding her Burns food....are you in Ireland, by any chance?


----------



## gsdemack (Feb 19, 2013)

Yes, I am in Mayo. I saw that you were in Ireland there - are there many Irish people on the site? Your dog looks very nice. I didn't know burns was Irish food?

I also have a problem with the dog going mad if she is in a different room to me - it seems other people use crate training for this. She would scratch the doors and go mad yelping if I put her away.

She doesn't like rawhide at all so I might give the pizzles a try. I didn't know about them - I was looking at pigs ears today but they seemed very similar to rawhide. If I give her pizzles in this situation is it reinforcing that behaviour?

Thanks!


----------



## Rua (Jan 2, 2012)

gsdemack said:


> Yes, I am in Mayo. I saw that you were in Ireland there - are there many Irish people on the site? Your dog looks very nice. I didn't know burns was Irish food?
> 
> I also have a problem with the dog going mad if she is in a different room to me - it seems other people use crate training for this. She would scratch the doors and go mad yelping if I put her away.
> 
> ...


Not if you make her work for it. The trick is to make her work for everything. And since puppies have such short attention spans, you gotta reward them quickly so they get the idea of what is acceptable and what's not. 

So when you are about to start preparing food, before you even begin, get the pizzle stick. Make her sit for it. Give it to her, and then carry on with what you need to do. 

I would be lost without my crate. I've used it on both of my GSDs (my older GSD doesn't need the crate anymore, so now my puppy uses it.). If you haven't got, one I recommend you do. There's a farm supplies that delivers within Ireland for free that do them for a good price....I'll see if I can find the link and post it. 

Bowser, my GSD puppy, is very vocal and used to be annoying if he's was ever in a different room to me as well. Don't worry, they do grow out of that. 

There used to be a couple of Irish people here, but this is predominately a North American forum so right now I think we might be the only ones.  You do get a good mix of people from the UK and Oz though. Either way, you are very welcome here!

Yeah, Burns is made in Ireland...so that's how I knew you were Irish. That and you used the word "bold" to mean naughty. No one in the US does that. haha!

Mayo is lovely. We usually go to Louisburgh area and Carrownisky beach every year for a bit of surf and relaxation and we bring the dogs. I love it there.


----------



## Rua (Jan 2, 2012)

Here we go: Dog Crates Ireland, 50% Off Sale

I'm not sure if they still do the free shipping....but either way, the prices they charge for crates is much much cheaper than any of the local petshops charge.


----------



## SS-GSD (Dec 10, 2012)

I would teach her the "OUT" command. That means when you're making food, or you're in the kitchen and don't want her to be, she has to stand at least outside of the doorway. I don't tolerate dogs in my kitchen when I'm cooking. I wouldn't just ignore, I would correct the dog to get off the counter, make the dog get out of the kitchen and give the "OUT" command. It may take several tries (Some are more stubborn than others) but they'll learn that it means to get out of the kitchen.

My biggest issue with just putting the dog in another room or a crate is that it's not going to learn anything from that. And I wouldn't want to have to do that for the next 10-12 years each time I cook. I do agree that the puppy needs a crate in general though, I wouldn't let a puppy of this age have free roam of the house.


----------



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

SS-GSD said:


> *My biggest issue with just putting the dog in another room or a crate is that it's not going to learn anything from that.* And I wouldn't want to have to do that for the next 10-12 years each time I cook.


That's true, but crating a 9 week old puppy while you cook meals and eat does not mean that you'll have to it for the next 10-12 years. Keefer had HORRID manners around food when he was little. It was very annoying to have to constantly bump his paws off the counters while I was cooking, and since he didn't really know any commands yet, telling him "off" wasn't doing either of us any good. What's the point of getting frustrated when he didn't understand what I expected of him? I put him away while I cooked _temporarily_, and continued his training when I was able to give him my full attention. Within a couple of months I could keep him out while I was in the kitchen and he was fine.


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Once I had an 8 week old pup barking at me while I was making their dinner. I immediately put him behind closed doors for about ten seconds. He lived for 8 years and has never done it again his entire life.


----------



## SS-GSD (Dec 10, 2012)

Sorry, what I meant by that 10-12 year comment was I'd rather just train the dog now if it's something I don't want to do forever. Any dog can learn of course regardless of age, that's just one habit I like to nip in the bud asap. (Of course I spend a large portion of the day in my kitchen so it's one of the most important commands in our house lol) I've even tied puppies up right at the spot to hold them there if they absolutely didn't listen, but I don't like to just put them away. I've never had trouble training a pup/dog to stay out of the kitchen though so I just kinda do what works. :shrug: I would take putting puppy up over ignoring her though.


----------



## gsdemack (Feb 19, 2013)

Rua said:


> Not if you make her work for it. The trick is to make her work for everything. And since puppies have such short attention spans, you gotta reward them quickly so they get the idea of what is acceptable and what's not.
> 
> So when you are about to start preparing food, before you even begin, get the pizzle stick. Make her sit for it. Give it to her, and then carry on with what you need to do.
> 
> ...


How should I make her work to get her dinner on the ground when I bring it in?
Also, how should I get her to work for playtime and going outside?

Thanks a mill. Hope your keeping well


----------



## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

Make her sit, down, stay, or a few other tricks she knows before releasing her to her food or giving her anything from the table/counter. I give my boy pieces of raw meat that I'll be discarding after butchering a piece of chicken or other meat. He has to either sit nicely, or down before he gets one. He knows this and will sit nicely next to me whenever I'm cutting up any kind of meat. He never jumps or gets up on me or the counter for food because he knows he won't get it that way, but he knows he'll get something if he just behaves.

I suggest not giving food at the table at all...that way the dog isn't just sitting around the table asking for food. My boy knows he won't get food at the table so when we have dinner he goes off and does his own thing. We also never really had issues with him swiping things as he understands when he gets his food. Many times we eat at a coffee table with food being left on the table and he doesn't touch it. His eating is done in the kitchen and involves doing tricks.


----------



## gsdemack (Feb 19, 2013)

martemchik said:


> Make her sit, down, stay, or a few other tricks she knows before releasing her to her food or giving her anything from the table/counter. I give my boy pieces of raw meat that I'll be discarding after butchering a piece of chicken or other meat. He has to either sit nicely, or down before he gets one. He knows this and will sit nicely next to me whenever I'm cutting up any kind of meat. He never jumps or gets up on me or the counter for food because he knows he won't get it that way, but he knows he'll get something if he just behaves.
> 
> I suggest not giving food at the table at all...that way the dog isn't just sitting around the table asking for food. My boy knows he won't get food at the table so when we have dinner he goes off and does his own thing. We also never really had issues with him swiping things as he understands when he gets his food. Many times we eat at a coffee table with food being left on the table and he doesn't touch it. His eating is done in the kitchen and involves doing tricks.


Do you think that make her spite me and never do the tricks in other circumstances, outside etc.?


----------



## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

gsdemack said:


> Do you think that make her spite me and never do the tricks in other circumstances, outside etc.?


Lol...no...its a dog. There's no such thing as spite. Plus this isn't the only time she should be getting treats. While she's young, treats are how you train, as she grows she'll get more bonded and do things just to make you happy. This also depends on the amount of training/time you're going to put in...but in general most trained dogs do not need treats to do what we ask of them.

For my boy...the butchering is a bonus. He knows he's going to get stuff there and I'll get rid of the pieces of meat I'd be throwing away anyways. Is it a higher level treat than his regular ones? Sure...but the best treat he gets is a little tug playing with me. Dog goes absolutely nuts for that or a tennis ball.

Don't put human emotions on the dog, they live in the moment. They don't do things to spite you or because they're angry at you.

You need to slow down though...she's a puppy and isn't an obedient robot. Don't look at 2 or 3 year old dogs and expect your dog to act like them. Let her be a puppy...when its gone you'll miss it. Train, but don't expect her to do much outside, especially if there are distractions around (dogs, people, bugs, birds, other animals). Take it slow and enjoy her quirks, everything is trainable and as much fun as it is to have an obedient dog that will sit, down, recall at any instant, I love when he reverts to being a puppy and just does stuff because its fun.


----------

