Dog being a nuisance in kitchen

[Hyperfish101]

I have posted about this before but still struggling. Dog is a rescue. When I am in the kitchen cooking us is constantly under my feet. It is an open plan kitchen and her bed is in this room. For 3 weeks I have worked on getting her to go to bed and once in I will treat her. She is told to stay and then gets a treat for staying. Seconds later she is up again. I keep going with this bit it takes up so much time when I’m supposed to be cooking. I need her to stay in there.

If I lock her out in the hall she cries and scratches. Her bed is in an open crate. If I lock it she cries and scratches.

I need her out from under my feet. It’s dangerous.

Giving her a chew stick or Kong works only for the duration it lasts. Sometimes I’m cooking for 30 plus minutes etc. No Kong is large enough!

Help!

She is probably confused. In her mind you are giving her the treat to get into the basket, but not to stay in it. You need to give her the treat when it's okay to come out of her basket. Practice with her extending longer and longer sitting times. Each time she gets out of the basket take her back to it. Be consistent, give clear instructions and lots of praise when she makes progress.

Ok thanks. So take her to basket and keep returning? Definitely won’t be able to get anything done! Will practice when not cooking.

As a solution whilst you carry on with the training could you actually fence off a bit of the room for her or get a large pen . Also get some good long lasting chews like ears / yak chews that she only has when you are cooking and she’s in her pen / fenced off area .

Agreed with a large pen. I know what you mean our rescue is exactly the same. We penned off an area where he can play and be around us but isn’t under my feet or counter surf.

Instead of locking her out completely, put a baby gate over the doorway so she can still see what you're doing but can't get in the way.

Can you teach her a reliable 'stay' or 'settle' command around the house and out of doors? One she has that nailed, you can use it whenever you want her to stay put - it is surprisingly handy not just when you are cooking, but when you want to e.g. pay the vet - if your dog sits and stays you can pay the bill without your arm being yanked out of its socket, while still keeping hold of the lead.

I appreciate that with a rescue you haven't the same malleability that you have with a puppy, and it will all take longer. It is bloody tedious putting the dog back endlessly, but I think Alexander is probably right about giving the treat when you release the dog.

Thanks all! Will persevere with the stay command a bit longer.

It’s hard to put her behind a baby gate as she won’t be able to see in due to the position of the door so will still feel locked out.

The pen idea might work...jeez, I have bought this dog more than I bought for my babies!!!!

If she cries and scratches in her crate I will bet money she will do the same in a pen so see if you can borrow one before forking out.

You need to train this when you can concentrate on increasing her duration of stay, so not while you are cooking but at a different time. Build up the time between treating so she is learning to stay for longer each session.

Build up time and treat when I tell her to come out?

Build up time, treat and then release. If you release before the treat, she is likely to think the treat is for getting off the bed. Also, once she has got the general idea, sometimes just go and praise her/fuss her and release. Dogs are gamblers and it doesn't hurt to keep them guessing.

Sorry, should add, to keep them guessing about what reward they might get. You want them to understand any command 100%.

Take her for a walk before you need to cook? Burn a bit of energy then hopefully she'll zonk out asleep straight afterwards, that's usually what mine does.

Good idea

We taught our dog to sit in a specific place in the kitchen, by teaching her to wait when a treat is put in front of her. So she's shown the treat and told to leave it, its put down in front of her and she waits until she's told she can have it. She will sit or lie in front of the treat until she gets it, which tends to keep her in one place. That might work for you?

Is there anyone who can help you with training whilst you're cooking?

I would try an 'in your bed' command - to get her to go to her bed. And then a 'stay', and you need a helper to stay by the bed for a while, with occasional treats, rewards, praise for 'good girl stay' etc, and then repeating 'in your bed' if she leaves.
So she can get used to being calm in her bed whilst you're doing something else.

Thanks.

Someone said, treat when she comes out , g FB I’d g tv he stay, rather than when she’s in bed as that encourages her to keep coming out.

Ugh. Excuse typos! Should say ‘for the stay’....