Begging For Food

[KittyGurl]

My three year old Beagle named Duke will not stop begging for some food. If I am eating something, he will run into the kitchen and sit right in front of me and stare at me. Once and a while he will whine and/or whimper. How do I get him to stop begging for food?

Thank you so much.

[Canis-Lupess]

Ah, no doubt he has previously been rewarded for his begging behaviour by being fed some food in response to his begging and thats why the behaviour has developed into a bit of whining and such if he doesn't get what he wants from just sitting there. Trouble is, it can become annoying after a while...especially if the behaviour has developed. Giving in can contribute to or cause fat dog syndrome as well so it's a good idea to curb the behaviour.

I always just send them away if they do it to me but as our dogs generally lived outdoors, it wasn't as much an issue for me.
Maybe training him to go to a designated place and lay down on command and then use this command to get him to go to that place and lay down if he comes up to beg. Make sure he becomes fluent in the act and stays put until you say he can move. That way he can't sit in front of you and whinge for some food. It's also important to never ever give in to his begging again if you wish it to go away.

[lvpets2002]

Awee I would bet the wittle baby is cute begging.. However I have heard that Beagles will & can eat their weight in food & can get sick over it.. Just watch his food intake in as portions..

[emc]

Hey, be glad that he's not barking at you for the food. I once had a dog that my Mom taught to bark on command and whenever my Mom sat down to eat the dog would stand there barking expecting to be rewarded for it.

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[KittyGurl]

Ah, no doubt he has previously been rewarded for his begging behaviour by being fed some food in response to his begging and thats why the behaviour has developed into a bit of whining and such if he doesn't get what he wants from just sitting there.

How'd you know? lol


Thank you everyone for your help. I don't really give him some table food, but once and awhile (if he won't leave me alone) I'll just give him a little piece of food. Thank you!

[luvofallhorses]

my hound dogs the same thing. hounds of course beagles are hounds, too are VERY food motivated. give him something once in awhile but not all the time, because you'll have him in your face all the time.

make him sit before you give anything to him and remember people food isn't that good for dogs even though they like it, it's not good for them.. too much can make them sick. especially junk food like chips aren't good for them.
my hound just looks at me now he doesn't really drool over me and beg anymore, but I will give him something once in awhile.

[Canis-Lupess]

Yeah, for those who remember my aunts obese JRT who I painted a while back and posted the work in progress in the dogs general forum who and everyone was shock horrored over...well, thats how she ended up like that. Not good to feed them bits just because they look at you in that way. Dogs don't beg because they are hungry, dogs beg because they are opportunists who's instinct tells them to take advantage of any nutrient source when it's available whether they are currently hungry or not.

Even giving in sometimes can create an annoying begging behaviour so you'd have to stop giving in completely if you want that behaviour to stop otherwise the dog will always believe there is a chance his begging might work and will carry on doing it.

The reason I knew is because dogs learn through reward and if he had never been rewarded before, he'd have stopped wasting his time ages ago...plus it would not have graduated to whining. This often happens with lots of things where a dog will temporarily get worse to try and make the owner give in when they try to stop rewarding the behaviour. A lot of the time, the dog wins....

[emc]

When my chihuahua was a puppy she used to always bug me when she saw me eating while watching tv, she would jump up on the chair and be all over me, I would kick her off (gently of course) and tell her to lie down and then I'd give her a bit. Now almost 2 years later when she sees me munching while watching tv, she will come over, look at me and slowly lie down while continuing to look at me, and I just have to give her a little bit because she has that look on her face that says "see, I'm behaving, please give me some", lol.

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