How to Get Your Dog to Stop Begging for Scraps at the Table

I have a 5 year old dog who we got at a puppy rescue when she was just weeks old. She is pretty smart and she was potty trained within a week of us bringing her home. She does have some trouble with staying when she sees another dog and she does bark at other dogs from inside the house or from the backyard. These are things that I have let go and not really trained her on. But for the most part she is good and listens to what I tell her. Then there is the problem of here begging for food when we eat dinner. I wish I could say that it was a habit picked up somewhere other than our house but it wasn't. I got into the habit of feeding her little tidbits of steak or pork from the table and she now thinks it's OK. Now I admit this is my fault and for a long time I was baffled as to a way to get her to stop this behavior.

For a long time I would tell her no and ignore her until I couldn't take her at my feet during dinner, then I would scold her and give her attention. This wasn't working and it actually seemed to make it worse. It even got to the point where my 3-1/2 year old would yell at her and tell her to go away. Since the ignoring wasn't working I had to try something new.

I started to lead her away from the table just before we sat down to eat to the same spot and told her to stay, if she stayed I gave her a treat. At first she just kept getting up and back to her old habits but every time she did I just took her back and gave her another treat. After many unsuccessful attempts and several dinners, she finally got it and stayed in her spot the whole time. To reinforce this behavior, when we are finished with dinner I call her over and give her another treat. I am very surprised at how well this worked and if you are having the same problem I recommend trying it.

I was definitely a skeptic when I heard of this technique and didn't think there was a chance for my dog. The results are proof and I am very excited about the progress. I am starting to use this type of technique for some of her other behaviors as well and the progress is going well. Since it was my fault that this activity started I feel much better about the situation I have. Knowing that it was not her fault to begin with was really the first step to getting the behavior fixed.