Is Your Dog Really Begging?

MYTH BUSTING: Your dog is “Begging” which is a horrible behavior with a nefarious intent behind it.

     So begging is a human word we have attributed to our dogs because there is a behavior of theirs happening that annoys us—either they are staring, sitting in your personal space, or pawing/touching you. However, a dog wanting and asking for food from us is not unusual at all. We are the ones who provide all of their resources. In addition, dogs do NOT know the difference between different foods, such as the distinction that they can have one kind, while another is designated “people” food and off limits to them. Heck, they don’t even know when something is poisonous to them (ever heard of a dog eating a chocolate bar?).

So, if you have food (especially if it smells yummy to them) they will start “begging” i.e. asking if they can have the resource of food you currently have, by doing behaviors that they have done in the past to illicit treats (and that have worked before). If they have been told to “sit” before getting treats a million times, then sitting right in front of you “asking” for food makes complete sense to them.

A main reason dogs do a specific behavior is simply that what they are doing has worked before. Dogs do what works. They are very good at making associations. If putting their head on your leg and looking up at you has gotten them some yummy food in the past, of course they’ll try it again. Why wouldn’t they? If you, a human, have learned that putting a dollar bill into a vending machine will get you a snack, I bet you will continue doing so and expecting your snack to be distributed to you.

Oh, and personal space? Dogs definitely aren’t born understanding your particular and very specific idea of personal space, since they can't read minds (or even understand most of our words). They will keep doing it unless you work on modifying the behavior by working with a trainer to create a training plan to have a different behavior work for your dog to get something else positive, so they know what TO DO when you have food.

     So now that we understand that our dogs are simply acting like a normal animal, and actually doing what we have taught them to do when they would like something, let’s discuss what to do. Our next post will be about changing your dog’s behavior when you are eating food, but remember to ALWAYS work with a professional and certified trainer to make sure you are modifying the training specifically for your dog and your skill level as well as the time you are willing to put into training.

contact ccps.semn@gmail.com for individual help!