How "far" do you let your dog take begging?

I was at a friends not long ago and their dog was a (IMO) mega begger! She came right up to the table, and she would 'paw' at you and even attempt to stick her nose right up there to take food!

It got me thinking, is this average behavior?

At my house it is NOT permitted. They can cast longing looks, but it must be from afar, LOL. No dogs in the dining area as long as we are seated/eating. They can scavenge the area when we vacate (and they do! LOL)

If we take a snack to the living room, the rule for newbie Crowley is to lay in his bed (about 5 feet away from us) and Orson knows to back off. We will generally share a tid bit or two if they are in their respective areas.

So? What are the begging/food rules like at your place?

Ick. I don't like begging.

At my parent's place, there was a definitive line between the kitchen and the hallway. If we were sitting at the table for a "proper" meal, the dogs were not allowed to cross that line. Here's an example of Rigby while I sit at the end of the table.


Where we live now, we rarely eat in the kitchen. The dogs are allowed in the living room while we eat, unless they start to beg. Any intrusive behaviour, and they are sent to the hall.

Unfortunately certain males in my life *cough* Dad and *cough* Josh. Feed the dogs from the couches. So the dogs will sit next to them and beg and drool and be gross.

They can sit at my feet and stare all they want. I dont' see it as begging. I teach them to focus on me to get what they want. All they are doing is what they have been trained.

They can't bark, whine or touch. That is not wanted behavior.

My dogs are pretty bad -- I only demand a buffer of a couple feet between me and dogs while I eat. They sit and stare quietly.

I've got to admit I'm pretty pleased with how well the dog(s) leave food that doesn't belong to them. Or, well, Cohen leaves food and Megatron doesn't get into trouble when Cohen is around to keep tabs on things. I've had an open bag of kibble sitting in my kitchen for half a week and neither dog has made any move to investigate it despite knowing full well that it's there, open and unsecured.

Um... um....

Mia will take food off your plate if you don't pay attention. But she's SO CUTE. She'll come up all 'I loooove you. I love you sooooo much' and will be adorable and flirty and sweet and then next thing you know it she's grabbed something off your plate.

And if you leave your plate sitting and get up, she'll probably eat it all.

Summer is perfect. As always.

She can't touch my plate or my food. Anything else goes. :rofl1:

None. No begging, including no staring.

Rosey would not even try with me. She was the worst with my sister, because my sister would feed her off her plate Every. Meal. Then my sister would complain why she always bugs her when she's eating

ETA: I'm fighting people in my house with the ferrets. Right now, Ella will walk up and take food right off their plates, because "oh, she's so cute!"

Zinga is the worst, I finally trained a substitute behavior to her throwing toys onto my plate, or barking nonstop, or just randomly launching herself at me when I eat. The new behavior is that her head needs to be resting quietly on my lap. Or she needs to be out of the dining area. Stupid koolie.

I honestly don't care how close the dogs are, as long as they ignore my food.

For meals at the table, they're likely to sit or lay down a few feet away and watch. If no attention is paid to them, they may or may not wander off at some point and go do their own thing.

For meals on the couch, again, they sit or lay down at few feet away and watch. If I'm ignoring them, they'll ignore me. They tend to know when a hand out is forth coming, and then they'll hold a sit/stay while staring at my face. If I'm eating something they *know* they won't get get a piece of, they do their own thing and aren't interested.

They also don't tend to snitch food if you leave leave a plate unattended, as they are so used to being given a release cue to go eat.

Abrams has been known to fall asleep in my lap while I'm eating on the couch while using him as a TV tray. LOL Like I said, the closeness doesn't bother me, it is how interested they are in my food.

Oh, and with foods they KNOW they get a bite of (after I eat an apple, they split the core, for example), the sit a foot away, stare holes into my head, head and drool. Lol

I would not tolerate them actively begging for food, or trying to grab food. Nuh uh. They can "beg" all they want by holding a down stay and being unobtrusive. And if they are annoying, they know what "get BACK" or "get OUT" means and they comply.

When I lived with other people, we had dinners at the dining table. The dogs were not permitted in the dining room. Now, I generally eat on the couch, and the dogs are not allowed to be seen staring. I will often have Bogart go to his kennel while I eat because he drools, and I absolutely hate drool.

I'm a horrible hypocrite though, because my youngest cat will sit on my lap while I eat. She can stare, but she cannot touch. As long as she doesn't initiate it, she gets little bites throughout my meal. I think it stems from me having to hand feed her since she was a tiny, sickly kitten. None of the other kitties do that.

They can sit by my feet and look, but no noise, no pawing and no shaking.

Um.

I keep Gusto from actually licking anything, but have a hard time preventing him from using his hands to try and grab stuff off your plate.

Sometimes he just sits next to you and growls.

He actually really only begs from my mother, because she allows it and feeds him. The dogs do sit next to the table or lay under it when we are eating, but Meg won't make a peep, and Gusto is generally okay. If we have company over, I put a leash on him and put my foot on it, just because I don't trust him to be super polite, and I don't let them bother other people.

But with just us? The rules are looser.

We don't usually eat in the dining room, it's normally in the living room. Hudson....well....if he isn't trying to actively steal the food off of my plate/out of my bowl, or from my silverware it's all good. Sometimes he sits behind me and rests his head on my shoulder.

On the other hand, he doesn't bother my husband at all, so.....

I don't allow it if I can help it. Buzz was put away for human meal times nearly his whole life. Management was my game.

Bailey and Gabby were pretty much born perfect around food. Both girls could leave food alone as long as it's not on the floor. Even food on a low coffee table is off limits. They are expected to ignore me while I'm eating.

HOWEVER, I have this boyfriend who thinks it's hilarious to feed Gabby from his plate. So she begs from him.

No touching, no noise. I don't care if they hang around.

This. I don't really care how "close" they are as long as they are doing their own thing. They aren't allowed in the kitchen (which is where the dining room table is, in a nook). We work opposite shifts so the kitchen is only used on the weekends. I eat on the couch and either way, they are playing with toys or sleeping nearby but no active begging allowed.

ONE EXCEPTION. I grew up with this rule and all my dogs know it. They always get popcorn. Always. LOL They'll all line up at the threshold of the kitchen when it's popping and they hop around when I bring it into the living room. I sprinkle a bit on the floor for everyone and then they need to leave me alone the rest of the time. This is usually 50/50 on success since they know they get some lol

I hate begging, but toward the end (his last six months or so) Mammoth would put his head in my armpit while I ate and would periodically get spoonfuls of whatever I was having. The other dogs have to be minding their own business or I will ask them to "beat it" (that is, get out of my general vicinity and lie down somewhere).

Feist doesn't even really try. She'll hang with me while I'm eating, staring at me creepily, but hey, she also does that all the time anyway. Wesley is a horrible beggar, buuuut it's not his fault and we are amused by it and so yes, he ends up making poodle distress noises and usually gets some food out of the deal.

I don't care as long as they are not touching my food or dinnerware.

No. Dogs lay on the floor or go on the staircase while I eat.

Moo is a major droolface.