Sometimes I swear my dogs are the dumbest things on the face of the planet. Sure, they're cute, and they've got the little sad eyes on them that make you just want to squeeze their little faces, but ultimately it's obvious why we're higher up on the food chain.
Today my fox terrier got up on the dinner table for the forty millionth time. Each time she gets in trouble, and that never stops her. I've tried all kinds of stuff. I have two kids and she and my other dogs are normally my barkuum cleaners. They love that job, too. Especially because my 1-year-old son loves dropping his food onto the floor and watching them eat it.
I wonder if she thinks she's helping me out? Sort of like, "I'll help her clear the table."
The only problem is that she normally does it when we're not done eating yet. When you have kids you don't get to sit through a meal. You get up about five times chasing your 3-year-old who won't sit down and eat, picking up the cup your 1-year-old threw, rewarming your leftover pizza because it's still frozen in the middle, having a child cling to your leg screaming at the top of their lungs because they got hurt while jumping head-first into the couch from the ottoman...
They need to make a Martha Stewart for dogs. Miss Manners, the Poodle Edition.
10 November 2005
Thoughts of a Terrier
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4 comments:
My dogs are spoiled, but the one area where I keep discipline rock solid is food. I think it is the most important thing in training a dog. The Alpha dog, that's you (hopefully), should always decide who eats and when. It is hard-wired into their wolf-descended brains that their leader controls the food.
So what's your recommendation to train my heathens? I've tried all I can think of, and 2 of the 3 still jump up on the table. How do I control it?
You wont like it. No more doggie vacuum cleaners.
For the near future they should only eat from their bowls. They must sit before you will put the bowl on the ground. Even then they must wait for you to give a command for them to eat. This sounds tough to accomplish, but it really isn’t, they will catch on.
Absolutely no food from the table. And they don’t get fed until after you have eaten, no matter how much they beg.
Also a popular training tool - CRATES! I've heard they work great. I personally spoil the crap out of my dog, but I suppose if I was desperate...
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