Will Beg for Food | Cesar Millan

Begging is one of the most common issues that dog owners face. An unfortunate side effect of loving our dogs so much is that we would like to give them everything that they want. So when they start begging, it's almost too much for us to bear... and we cave!

With a little willpower on your part, though, begging can be one of the easiest behaviors to correct. Follow these simple tips to turn your hairy panhandler into a productive member of society once more!

Do not give food. This tip may seem like common sense, but you'd be surprised how few people consider it when they're looking into the wide, wet eyes of their beloved canine companion. That high-pitched whine is an effective tool against you, and your dog knows it. Why? Because it's worked before! Giving food is a form of affection, and giving affection reinforces the behavior preceding it. Your dog has learned that if he begs, he gets food! Take a stand and start a new trend. Find the willpower to withhold that food, and your dog will learn that he can't expect rewards for begging behavior.
Ignore. Begging is an attention-seeking behavior. Rather than give in to your dog's demands, ignore the behavior and teach your dog that it does not get results! When you talk to your dog, give him affection, or engage in direct eye contact, you are feeding his mental state. Instead, practice no touch, no talk, no eye contact.
Don't feel sorry for you dog.. Your dog is well-fed. You should know; you feed him! He is not in danger of going hungry if you don't give him that scrap off the table, so don't feel sorry for him when he flashes you those doughy eyes and places a single paw forlornly on your leg. If you become concerned about how much your dog should be fed, talk to your veterinarian. This can help ease your concerns and allow you to remain calm and assertive!
Be consistent. In any kind of training, consistency is the key to success. For your dog to learn that his begging behavior is ineffective, it has to be ineffective 100% of the time. Inconsistent enforcement of the rules leads to an inconsistently obedient dog! Make sure that every pack leader in the household understands and enforces the same rules.
Be patient. Few dogs change overnight. If you have followed these tips to the letter and your dog continues to beg, don't despair! See Tip #4. Stay consistent and don't give up. Your reward will be a better behaved dog!

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Thu, 08/26/2010 - 1:22pm — creatrlvr

Counter surfiing/Freezer

Hi~

We have recently decided to adopt a 5 year old collie/husky mix. He has changed homes several times in the last year. His original owners, who were family, got divorced and my parents adopted him for 5 months. He has turned out to be quite a handful. His worse behaviors is counter surfing and oddly enough, getting into the freezer! He was crate trained and while he was in the care of my parents, he would bust out of "attica" and open their freezer and go to town! My dad put many locks on the crate as well as a heavy duty chain, some how he managed to get out and opened their upright freezer. He also counter surfs as well as getting into the trash and the pantry. We are going to do this on a trail basis to see if we can correct some of these issues. I have recently contacted an organization for in home training but it is highly expensive. Although it is guaranteed for a lifetime. He also goes to the bathroom in the house after he has been outside. We just don't know what to do? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Sun, 07/04/2010 - 2:05pm — Rose67

Obsession with Food

Hi Cesar, I watch your show faithfully and haven't seen an episode yet that suits my problem. I have an 7 year old shih tzu cross who's obsession from day one is food and gorging. Yes he begs, but the begging I can handle and ignore. He is constantly obsessed with food. if we go somewhere else he searches every square inch until he finds food, he will eat anything and everything off that is food related. When he was a puppy he ate everything, including rocks and dirt, money and socks, he eventually grew out of that but now the obsession is just food in general. I know he's not hungry, I've gotten weight loss food from the vet that contains Satiety that they claimed would help slow down digestion and keep him full longer and he only gets the recommended amount daily but I spread it out the day to keep him eating more than once. He will immediately eat it and then run to whoever has the next source of food. It's very rare that he will skip a meal. I've gotten him special dishes so that he slows down his eating, it doesn't work. The vet said I could medicate him for this but I really don't want to medicate him for what seems to be a psycological issue. He's overweight as it is, and I'm worried he will get into something that will hurt him. He doesn't steal food but if it falls on the ground or someone gives it to him it's fair game. He'll take anything from anyone he's way too trusting this way even if it makes him sick he'll eat it. He was choking on a small piece of smoked pig ear last weekend and spit it up and then continued to try to eat it 3 more times choking every time. When we tried to take it away from him he snapped. My husband had to dump a dish of water on his head to distract him enough to let go of it and take it away.

Thu, 05/06/2010 - 1:57pm — Mburger

Taking food off the counter - HELP!

Hi - We have a 4 year old Boxer that has just recently started taking food off of the counter and eating it - a whole frozen pizza, a whole package of english muffins, etc. She had just been fed and did it anyway when my kids left the room. Please let me know the best way to deal with this!!!

Fri, 04/02/2010 - 4:35pm — Ruben Martin

Se come todo

Hola Cesar, le escribo desde España y siempre veo su programa.
El problema es que tengo una amiga y su perro se come todo lo que encuentra por la calle, ya sean chicles, pañuelos, etc.
¿Hay alguna forma para que deje de hacer eso? Muchas gracias de antemano.

P.D.: Yo estoy intentando seguir sus pasos y convertirme tambien en un buen psicologo canino. Seguire estudiando y viendo su programa para conseguirlo. Si me da algun consejo se lo agradeceria. Gracias!
Un abrazo desde España.

Fri, 02/19/2010 - 4:32pm — JTeeken

Begging seriously out of control

I have a Jack Russell and his begging is completely out of control!! He sits under your feet at the table, follows you around the kitchen and has been stepped on numerous times! I now have a 1 year old who will not eat any of the food offered to her because she gives it all to him and thinks it's a fun game! He will jump into her high chair and eat her food! It's not like he doesn't have food, because he has plenty of food. It's so frustrating and if I leave food on the kitchen table for a split second to answer the phone or whatever he will find a way to jump up there and get the food. I have tried ignoring, putting him in a different room, etc. but lately he will growl and show teeth when trying to get him away from the food or putting him in a different room. It's so frustrating and I feel so lost! It's so bad I have contemplated several times to find him another home but I can't because he is my mom's dog and she would be so upset if I got rid of him and since he has been around for 12 years he would be greatly missed aside from his begging. Please help on any other tips! I am at my wit's end!

Wed, 02/24/2010 - 4:58pm — Cinheff

Pack leader always eats first

Pack leader always eats first and will growl at any member of the pack, until they have had their fill, then the rest of the pack may eat. Guess who is pack leader in your house?
You need to fix that first before you can deal with the begging/stealing.

Also, check the content of your dogs food. Is it high in ash, soy, corn or sugar? low in proteins? Your dog is eating empty calories and is "starving with a full stomach"
Your dogs stomach will be satified better/longer with a higher quality dog food.

Fri, 02/19/2010 - 4:22pm — JTeeken

Out of control begging

I have a Jack Russell and he begs so bad and it's so out of control that he doesn't listen and shows his teeth and growls when I try to get him out of the room. It has become so bad that my 1 year old will give him all of the food I offer her and it has become a funny game to her and I can't even get her to eat. It's so bad and so frustrating I get almost in tears thinking about it because I can't even get my daughter to eat her dinner because of it. I am desperate for help!! I have contemplated getting rid of him because of this problem but he is my mom's dog and I know she would be extremely upset if I did, plus I he has been around for so many years. I know I would not get so frustrated with him and be a lot happier if this problem would go away! Please help!! I am desperate!

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 6:44pm — cm1107

Dog Beggers

I share your misery. I inherited a dog from an elderly family member. A 9 year old Bichon. This dog has been so spoiled her whole life. Now when we are eating dinner, she is jumping up, barking and begging. I have tried ignoring her. Feeding her dog food (she always ate people food). Very, very frustrating. I think this is the one dog that could stump Cesar!

Fri, 01/08/2010 - 9:32am — faith18

Two dogs in the bubble

My purebred husky is the exact same way. She puts her snout real close and puts her head in our laps. I have an uncanny ability to ignore beggers, I don't even give them eye contact and just act like they don't exist. I have been consistant, and it hasn't worked. It's unfortunate that I have never seen Cesar Millan work with any purebred siberian huskies before. I am very surprised about that! These dog's are so stubborn, I will continue ignoring her, but it is not changing her. It's been a year now and she hasn't changed at all, she just doesn't get the hint.

Wed, 02/03/2010 - 12:57pm — ckvchestnut

Begging Solutions

This is in response to both of those posts on begging: What we have done and is best of started right from the getgo but I can see that it would work equally well for older dogs is to have the dog go in another room or even to feed them their meals at the beginning at the same time as the humans have their dinner. The trick is that the dogs have their food in anothe room. If that isn't feasible because meal times are way different among the humans and the dogs, make the dogs go in another room with a toy or treat while the humans eat and do not let the dogs come back to the human eating area until all food and plates have been cleared. After a good while of this routine you can simply tell the dog "go to the living room" or whichever room you designate. I do not find it helpful to allow the dogs to stay in the room where you are eating until they are fully trained. I have my dogs trained so that even if we are eating in front of the TV and the dogs are lying on the floor, and one begins to beg or look at you while you are eating, we just say "no begging in a firm voice" and they go on to do something else or avert their stares. Works like a dream for us! My trick has always been to choose and use 1 consistent voice command for pretty much everything and train it on the reward system and my dogs and horses all pretty much learn the same way and it does work. Consistency is the key! Hope this helps!

We have a new member to the family right now a 13 week old Maltese/Pomeranian cross that we are potty training. We just got her on Saturday and already she has learned very quickly the command "get busy" for her to do her business in her potty area. She is not fully trained yet and this has yet to be 100% confirmed but it's working well so far!

Sat, 01/16/2010 - 12:46pm — k_hopkins17

I agree with you. I have 2

I agree with you. I have 2 huskies, an Alaskan and a purebred Sib - as she is my stubborn dog. When I put the baby in his high chair they are sitting right underneath. I yell at them to go away and they do (most of the time) but my Sib always seems to sneak right back up. I don't give them table scraps so hopefully with time they will learn to stop.

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 7:20pm — p6campbell

dogs in bubble

I have a black Labrador that was very food motivated and would exhibit similar behaviors as your dogs. However I found a technique that takes patience and it sounds like you do. Each time I would begin to eat and my dog would beg I would position my body and use it to move him to a spot. This spot was a simple bathroom rug. If he then go back up while I was still eating I would then repeat the process. Eventually I linked my dog going to the rug with the command "Spot". He now knows that when I am eating he is to be calm and submissive on his rug because if he not I will consistently put him in that state. Once done eating I give him praise for listening. Its frustrating at first because there were times where i prolly got up about 15-20 time on a couple occasions but when they get it you can be proud of your dog when company is over and they see the discipline you dog has. So give this a try and i hope it works for you. Be patient!!!!

Tue, 12/08/2009 - 7:54pm — muttinkc

Dog in my bubble

My dog does not whine for food. She does stand very close to you and will sometimes put her head on your lap. What is the best way to correct this behavior. I dont mind the dog laying under the table but being right in the personal space is a bit much, especially since her head is table height.