How to get dog to stay away from dinner table while we eat

[Hyperfish101]

Not had her long (I keep posting questions-sorry!)

She jumps up at the table and is a nuisance while we eat. She can sit to command so now trying to get her to stay in bed while we eat. Not happening. What do you do?

[CherieBabySpliffUp]

Put her in another room?

[Lifeispassingby]

Either continue with the bed command and stick with it, or get a stair gate and shut her out of the room while you eat, she may sit/lie at the gate though lol. Ours we trained to go to bed and stay there while we eat, but it did take a lot of getting up and down whilst eating in the beginning!

[fourquenelles]

She'll calm down when she realises that she gets fed regularly but meanwhile try distraction with a peanut butter filled kong or similar.

[Hyperfish101]

Thanks! If I put her in another room I suspect she will scratch at the door. A stair gate might work.

I May keep trying with the stay command and try a long.

Thanks all. So helpful on here.

[Birdie728]

It just takes time. Our pup is now 10 months, he sits on a chair in the corner of the kitchen while we eat, he still tries it on but he knows that chair=scraps at the end of the meal, begging at the table=nothing.

[LaurieSchafferIsAllBitterNow]

any malarkey from ours when we were eating meant they got sent out, which they hated!

They soon learn if you are consistent! Some do take longer though, as Lifeispassingby said.

The funny thing was if we had visitors...particularly my mother or MIL who are both notorious soft touches, they would sidle up to them like the spoiled favourite grandchild and gaze adoringly at them for a little bit of something from the table.

[pilates]

We have a spare bed in the corner which he has to stay in. If he stays in there he gets a treat. He has one chance and if he moves out of the bed he has to go in the lounge with door shut.

[ViperBugloss]

@fourquenelles

She'll calm down when she realises that she gets fed regularly but meanwhile try distraction with a peanut butter filled kong or similar.

This ^^

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

What’s her incentive to stay away from the table? It has to be more interesting than what’s on the table. And it has to be consistent.

[Hyperfish101]

What you you suggest?

Tried a chewy stick thing. Couple of treats. She has no interest in a king though

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Well I’d normally say a succession of treats in her bed but you have to lead up to it. You have to start with teaching her to stay and build up on it. It does take time though. I’m surprised you haven’t covered it in training. What does your trainer say?

[Birdie728]

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig not everyone has a trainer.

What I did was to put pup on his chair (or in his bed) and give him a treat and just keep repeating it. I was up and down like a yo-yo a meal times but he did get the idea. I then stretched out the treats and now he just gets any scraps at the end of the meal. If he comes to the table I say ‘chair’ and he goes back. It just takes time and patience.

[Hyperfish101]

Thanks.

Does everyone routinely have trainers?

[ShadowsInTheDarkness]

Our pup is crated at mealtimes with a carrot to keep him distracted and calm. I'm hoping as he gets older he will just know that mealtimes = in his bed.

[ImAncient]

We give ours a carrot at mealtimes. As soon as we start dishing up she moves to the fridge & sits waiting patiently. She’s also fed before we have our dinner so I know she’s not hungry. She has pancreatitis so we are strict about not dropping food & no tidbits from our plates.

[Hyperfish101]

Might try a carrot 🥕 Thanks.

[Mrsjayy]

Our dog is fed at dinner time and sometimes he will get a bit of chicken or a few bits of veg on top so he is not begging and it's a routine he is used to. So you might need to try and yet your dog into a nice routine whether its dinner or a chew or a carrot just something to look forward to.

[Mrsjayy]

Is she a rescue ?

[Ihaventgottimeforthis]

Teaching an 'On your bed' command is really useful, for mealtimes, when visitors are at the door, when you're watching telly, anything really.

It takes a lot of repeating, but 'on your bed' and rewarding with a treat at the beginning is fairly straghtforward. You'll just have to interrupt your mealtimes for a while, getting up and returning her back to her bed.

[Mrsjayy]

Yeah it wont happen over nights dogs are like toddlers thrive on routine, boundary and rewards but it' just take a while to establish.

[nicky7654]

My two stare at me while I'm eating lol but they get a little something when I've finished. I'm quite laid back with them so they push me with the puppy eyes for treats 😀

[sillysmiles]

I think you have to have everyone at the table on board and essential you have one or two days of everything you sit at the table and the dog begs you

• get up
  
• calmly walk her back to her bed
  
• tell her to stay
  
• go back and sit down.
  

I know when I did this, I'd barely have my arse on the seat and he'd be back at my side, and then you just get back up again.
Yes you have a dinner or two that takes ages and your food is cold but calm and consistent should work.

[ViperBugloss]

Rather than waste your time and both of you get frustrated taking her back to her bed and teaching her to stay time and time again for days on end

Give her something she wants on her bed - then she is happy and you can sit and eat you meal in piece and it will become learned behviour with very little effort.

A kong is a great idea as it will take time for your dog to finish, a carrot etc will be eaten quicker than your meal and she will bounce back to the table. Although a frozen carrot may take her longer to eat.

A kong filled with her meal or a yummy filler will keep her amused for the length of time you are eating. Depending on the dog you may want her bed nearish the table to start with so she feels involved , then when she gets used to the idea of being on her mat with her kong you can move it further away.

[MsMarvellous]

I taught him "bed" as a command. Then at the table
I keep some treats. Then if he stays in his bed while we eat he gets random treats. We also make sure to only feed him, even treats like carrot ends, in his bowl not from the table and bench. He still mooches sometimes, especially with guests, but mostly he gets it

[ladybee28]

Great advice here – I'd just add that for your own mental health, train the steps you need her to know at times when you're NOT actually eating.

So teach her 'on your bed' as a general command, not something that only happens when you're eating, and train it outside of mealtimes.

Teach her a nice strong 'stay', again, not at mealtimes.

And similarly, sit down at the table with a plate of food that you DON'T intend to eat while you train her to stay on her bed. If you're genuinely hungry and trying to eat AND train her, you'll be distracted, more easily annoyed, and it'll be harder to set her up for success

So have some 'fake' mealtimes where you practice this stuff and you're actually fully focused on helping her understand what's required and why it's a good idea to be on her bed during those times.

Also if you ARE going to give her scraps, don't ever have those scraps coming directly from your plate. She only eats from her bowl and at her dinner times - as soon as she connects your plate or the table with something for her, you're undermining what she's learned.