Today a post about one of the most important tools that will help you co-habit happily with your fur-babies.
Mealtime Manners.
Whilst on face value mealtime manners could be seen as a technique that just increases our control over pups exuberance, but in truth it is a method of reducing the occurrence of resource guarding if practiced regularly from a young age.
The first half of mealtime manners is asking your pup to wait until told to eat and the second half is teaching pup that we have every right to touch, interrupt or take away anything they may be eating at any time. Of course this takes a lot of work and repetition to get your dog to trust that you're not something to run away from, or even defend against.
To begin, hold your pups food bowl above his head and wait for him to sit, then start to lower the bowl to the ground. If pup remains sitting continue to lower the bowl, the minute pup's behind raises from the ground pull the bowl back up into the air. Continue this until pup realizes that in order for his food to reach the ground he must be sitting. This can take some pups only 5 minutes, but others can be more obstinate. Be patient. It is worth it!
Do not let pup eat unless you have said a food release word (we use 'enjoy'), and over the next few meals gradually increase the length of time between the bowl hitting the ground and you giving the release word. If you've timed it correctly from the beginning pup will always know he has to wait for you to give him permission to eat.
Our dogs are now in the practice of sitting by their place mats whilst we prepare their food and waiting for the permission to enjoy their meal.
The second part of mealtime manners relates to resource guarding and must be practiced regularly to ensure confidence in the skill. For a myriad of reasons we want pup to trust us to take something from their mouth or touch their food. To earn this trust we must first assure pup (easiest to start young) that we can be trusted with their hard earn spoils, whether that be dinner or a bone. To begin, just start petting your dog whilst they are eating and get them comfortable having you in their space whilst they enjoy a meal or a bone, to make it a really awesome experience throw a delicious treats in their bowl whilst they are eating. Once they are completely relaxed with this, start to run your hand through their food, not taking any, just touching it and the bowl to let them see you are touching their food but not stealing it or taking it away. Again, make sure the really premium food rewards are flowing to make sure pup thinks you being around is excellent news. Next, start to offer the amazing treat as a reward for them letting you take their food away from them. Always use a better treat as the reward for letting us take their possession, so it is always a more positive experience. We never want pup to think it is a negative experience for us to take their food or be near them whilst eating. Continue this technique regularly all through their life so when you do have to take something away for a particular reason (say they found a chicken bone on the street) they don't think anything of it and know that they'll be rewarded in turn for releasing their prize effortlessly.
Just remember that each pup is different and have had different experiences through youth which may influence their reaction to this sort of training. Whilst that may at first be a bit daunting, perservere! Just take it slow and work at the right pace for your pup.
Forever love your dog,
Emma
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