Dog Behavior – Why You Should Never Let Your Dog Beg For Food & Attention

Unless you specifically train the dog the beg command, the dog should in no way shape or form ever have to beg for any type of food or attention. Some of the dog owners out there feed the bad behavior because they think it is cute when the dog starts begging for any type of attention or food, but it is still a bad behavior which needs to be rectified.

What is wrong with begging you might ask?

For starters, begging is another form of demanding and it gives your dog an aspect of control within the family “pack”. I describe your family as a pack because that is exactly how your dog sees it. Anyways, while it seems adorable when Sparky rolls over on his back expecting a belly rub every time you enter the room, or just sits all teary-eyed staring straight at your plate of food when you’re eating dinner, this behavior has the possibility to gain momentum and become aggressive.

What, how much aggression could a begging dog show?

Your dog could be the cutest critter on the planet and very loving as well. The dog would never even harm a fly on the wall and there is no way that his begging could be a form of aggression; or can it? By remembering that you are in fact giving your dog a form of control in the pack when you give in to begging, eventually if you choose not to give into it, the dog will bite.

A dog who is given a bit of scraps at ever single meal assumes a dominant role, this control that you give him in his mind shows that he is the dominant one while you are the submissive one and will give into his demands. As the dog grows and becomes larger, this behavior and control continues until the point in which the dog is capable of challenging for leadership. One day if you decide not to give the dog anything at all, maybe it is because you are not in a good mood, the dog will start with his simple begging routine, then on to barking and growling until finally he will choose to take the food whether or not you have given it to him.

Eliminate the begging through training.

The above example may seem a bit extreme and you still probably could never imagine you’re adorable dog biting you in the attempt to get food that he was expecting. However, the problem is real and you must start early in your puppy’s life with instilling the rules when it comes to begging.

You need to start training the dog while he is still a puppy, preferably before he reaches 15 weeks of age. During meal time, while you and the rest of the family is eating, train the puppy to sit and stay in one place until the meal is finished. After the meal is over, if he was truly a good dog and followed the rules throughout the meal, then offer him some praise and a warm meal in which he has to eat in his own food dish; never a dinner plate.

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Filed under: Dog Training

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