Dog Training – Online Tips Number 1

Time for a month of Online Dog Training Tips. As long as I have the time there will be a Dog training tip every day for the next 30 days. If you would like to contribute a tip and ease my heavy burden (sigh) then send me an email via the contact page with your article and a few links to your site if you have one. Anything that can help with Dog training or Dog obedience or making living with Dogs  an all round better experience will be considered.

Here is the first Dog Training Online Tip

How To Stop Dogs Jumping For Food At Mealtimes

It used to be that at mealtimes the Dogs would get really excited and be jumping up and generally making it almost impossible for their food to be down. Doggie chaos would ensue and there poor little brains were so overloaded with the prospect of food that all they could fix on was the fact that they wanted to eat and they wanted to eat now.

My online Dog training tip is simple, you gotta get them to calm down. It was my own fault. Having previously only had one Dog who was very chilled when it came to mealtimes the idea of having two young Dogs at the same time who were continually hungry took a while to register. Fast forward a year and there were two 1 year olds and a new puppy as well. Without order it would be a mad house.

Here is what we did.

Firstly they are now made to wait for their food. This is partly because Jet will be a stinky bottomed blowhouse unless her dried food is allowed to get soft first. It has the added bonus of ensuring that the Dogs are in a calmer state of mind before the food is layed down.

At first after you make their food and leave it on the side for 10 minutes or so the Dogs will be excitable. They will keep coming to you and telling you that their food is ready, just in case you had forgotten.

They will whinge and get excited and generally be a bit of a pain.

It won’t last. Give it a week or two and they will sit or lie down until it is time for you to give them their food. It works like a dream to get them a little calmer before feeding time. This Dog training online tip is half done and it will make a real difference to a much happier future with your Dog. Some can be so over the top when it comes to feeding that you need to get it under control if it is a problem.

Jet is obsessed with food so if she can be made to calm down then any Dog can.

Now for the second part.

After 10 minutes or so go and get the food. Obviously at first they will still be excited and may try to jump for their food if that is their usual pattern. Don’t worry it will change. Rather than just put the food down they must now be made to sit.

It doesn’t matter if it takes 2 seconds or 15 minutes. They must sit and stay sat. Just keep giving the command until they are sitting down. If you have more than one Dog then they do not all need to sit at the same time although this would be ideal.

Next place the food on the floor. If the Dog goes for the food I use the command “away” or I stand in front of the food and say sit. Either works just fine. It is just a matter of repetition, as with much Dog training.

Once the food is on the floor and the Dog sat you want to wait a short while and then give the “take”command. They won’t understand at first but it will soon become apparent to them what is supposed to happen. After a few days they will understand the commands. Getting them to actually do them will take longer. These online Dog training tips are real life tips. There is no magic Dog training wand. It all takes time, patience and repetition until you are more than bored with the whole thing, it’s just the way it is and getting used to it will give you a much calmer approach.

Don’t be afraid of being patient. If you decide that it may take 15 minutes to begin with to get the Dog to sit and wait for it’s food then so be it. If it then only takes 5 then you are not going to be annoyed.

A simple Dog training online tip but one that will make all the difference to feeding time in the future. To recap:

• Prepare the food and let the Dog wait for 10 minutes or so.
• After a few weeks they will settle down to wait rather than be hyped or excited.
• Make them sit before you put the food down.
• Don’t let the Dog take the food until you give a “take” command.
• Be chilled as it is beter to take an extra minute to feed the Dogs rather than have them trying to eat the food before it is even on the floor.

Tomorrow there will be another Dog training online tip so stay tuned.