Do You Let Your Dog Clean the Dishes?

[CharlieDog]

Most of the time yeah. Unless it's something like a burger with a lot of fat/grease left on the plate or something. But generally, we'll let them clean them. There's only two of us and three of them so they all have to take turns. They wait outside the kitchen while we're cooking/eating, unless one of us calls one of them in to give them something. (Generally me, because I am a very picky eater. The dogs love this )

Never bothered either one of us lol. They don't counter surf (anymore lol) and I can leave stuff down on the coffee table without it being touched as well. And they don't beg during cooking/eating time either. Well, they do, but they do it from their beds in the living room. That's the only place they get fed while cooking is going on, so they know when we get the stuff out that means food is being prepped, they all go to their individual beds.

 

[Renee750il]

Tallulah is the best prewash ever, lol. She saves water as well as electricity in the dishwasher cycle

She's very good about not bothering me until I'm done and set the plate down for her. It's cut down on begging because she knows she's going to get something.

 

[Taqroy]

Sometimes. Matt actually does it a lot more than me (and I know because OMG the begging when he has food - dogs will ALWAYS rat you out lol). My dogs essentially have no shame anymore. They don't counter surf but apparently with the arrival of Tipper everything on the end tables/coffee table became free game. I left a glass of milk on the end table once and then left to go to the bathroom and I came back and she was up trying to get the last half inch out of the glass. Brat. Lol. She also once dragged a 20" pizza box off the kitchen table onto her head. That was hilarious.

 

[Doberluv]

Sometimes. But ONLY when they're not paying any attention...only when they don't think they're going to get something. I surprise them. That way, they don't tend to beg. If they're staring at me, getting too close or too eager looking, forget it. LOL. I even give my dogs tid bits if I'm eating. I just make sure to do it when they're not begging. They learn then, that the food comes NOT on account of pestering, but on account of minding their own business.

I trained them in fact, when I lived in Idaho to lie down on a rug over by the sink or by the door (8 - 10 ft away) when I had dinner guests. They learned that if they stayed away from the table, mind their p's and q's the entire time (built duration gradually) they WILL get something after the dinner is over. The act of sitting down at the table with food became the cue itself. To train them, I'd jump up from the table frequently and give them something as long as they stayed put and kept quiet. Then just gradually reduced the frequency until I could wait until the dinner was over. They looked so cute lying there, parallel to each other the whole time. Getting up from the table turned out to be the cue that dinner was over (I didn't use a release word) and if they went near the sink where dishes were washed, they would score. Then one time, I got up to do 2nd helpings and they jumped up. lol. Then when nothing happened and I sat down again, back to their rugs they went, the little dumplings.

I haven't used that little trick though, in quite a while, so it's kind of regressed. I guess it isn't all that important to me anymore whether they're close by or not. They still don't act too obnoxious. They will watch intently though. That's because other people now, (my son, my ex, my daughter) will feed them when they're up close and watching. So, that's been reinforced quite a bit. Oh well....not too big a deal.

My brother and I teased my Mom when we were kids. We'd let our dogs lick the plates clean and then start (pretend) to put them in the cupboards. My Mom was horrified. It's funny she let us let the dogs lick the plates because she was and is a clean freak. LOL. But somehow, that didn't bother her. Both my parents let the dogs lick the plates.

 

[Sit Stay]

Very very rarely. As in I've only given her a bowl or plate maybe 3 times in two years. Probably when one of her favorite messy things were in it, like yogurt or ice cream. I will give her empty containers though - she loves yogurt cups and juice boxes, and my mom will sometimes give her an empty carton of milk to tear up and lick the inside of. She loves it lol. Come to think of it I also used to let her lick the spoon when I used to measure her oil supplement that way, and I'm sure I've let her lick peanut butter off of a butter knife before.