12 tips to prevent your dog from asking for food at the table

A lot dogs They are used to ask for food when their guardians are at the table eating something. This habit can be reversed with simple habits.

The veterinary doctor Juan Enrique Romero explained in GlobeLiveMedia What dogs are capable of recognize the rulesthey feel they are part of the pack and if all the members of the house sit down to eat, the animal believes that it can do so too.

You have to understand that if the dog does it once, he will want to do it forever. This is why it is necessary to be rigorous in the application of the standards.

To reverse this, Dr. Romero revealed a few tricks, like offering him his own food near the table, making him feel included, or eating before we sit down at the table.

Showing him anger is not a good decision, because it will only interpret that we exclude him as a member of the multi-species family, which will lead to a decrease in his confidence or other types of behavior problems. Here is a series of recommendations from Dr. Romero:

1 – The dog must be off the table: If it rests on the table, you have to push it out of this place, without paying too much attention to it.

2 – Close the door: if you can’t get him away from the table, let’s get him out of the room by closing the door or setting up a mechanical barrier (a chair, or any piece of furniture).

3 – Reinforce the norm with the voice: a direct and categorical “no” will make the message more effective.

4 – Offer food before lunch or dinner with the family: It is a good option to feed him before us, trying not to interest him in our dishes.

5 – Amuse him if he asks for food: If the dog keeps annoying you, there is the possibility of giving him a toy to entertain him, betting on the possibility that he will end up asking for the toy instead of the food.

6 – Give instructions to the guests: In the case of entertainment, it is good to explain to all the guests that they must not give any type of food to the dog at the table.

7 – Do not use violence: never hit or yell at him if he asks for food because trying to share food is a natural behavior for him where the right thing to do is to correct him, educate him.

8 – Educate them from the puppies: Passing on basic commands such as do not disturb during mealtimes at an early age will surely keep you out of trouble.

9 – Avoid giving food to human beings: in this way we will avoid risks and we will educate it.

10 – We respect your schedules: dogs are very routine. Respecting his meal times is the easiest way to prevent him from ordering when it’s not his turn.

11 – Prevent him from “stealing” food from the table: If a dog steals food from the table, supervision should be increased and this behavior corrected. Never punish him.

12 – Perseverance and patience: These are the virtues of canine education and learning, especially when you want to modify a natural behavior.

To accompany these keys, you can appeal to the “golden rules of dog food”. Many consider the dog to be a kind of food “dustbin”, in the sense that it is the receptacle of all the leftovers or waste of the human being. Nothing is further from reality and health, since they need an adequate and balanced diet, formulated and prepared for it.

For all of this, Dr. Romero provided more recommendations:

– No need to fiddle with the menu. Today you can find in stores balanced foods of sufficient quality and quantity and variety designed to ensure that the dog is well fed. Don’t try to replace advanced technology with limited domestic resources.

However, with the advice of your veterinarian, you can prepare a balanced homemade diet with natural ingredients without ultra-processing.

– balance a diet it must be understood that the ancestors of the dog hunted and ate whole prey, they did not eat exclusively the muscle.

– The amount of food should be controlled and is variable depending on breed, age, condition, activity, age, etc. As a general rule, a dog consumes between 1.50% and 3% of its body weight daily, depending on age, stage of development, type of food, humidity of the food, etc.

– Put the food on the plate, and if he is lazy, after 15 minutes he removes the food and the plate (ruthlessly). You will learn to eat without having fun.

– The daily ration it is convenient to distribute it in three meals (for puppies) and two (for adults). It is common, especially among adults, to give them only one meal a day. It’s not correct; with a single meal, the risk of gastric torsion increases, especially if it is a large dog.

– The dog must always be within reach fresh and clean water.

– You shouldn’t be given food after hours, or you’ll always ask. And we should never give them our food while we are at the table, even less if it is a puppy.

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