Meal times

[Bambamber]

What do you do with your food obsessed pups at meal times?

Ours get fed either from a kong or slow eating bowls the same time we have meals, but practically inhales her food within a couple of minutes then is relentless in alternating between crying, barking and howling at the door.

We have a young toddler so having her in the same room during meal times just isn't an option, plus pup will literally jump on the table to hoover up all the food.

Please help, I literally dread meal times now!

This sounds less like a food-obsessed dog and mpre like one with little impulse control.

I think I'd start by looking up training games that teach this aspect (impulse control).

I might also be tempted to allow the dog in the room duing meal times but reward her ONLY for lying down quietly. This might mean you need to get her started on this alone, during the day, with no toddler. Once she has got the hang of it, you can transfer the learning to dinner times.

Get her a bed in the dining room and teach her to go to it when told to.

Have practise meal times during the day in which she gets a treat thrown to her every few secnds she stays on her bed. If she gets off the bed, she gets ignored totally. No treats.

Once she has fully understood that the only place she gets treats is on the bed you can slowly space out the time betwene treats until she is only getting one every few mins. Keep going with this until she gets one treat, right at the end. Introduce it to real meal times.

You need to feed the dog separately. A slow feeder bowl (or a kong ) 2 -3 times a day before or after you eat is best. Then train your dog to sit on his mat and not come off it at all during dinner.

To do this, you may want to purchase a new bed (optional though) or wash his current one so it smells a bit different. The idea is you wait for him to show interest, click and treat, and slowly work up until he's standing in the bed. Keep practicing until t you can add a cue. The idea is during meal times he can do whatever he wants so long as he has all four paws (and his butt) on his bed. If he moves, get up and put him back in his place. Repeat as necessary.

Why is your dog barking/howling during meals? Is it for food? Attention? To go out? It sounds like he'll still howl / bark regardless until you figure out his motivation and teach him that's not the way to get what he wants. Chances are he just wants attention and you're accidently encouraging the behaviour by telling him to be quiet ect. Work out what he wants, then remove what he wants and only give what he wants when he does a behaviour you desire - IE having all four paws in his bed.

Brilliant idea to work with thankyou!

We always let her out just before eating so we're sure she doesn't need the toilet. She's fine in the kitchen until she has finished her food, that's when the noise starts and she only stops when let out. As soon as she is let out she literally darts out the door straight to the dining table to search for any leftovers. At the moment we completely ignore her when she is barking or howling, and wait for a gap in the noise before letting her out. But I haven't tried having her in the room on her bed. She will go to her bed when there's no food around so I certainly need to work on her training when there is food around

Do you freeze the kong? If you're feeding dry food, put it in the kong and wet it lightly, then freeze the kong. It takes ages for them to eat that way and frozen kongs are great in this heat. My two had home made peanut butter and banana ice cream in theirs today :-)

I have tried freezing it with some peanut butter, but if she can't get the food out quick enough she just ignores it and starts barking and howling anyway. I just want to do right for her but she's driving me nuts! She's doing so well with training, but at the first whiff of something tasty everything goes out the window

Can I just say a massive thank-you for your suggestions. The last couple of days we've had puppy in the dining room with us on her blanket and she's been getting treats for staying on her blanket. Obviously the training has only just begun but dare I say our meals have returned to being enjoyable, so thank you!

Great job OP!