How to Train a Puppy to Stop Begging

We know you love your dog, and you would give almost anything to keep it happy. Incidentally, the most heart-wrenching times are when she is beside you at the dinner table. Your puppy looks up at you with those sad doleful begging eyes and lets out a small whine that seems to magically pull your hand and get a piece of that roast beef from your dinner plate. Unfortunately, on occasion, you make the mistake of giving in and throwing her a piece of what you are eating.

You’d think that that one piece of meat would satisfy him and make him go away, only to surprise you with him going back to that same sitting position, wearing that same begging look as if to say he never had any. That’s when you realize you have a problem.

Why Is My Puppy Dog Begging?

More often than not, dogs are hungry, and this is the reason why they ask for food. Apart from the physical need, dogs are also predisposed to begging, as most animals are (mammals and otherwise). It happens when they are introduced to domesticated life. They don’t necessarily have the concept of begging; they just do and repeat it when they get rewarded. They beg because we humans tolerate it and some of us even unknowingly encourage it.

In the wild, they are forced to hunt and kill for food and that alone takes a lot of energy. It could be a wolf family or a pack of dogs, and the same thing happens. When introduced to a life of domestication, they will do whatever it takes to be able to get food which includes begging.

Begging is no different from having to work and hunt for their dinner, as they sometimes get it and sometimes, they don’t. The only difference is with begging they get rewarded with food by using only a minimum amount of energy. This is the reason why they keep on repeating it. One way or the other, they get rewarded.

How Do I Stop It?

You will want to keep your dog away from your food when you are having your meal. Just keep it out of reach. And even if he or she begins begging, ignore him. It may take some willpower and consistency to say no to those sad hungry eyes. If you can do it successfully, you will eventually have a dog that is not only obedient and sociable but is also trained enough to calmly ignore food when it is up there.

Why is it Important to Teach Your Dog Not to Beg?

Your first concern is that your dog will not get proper nutrition since human food may contain plenty of additives and sugars that are not appropriate for your dog’s body. One such example is some dogs that have developed a sweet tooth for cakes. Your dog might love it, however, if you constantly feed him with pastry, he will likely gain extra pounds. That extra weight may become very hard to lose later.

Simply put, there is a reason why trainers recommend proper dog food and straight-up meat for your beloved canine.

Dogs are mainly carnivores. Their natural diet consists mostly of protein which is sourced directly from cooked or raw meat. Your dog’s body is not built to process sugary foods or any other commercial food that even we as humans must avoid.

An overweight dog can become susceptible to all kinds of diseases when he grows older. Some foods that are safe for humans may outright kill a dog too.

Consider Your Guests

Next, you will have to think about your guests or other family members who are living with you in your household. It is not only embarrassing but also almost unethical for your dog to come up to a friend with whom you are probably having a meal. Then suddenly out of nowhere, your dog starts pawing at him or her for food… Well, you get the picture.

How to Stop Your Dog from Begging

Step 1: Establish Regular Feeding Time

This is the one sole preventive measure that you can do ahead of time even when the problem does not yet exist. Feeding your dog adequately and regularly may reduce your pet’s tendency to beg. But it will not stop him. This happens especially if he already had a taste of that juicy piece of fried chicken that you dropped for him under the table.

You see, well-fed dogs are not that voracious, they just like to eat. So, even if they are full, they will still stuff their stomachs for as long as there is food available. This is where that overweight issue comes in. And of course, we don’t want that.

Feeding Times

You may feed your dog, twice or once a day, as both will work fine depending on you and your dog’s preference:

Twice a day- at around 7 am and 6 pm
Once a day- at 6 pm

Note: Feed Your Dog from the Same Bowl

Using just that one container, will help your dog associate mealtime with that one bowl as the only source. Feeding your dog regularly and adequately will also boost your confidence to not throw food at him when it is not appropriate. With you, knowing that he or she is getting enough food for the day, will cut that guilt out for not giving in to those doleful eyes.

Step 2: Ignore Your Dog

This step is particularly important as this could make or break your composure. If and when you are already caught up in a situation between you trying to finish your meal in peace, and giving in to your dog’s pleas, don’t. Just go ahead and ignore him.

Do not get agitated, nor scold, and don’t shoo him away either. Stay calm and act like you didn’t notice him. As we all know, dogs have this special ability to pick up on our emotional vibrations. Chances are, they’d find out if you are a softie.

Any attention bad or good will always be an opportunity for him to follow up, especially when you feel guilty. Just relax and finish your meal.

Step 3: Be Consistent

Now that you have learned how to ignore your dog you will then have to learn to be consistent as well. This is another important step in teaching him proper doggie manners. Even if you do all the suggested steps in this guide but fail to be consistent, you’ll end up with a dog that will jump at any chance, and at anyone to beg. One mistake and you’re back to the drawing board.

Discipline

Some new-age trainers who advocate positivity training for dogs hesitate or outright refuse to use the word discipline. They think that nowadays it’s too harsh of a word to use when it comes to dog training. Incidentally, this is where this action is most useful since there is no other way to go around it. You simply just have to teach your dog not to beg. And oftentimes, being disciplined means “no”, whatever the situation is. Being disciplined means making it a habit for your dog not to beg.

Step 4: Teach Your Dog Basic Obedience

To be able to make it fun and easy for your dog to learn discipline, teach him the basics of doggie skills such as “stay”, “sit”, “down”, and “leave it”. These are the staple commands for your dog to master and help him to stand down stop whatever he is doing and pay attention to you.

You can teach him these commands as a life skill as they are cues that you can also use to tell your dog to not counter surf or beg. These verbal cues can be used to interrupt your dog’s current state of mind.

If he gets excited with the smell of food, you can tell him “stay” or “down”. This is so that he can calm down while following your instructions. Later as he gets used to it, he can now associate the smell of your food on the table with him beside you as being relaxed and calm. Next time, he will just saunter over to your feet and lie down to relax. Of course, this is with him or her knowing that he will be having dinner later anyway.

Mat Training

One other method you can use is mat training. This is also one way of calming your dog down. You can check out our guide to this here. Do this if your dog can’t stay away from you, even when you are eating.

Redirection

Whenever necessary, you may use his favorite toy or a Kong to keep him preoccupied. You may do this if your dog is especially stubborn. Later, you may also need to wean him from the toy

Step 5: Reward Your Dog for Not Begging

Assuming that you have taken at least one or any of the options above, at this point your dog may already be showing some desired behaviors.

Reward behaviors such as:

Lying down
Relaxing
Simply turning away

You may now go ahead and reward him with a few treats so that he may begin to dissociate food from what is on your table. Wait for her to show the desired behaviors, then wait five minutes before rewarding your dog. This is so that it will be clear to him that you are rewarding him for the desired behaviors and not the begging. Don’t forget to fade out the treats and replace them with relaxing verbal praise and a bit of a neck rub.

How Do I Stop My Dog from Stealing Food Off the Table?

This sneaky attack is also called counter-surfing. This type of behavior will need some direct intervention. Although begging is similar to counter surfing, stealing is a little bit more of a problem since you will have a dog that will start doing things behind your back. For this method, you will teach your dog to keep his forelegs on the ground together with his hind legs.

Every time he follows through, reward him.

Step 1: Put a Leash on Your Dog

Attach a leash to the collar of your dog, then take him to the side of the table, or the kitchen countertop.

Step 2: Step on the Leash

Ask your dog to “sit” and then step on the leash by applying just enough tension to prevent him from jumping up.

Step 3: Put Your Human Food on the Table or the Countertop

If your dog tries to jump up, he will be prevented by the leash.

Step 4: Reward Your Dog

Give him treats and praise whenever he chooses not to jump.

Step 5: Proof Your Dog

Change the food on the table to something irresistible for her. Say, for example, cheese.

Repeat the exercise until your dog no longer jumps up even without the leash.

Troubleshooting: What Not to Do

Do not punish your dog. Any attention is as good as any for your dog or puppy. Just go ahead and ignore him when he starts to act out. On the other hand, if he starts to offer the desired behavior, reward him.
Do not give in to your dog.

How to Train a Dog to Leave You Alone When Eating

For owners who prefer to not have their dog close by when they are eating at the dinner table, you may train them to respond to the command “place”. “Place” is a special area where your dog can rest and relax. An example would be his bed or his doggie mat. More often than not, this “place” is located in the bedroom or living room where the dog bed is.

Training your dog for “place” is as basic as leading your dog by the leash and rewarding him when he complies. As you sit down for a meal and your dog comes up to you, you may put on a leash on him and or just hold his collar and say “place” while simultaneously leading him to his bed. As you arrive at his bed, lie him down on it and mark with a “yes”. After which immediately reward him with a treat and verbal praise.

Repeat the exercise as many times as necessary. Do it until he begins to respond on his own when you say “place” by leaving the dining area and staying on his bed every time you eat. The “place” method will also work for a whining dog.

How to Stop a Dog from Mooching

Mooching is when your dog tries to put up his paws on you and even on the table. This way he can look straight into your eyes appearing hungry and forlorn. You can stop this by training him with the “off” method.

First, wait for your dog to mooch. And as he does it, say the verbal cue “off” in a stern voice. Let your dog know that you don’t like it. You may also do it with a lunging motion for your dog to show him that you are prepared to remove his paws if you need to.

The idea is to interrupt your dog whenever he attempts to mooch.

Most dogs would respond quickly by putting their paws down. Give it a few seconds more while he is on the ground before giving verbal praise.

Whenever necessary, you may use treats to lure your dog out of the area or get his paws off the table. Just don’t forget to fade the treats out.

Repeat the exercise until your dog understands that paws are not allowed on the table. Reward your dog with a few treats when he eventually offers to stay away from the table when you are eating. Make sure that he has all four paws on the ground when you reward him.

Enroll Your Other Family Member’s Participation

All your efforts to train your puppy/dog to stop begging will be for nothing if other family members continue or even encourage your dog to beg. Make sure to have a sit-down with the family and discuss the limitations of giving your dog some food from the dinner table as well as the discipline of not feeding the dog – at least, not at the dinner table when anyone in the family is eating.

Let them know and involve them in the training process.

How Long Does It Take to Train a Puppy or Dog to Stop Begging?

Depending on your efforts and consistency, it will take a few days to a week for your dog to understand the lesson. and possibly 2-3 weeks for him or her to remember it. You may repeat the exercise from time to time to refresh your pet.

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