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The doghouse

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Dogs in cafe

42 replies

Borris · 27/02/2022 22:10

How do you train your dog to lie quietly under the table at a cafe? Today we went for a nice walk with a pub lunch. All the other dogs sat nicely under their owners table.

Mine was a nightmare! She jumped about, tried to chew the table leg, tried to chew her lead, tried to chew my hands when I petted her. The only time she lay down was when she spent 20 minutes raiding her treat bag.

I guess part the problem is that she's a lockdown pup (nearly 2) and so for her early months cafes weren't open to sit in. But at home she is generally super chilled.

Help! I never want to take her to a pub again but I know I'll need to!

OP posts:
UnUdderOne · 28/02/2022 07:52

This is one of my main reasons for not getting a lockdown pup as being cafe trained is important for me - in your case I'd click and reward for calm behaviour repeatedly or take a likimat etc.

MissyB1 · 28/02/2022 07:59

@Urbanisation

Can't you just leave it at home? It's not like it's an essential developmental curve, for dogs. They don't need to go in cafés or pubs or anywhere because they're animals.
Sigh… you clearly don’t get it. OP (and lots of other dog owners) want to enjoy sociable activities that their dog can be a part of. It can be achieved, OP is asking for advice about how.
OnTopOfThePiano · 28/02/2022 08:02

No idea if this is right but it’s what worked for us Smile
We did training around laying down on a matt. Then we took a frozen kong filled with yummy stuff
Now before the visit we went for a lovely walk, then into the pub (pick one where you can sit out the way and not much passing traffic)
We got the mat gave the kong and then we were very boring whilst we had our food and pup went to sleep
But when we first started we went to a really busy pub and it was awful!
So pick your place and build from there

PollyRoulllson · 28/02/2022 08:28

Its nothing to do with being a lockdown puppy you can train a dog to settle at any age

OP to be honest you are half way there if your dog does it at home and that is where I would start the training

I would use a mat put a treat on the mat , drop a treat on the mat when your dog is in a down.

Over time add in the settle command.Then take the mat outside and practise in the garden where there are more distractions at this point only expect a settle for a short period of time

Then just increase the distractions duration in different areas. Over time you will not need to take the mat and the settle command will be enough.

But important to start offf short and in quiet areas.

gogohm · 28/02/2022 08:31

I did it from a tiny puppy so used to it. First trip was at 9 weeks. Ddog would live at the pub given a chance

dollymuchymuchness · 28/02/2022 08:39

We once had a rescue collie, lovely dog and okay to take out and about, except if there was a pub singer on. We found this out when our dog joined in, very enthusiastically, in our local when the singer came on. We had to leave in a hurry. 😂🐶

Sweetleftfood · 28/02/2022 09:46

Luckily pubs and cafes were open when we got ours and we took him and always rewarded him when lying down being calm. The only thing that he can't cope with is running toddlers/kids but luckily that doesn't happen too often.

What I have found with ours is to bring something to lie on, have you tried that? just a little towel/scarf/mat of some sort, may tell him that it's lying down time. Good luck

JustJam4Tea · 28/02/2022 09:52

When we remember we take a towel and put it on the floor and treat her occassionally on that. She's only 2 but she's getting there that when we are in a cafe she's to not cause a fuss.

Sitdowncupoftea · 03/03/2022 19:30

If I go to a pub one of mine is great he will just lay there usually plonking himself down where ever. My other one isn't a people lover so I tend to go outside and sit in a corner away from people. If it's too busy I don't go in as it's not worth the hassle. All dogs are different and my rescue was mistreated he's come a long way but sometimes too much is over whelming so I give it a miss.

PugInTheHouse · 05/03/2022 22:18

My pup loves people but gets so excited if we take him in a cafe or something. If he has a bone or something he'll occupy himself with that. Once I thought he was being really good laid under my chair. I looked over at the next table and there was a dog that looked just like mine playing with their dog. It was my dog who had wriggled out of his harness.

Other time I was stood waiting for my friend to leave, pup sat really nicely next to me, next thing I know he has his head stuck in their doggy treat jar, he was shaking it trying to get it off.

We are working on it ...

hennaoj · 06/03/2022 11:27

Blanket on the floor. Drop tiny treat on the floor, dosg head will go down. Keep dropping tiny treats onto the blanket but make sure that the dosg head is down and they aren't looking at you. You can then use a stuffed kong. They then learn to settle on the blanket. Take the blanket to cafes, anywhere you want them to settle. I chop up a cocked cocktail sausage into about 50 tiny treats.

Wedonttalkabout · 06/03/2022 11:43

Be careful of food based suggestions, if your dog has any wariness around strangers, other dogs or resource guarding then you don't want them to be worried by waitresses, other dogs going past.

There's someone in a cafe near me that insists on giving her dog a chew or a filled kong in the cafe, her usually polite dog then grows at everyone going past, and snaps at dogs walking past to their own table.

Adding something to guard can massively increase your dogs restlessness (and there's the possible passing dogs will also try and get involved!). Id also argue snuffle mats etc aren't teaching a settle

I would look at grading the experience, don't start with a meal busy cafe indoors where you are near other customers and dogs. Start slowly, a table in a quiet corner in an empty cafe or quiet table outdoors (be mindful of somewhere out the way if seeing passing people and dogs is a trigger). Get a very quick snack or drink to go as dog needs to lay down and settle, I doubt you'll have time for a whole drink before they get restless.

Slowly build up time, and how busy the restaurant is.

Often dogs are a bit thrown by people stopping on a walk, so build up times in your walk where you just sit and dog is expected to be calm sat with you.

Pick your timing carefully, at the start of the walk the dog is likely to be over excited and too full of beans, at the end of the walk they might be exhausted, grumpy or completely over stimulated.

Often holidays aren't the right time to start because the change of routine, new places etc adds another challenge

Pugfostermum · 06/03/2022 11:45

Teach a ‘settle’ on a small mat or towel, then when this is perfected at home, transfer it to cafe etc for short bursts.

Pugfostermum · 06/03/2022 11:46

Obvs - bring that same item to ‘settle’ on.

MazzleDazzle · 06/03/2022 11:53

We take turns walking our dog around outside while we’re waiting for the food to arrive. Once it arrives I give her a frozen kong under the table, filled with a high value treat.

As she gets older and more used to it, we’ll lengthen the time we expect her to sit under the table.

Our trainer spent hours with her own dog sitting on park benches and every time her dog lay down she have it a treat. It’s worked for her!

DogsAndGin · 06/03/2022 12:33

Training and wide experiences from day one really helps. My dog is two in April, and she has come everywhere with us, she’s been out every day, into noisy places, even in lockdown, we’d at least take her to the park, around other people, and has always been expected to sit on her mat, quietly. We take a small blanket or mat with us, and she knows the command ‘on your mat’, which we introduced at home without distractions before using at the park/pub.

In the early days we would give her a dog chew to keep her occupied. Also, try little and often, going into all different places and getting her to just sit and wait for a couple of minutes at a time. Maybe try new places like bus stops, park benches on busy days, shops, garden centres, pubs etc.

We also completely ignore ours in the pub, no talking to her, no eye contact. She knows now, when we’re sitting and socialising or eating, she is not getting any attention and she needs to settle down and go to sleep.

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