Advice for meal times - update

[Sara750S]

Have updated further down!

[Emma3]

Just to clarify, I take it you are eating your meal somewhere other than the kitchen?

[Sara750S]

Just to clarify, I take it you are eating your meal somewhere other than the kitchen?

Yes we are in the dining room next door. He can hear us!

[jessandme]

I take it that the main idea here is that he learns that he is not to be in the room whilst you are eating.  Have you thought of putting a baby gate across the dining room door, then he won't need to be shut in the kitchen.

One thing to bear in mind is that if you never ever feed him any tidbits from your plate, he will learn that it is no use to beg, and will stop paying any attention to you at mealtimes.  Probably he will just go off and lie down somewhere else until you have finished. This is really really useful!  But he does need to learn this.

If you shut him away, then he won't learn it.  Sometimes you might be having something to eat whilst you are sat on the sofa for instance.  If he doesn't know that you won't give him any, then he will keep pestering you.  Our Jess has learnt that she isn't going to get anything from our plates, so I can sit eating my evening meal on the sofa with Jess next to me.  She just pays no attention at all.  She knows also that she is only allowed to be on the sofa whilst we are eating, if she stays on her blanket at the end.

[Sara750S]

Thanks for this. Toby will sniff when we have a "tv meal" but doesnt get any food so doesnt bother us. I wonder if I need to persuade hubby to do this training in stages, ie have something across the arch between the dining room and lounge and just let toby do his own thing in the lounge?

[Emma xx]

Yeah i agree with jessandme, we wanted our dogs not to bother with us at meal times so right from day one with both of them we have had them in room with us when are eating. We just don't pay them any attention at all and they just leave us alone and go to bed/go in another room. There will probably be times in the future when he will be in a room with you when you're eating and he will most likely be a pain as he won't understand.
Other than that, maybe put the TV/radio on loud for him in the kitchen so he can't hear you. Or the baby gate that jessandme suggested is a good idea, he can still see you that way

[Dimples]

Robbie is always in the room when we eat. If we are in the kitchen or the dining room he lays on his bed.  He never ever gets tit bits and doesnt beg at table. Therefore having him in the room with us is not a problem as he doesnt take any notice of us in there.

He would however create mary hell if we shut him out - he would hate that. 

[black taz]

ours are with us whilst we eat - neither actually beg (although Kira is usually on the look out for dropped bits).  To start with if they came near me whilst eating i would stand up and walk towards them pointing backwards (to move them backwards until they were in a place that was acceptable) - they soon learned.

to be honest, i don't think i would enjoy a meal if i could hear the dogs crying/barking

there may be occasions (ie: if you are at someone elses house) where you cannot separate - so they do need to learn the boundaries when food is about.

[Sara750S]

Toby knows he wont get any food and is fine when we are on sofa. Just hubby wanting him out of dining room....

Mind you tonight Toby fine - but then he was knackered after a long walk!!! But I cant be cooking tea and out for a walk at same time!

Oh well, we will get there!!

[sallyb]

Ours are in the room when we eat.
Bix, aged 5 months does a couple of half-hearted attempts to take food off the table and then gives up and sleeps on someone's feet until we're finished.
Poppy, aged 4 years, just goes to sleep.

Cooked breakfasts however are fair game and it's the quick or the hungry!

[Darwin]

Different things work for different families so there's no right or wrong was of controlling a puppy / dog during meal times, it a case of what works for you. 

Darwin is now nearly 2 1/2 yrs.   We don't have family sit down breakfast as OH has always left for work by 6.30.  Darwin has free roam of the kitchen lounge/dinning room during breakfast as once the first part of of my sons breakfast is on the table I feed Darwin.  He'll then mess around, go in the garden and then either sit on my sons feet or play with his toys under the dinning table.

Normally we don't eat a weekday family meal as the earliest my OH gets home is 7pm.  So if Darwin is awake whilst my son has his tea he'll do his own thing and never begs for food from the table.  Initially when Darwin was a puppy, when OH and I would eat in the evening either at the table or in front of the TV, we would put Darwin back in his crate in the kitchen,  It was never a problem, he never complained.  Now soon as I start to plate up a meal Darwin will jump into his crate ( unless he's not already in there having been watching he cook) and watch me serve a meal.  Once we've started eating he'll probably came and say hello, but if we're eating of trays in front of the TV, we'll just tell him "off you go" and he'll either go to his day bed or crate

[Sara750S]

Ok Toby at meal times.

Have decided to break down the "leave him in kitchen whilst we have meal in dining room" into stages as having a meal with a dog howling and scratching the door isnt working!!

So last night i put Tobys towel (he has one in front of his crate) on floor about 5 ft from table and prior to meal said "bed" and when went to towel he got a treat. When he got that we moved to "bed, sit down" for treat and abit of "bed, down" for treat.

Meal gets dished up and family sit down and i would say for 60% of meal he was on towel.

Aim is to move towel away in stages until it is in kitchen .... mmm a five year plan by the sounds of it!!

Am I making hard work of this? Would you brazen out the dog shut in kitchen noise or do it in stages??

Sara

[Emma xx]

The stages plan definitely sounds better, but i think he might just go back to the howling once you are out of sight again . You can only try though and you never know it might work! You might even find your husband doesnt mind him being there so much if he just stays on his towel