A Startling Confession About My Dog Training

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A Startling Confession About My Dog Training

Written by Lorrie Reynolds

Lorrie has been an agility enthusiast since 2002 and has taught tricks, family obedience, agility, and canine conditioning since 2005. When she's not writing articles, developing courses, or training dogs, you can find her curled up with a book in her hands and a dog warming her feet.

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Dog Training Starts Where It Ends

So why am I feeding them from the table? Because you have to reward the behavior you want, while it is occurring, and in the location that it occurs.

Early on, my dogs learn that if they want any of what I’m eating, they had better not be within 6’ of me when I’m eating it.

We start off easy, with me asking them to sit or lie down away from the table and rewarding for staying there as I move back to my seat. It’s not an easy process at first and I end up getting up and down many times during a meal to reset them.

I keep a container of treats next to my plate (and haven’t mixed them up with my food so far!). If the dogs are where they are supposed to be during dinnertime, I either get up and reward them (before the behavior is well-established) or toss each of them a treat.

If one of them gets up, I ask them to go back to where they were, and if they do, they get a treat. If they don’t, I get up and call them over to their spot. Their “spots” are fluid, although they each have a favorite place.

It’s Easier to Train Dogs If You Have a Routine

At my mother’s house, where we frequently eat together at the table, Onyx’s spot is the bed under my desk/table, Rainer hops up on the couch, and Pixie lies on the living room rug. At home, they generally pick a spot at least 6’ from wherever I am eating since we rarely eat at the dining room table together.

Dogs do what works. They quickly figure out that coming near the people eating doesn’t get them anything except a trip back to where they were. Staying away gets them treats, and occasionally a small piece of whatever is on my plate.

When Training Your Dog, Reward Where the Behavior Occurs

By rewarding them in their chosen spots, while they would rather be next to me, and giving out frequent rewards when they are just learning to stay away, they pick up the concept easily. The last dog I brought home took only a couple of days to take cues from my existing dogs and learn what to do at mealtimes.

Xephyr was the best at this behavior. As soon as I stepped into the kitchen at my Mom’s house, he was on the living room rug, intently watching for his next reward.

So yes, I feed my dogs from the table, because rewarding what I want when it happens is the best way for them to learn!

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