Animal Talk – July 2019

Stop the begging

D

ogs learn to beg because they get fed titbits. If they never got the treat they wouldn’t carry on

begging. The ideal is to start off your puppy as you mean to go on. If he begs at the table, when

you’re having coffee or whenever, NEVER EVER give him something you are eating.

But most of us can’t resist it when he is a cute cuddly puppy. So now we need to teach him a new

behaviour because you can never ‘unlearn’ something, you have to teach something else to replace it.

There are two ways to stop the begging:

1. No one is to EVER give him a titbit again. But beware of the extinction burst when he can’t
   understand why what he previously did is no longer working. This causes him to try harder to get your
   attention to give him the morsel. Don’t give in to this. If you do then he has learnt the behaviour still
   works, he just needs to try harder.


2. Physically keep him out of the room while the family is eating. It is a good plan to give him
   something to keep him busy, so that he doesn’t whine or bark – something like a stuffed Kong will keep
   him busy.
   Wendy Wilson, behaviourist

Why do dogs beg and how can I stop my furball

from begging?

Jumping up

T

he first thing to remember is that jumping up is a natural greeting

behaviour in dogs, so you need to teach him another way of

greeting you and your visitors. The best is to teach Fido an alternative

behaviour, something that he can’t do at the same time as jumping up – a

‘sit’ is a good example as he can’t jump up and sit at the same time.

First you need to teach Fido to ‘sit’. When he is really good with the

exercise, ask a friend to come over, but explain to her what you are trying

to achieve. This way she won’t mistakenly pet Fido if he jumps up. Put

Fido on lead so that you can control him and ask your friend to knock on

the door. At the same time take Fido a little bit away from the door and

ask him to ‘sit’. Have a pocket full of treats and reward him for sitting

down. As your friend comes in, reward Fido continually for staying seated.

Take him to greet your friend still on lead and reward him for being calm.

You can also just ignore the jumping up and, because dogs only do what

works for them in order to get attention, he should eventually stop. But it is

much kinder to teach Fido what you want him to do than just teaching him

what you don’t want.

Wendy Wilson, behaviourist

What can I do about my dog who

always jumps up when he sees me?

A happy dog is ...

... loved.