Please help us eat a meal in peace

[ChickensGoMeh]

I feel like all I do at the moment is moan about the pooch, but anyway If we leave Jasper in the kitchen with us when we eat, he spends the whole time circling like a shark and attempting to steal food. If we put him behind the stair gate where he can see us but not mug us, he barks, whines, scratches, chews the bars, pants and generally makes us all feel rather miserable. He is food obsessed, and will not settle or be calm when there's food about. How the hell do I train him to either (ideally) lay quietly while we eat, or at least accept being behind the stair gate for half an hour. He is not underweight, and does get the odd treat after we've finished eating.

He has put on what he lost over Christmas I'd say, so I think I'll drop it down 50g and see how he goes. But even on the 300g he seems starving. He was on three meals a day until just after Christmas, and has been on two a day since. I give him a raw carrot to munch on most days, too, and some bran as training treats (bum issues). He sometimes has dog treats or tiny pieces of cheese etc when training. He is wormed regularly, and poos frequently (4 times a day is not unusual, but they're firm. And carroty). I can't see his ribs now, but can easily feel them.

Hmmm. It's not adding up right.

All dogs, pretty much, are greedy for something. And there's a difference between greedy behaviour and starving hungry behaviour. You'll know which is which.

But - he does sound hungry, and to have not put on masses of weight at that rate makes me think he needs more energy in his food - the 4 poos also point to higher volume intake and not all of it being processed. Try mixing one of the higher energy Burns puppy foods with his current mini bites and not increasing volume and see if that helps.

He may, of course, be a greedy pig .