Last fall, on one of the last warm days of the season, my German Shepherd Trista and I found ourselves having breakfast together at an outdoor café. Across the terrace from us was another diner with his male Pit Bull. There was a starker difference between our dogs than just their breed and sex, however. While Trista lay quietly at my feet, his dog sat alertly with his nose just under the edge of the man’s plate, yearning for a nibble of its delectable contents. Yet, he got not a single taste of his owner’s breakfast, while Trista lay quietly as she savored a bit of bacon here, a mouthful of eggs there.
Well, isn’t that backwards?! So many of my clients worry that feeding their dog people food, and from their own plate no less, will encourage him to beg at the table at meal times and, further, that it will cause him to turn his nose up at his own food.
I heartily disagree, and that sunny morning at the café is proof. It’s not what treats you’re feeding your dog and where you’re feeding them to him that will teach him to beg; it’s when you’re treating him! It might start with him putting his paw solicitously on your knee. You think it’s cute and you give him a tasty tidbit. A soft paw in the lap becomes a more brusque pawing of your leg, then a shoveling of his head under your hand, and so on. Before you know it, you’ve got yourself a beggar.
Instead, if you teach your dog that calm, quiet, polite behavior gets appreciation and treats, then that is the behavior he will demonstrate. If he gets rich reward for lying quietly at your feet, then this is precisely what he’ll do. Imagine how hard he’ll work for such delightful delicacies as boiled chicken, cheese, hot dogs, even steak! And they are as healthy for him as they are for us.
Of course we don’t want our dogs to reject their normal dog food in favor of people food. Canine diet, whether in dry kibble form, in canned form or in a raw or home-prepared diet, needs to be specially formulated for their complete nutritional needs. If your dog is rejecting his food, there may be more at issue than the human food he’s getting as treats. Instead, he may not like his food and it would behoove you to find a more palatable (and healthy) alternative for him.
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