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Hello, everyone! Here's my problem. We have a Golden Retriever. She's three and a half, and the sweetest little giant wolfbeast you'll ever meet. She follows commands and understands language very well, and with other dogs she's sociable, nice and polite. Overall, she is a bonerfied good dog. However, she does have two little flaws: 1, she begs. Whenever we're in the kitchen cooking, she comes way too close trying to beg, and if we drop something, she'll grab it immediately even if we tell her no before she even gets to it. Somewhat related: we live in the city. When we're out for walks, there's often scraps of food lying around, and even when sternly corrected as soon as she even sets eyes on them, she will go for them, pulling at the leash with all her might - this is especially hard for my girlfriend to counteract, as she does not weigh much more than our dog. Pizza crusts are the worst. She loses her loving mind at those (the dog, not the gf). It's weird because she won't eat just any old weird poo poo like some retrievers do, but as soon as it's actual food she forgets everything she's ever learned about obedience, pack hierarchy, etc. Furthermore, she won't even eat her regular dog food unless encouraged by us. We feed her as recommended, both in terms of schedule and amounts. We only ever give her treats as a part of training, which is one reason she's usually so good at following commands. I don't know how she learned how to beg - it's possible one house guest gave her something once and she just latched onto that experience forever, but we're at our wits' end here. As I mentioned, we reprimand her when she pulls this poo poo, but if it's possible to somehow use positive reinforcement to curb this problem, that would be fantastic. I'm not sure how that would work though, since we're already training her to eat only when allowed to, and this is a behavior we're specifically trying to stop. Tl;dr: How did your dog learn to stop begging and eating crumbs off the floor? How will ours?
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Aug 3, 2016 13:32
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 02:43 |
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It's not a complicated fix, but it will take some time. The periodic jackpots that she's received while begging will make this a bit tougher for you (the lunging for food outside more so than inside, I think). The problem with punishing her when she does this is a) if the food she snatches periodically is super duper wonderful, the punishment will look pale in comparison and the behaviour will continue, and b) you're not really telling her what you'd like her to do instead. For inside, I would train a mat behaviour, where when you're in the kitchen, she's lounging on a mat. Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRM0LeSBjxA While she's lounging on a mat, treats can every so often get dropped from above to make relaxing there a valuable behaviour for her. Use plenty of treats to start, then fade as she progresses. This provides the added bonus of her being removed from under your feet and out of the way. Stash the mat under a table, or in a corner or somewhere convenient but nearby for you. Generally, work on Its Yer Choice with her. We talk about it a lot in the dog training megatread. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3364451 Here's a video to get you started too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSqGMs-eFB8 The beauty of this game is that you don't tell your dog what to do. You simply control the consequences of their choices. You don't reprimand or intimidate. You simply calmly cut off their access to food if they make a move to go for it. You reward them mightily for exhibiting self control and choosing to leave it. Because you're not telling your dog what to do, your dog learns to make good choices without your input. It comes in really handy when your dog notices floor food before you do. For walks, IYC will come in handy. Be on the lookout for food on the sidewalk and when you see it, use a lot of treats to keep her attention on you and away from the pizza crust on the ground. You may want to use a tool to better control her head, like a halter, to give you more strength to disallow her to self-reward if you're caught off guard in the early training stages.
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Aug 3, 2016 14:46
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KomodoWagon posted:Hello, everyone! Here's my problem. Does she know Leave It? If not, teach it, or spend some time to reinforce it. KomodoWagon posted:I don't know how she learned how to beg - it's possible one house guest gave her something once and she just latched onto that experience forever, but we're at our wits' end here. As I mentioned, we reprimand her when she pulls this poo poo, but if it's possible to somehow use positive reinforcement to curb this problem, that would be fantastic. I'm not sure how that would work though, since we're already training her to eat only when allowed to, and this is a behavior we're specifically trying to stop. Your golden will never ever stop begging. Never. The best you can do is teach her to go lie down out of the way, but she will still attempt to mind control you from across the room.
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Aug 7, 2016 15:13
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LegoPirateNinja posted:Your golden will never ever stop begging. Never. The best you can do is teach her to go lie down out of the way, but she will still attempt to mind control you from across the room. Why? Did we do something wrong? 
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Aug 8, 2016 10:38
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^ Do everything a life less says, she's an excellent trainer and one of the best resources on the forum for Dog Stuff. However, I've noticed this with Goldens, too-motherfuckers love to beg. You will, with consistent work, be able to keep her out from underfoot and iditaroding your gf across the street, but ain't nothin' gonna stop her from giving you the biggest, liquidy-est, most starving pathetic eyes ever. It's what they're built for.
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Aug 22, 2016 00:21
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 02:43 |
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Haha, you have a golden. They LOVE to eat. They are notorious beggars. This can be trained away as mentioned, but your best bet is to baby gate/kennel her out of the room when you are cooking or eating.LegoPirateNinja posted:
It is known.
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Aug 22, 2016 03:37
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