Driving us crazy!!
 

I'm having a problem with my puppy (7 mo old), where she sits and whines/barks at us while we are eating. I'm not sure if she is begging for food because we have never given her human food, or if she is begging for attention. Either way it has to stop. We have been trying to just completely ignore her but it doesnt seem to be working, we sometimes give her edible nylabones to keep her occupied, but those are her favorite and I don't want her to think she is being rewarded for acting like that. Any tips? Thanks, Ann

Hi Ann! Do you have a crate??? She should be in her crate in a different room when you guys eat. I think it is a dominace thing... if she is in the same room then she thinks she is close to your equal.. but if she is far away, in another room maybe with the door shut, she gets the picture that this is NOT something she is allowed to be a part of. After you eat let her out and give her a treat or some play time as a reward for being so good :)

Maybe try to put her in a different room or in a play area while you guys eat.

Good luck with training!

:goodpost: Good advice.

Some may disagree with our solution, but we were on vacation, away from a computer, so I couldn't ask the experts here. When Rowdy was about 5 months old, he started barking at us any time he wanted our attention and no amount of ignoring him would get him to stop. We were on vacation in our fifth wheel, very close quarters, and we were at our wits end.

So I thought, if he were misbehaving, what would his (fur) mom do??? I thought she might grab him by the nape of the neck and gently shake him (I'm not sure if that is correct, but that is what I thought) to correct his bad behavior.

He had his harness on, so when he started barking at us. I picked him up by the back of the harness, shook him (gently) for just a second or two, and said NO! in a very firm voice. He was very startled. He looked at me and took off running to my hubby - got behind him and looked back at me like I had lost my mind.

However, it only took one more gentle shake and NO! for him to completely stop barking at us. He is 2 and 1/2 years old now and he has never done it again.

I'm sure there are some here who will say my method was too harsh - but I was at a loss and had to get it under control.

I'm not necessarily advocating the method - but it did work for us.