How to Teach a Puppy or Dog to Wait for His Food

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Have you tried susan garretts "it's your choice" game or mary ellen barrys "rule outs" game? Both these work on the same principle of teaching the dog self control. You can use this principle to teach manners for any number of things, such as going through doors, crate training, staying on a mat, and staying calm around meal time. Its also such a great game because a sit becomes the default behaviour the dog or puppy will present any time he/she wants something. it stops people over using commands so that when they are needed they are meaningful. it also becomes the dogs response that controls the situation and you then don't have to worry about what your dog will get into as he will naturally start to "ask" if he wants the food or to get out/in. It's also really fun to watch the dogs response when it clicks that they are in control of the reward! this game is also really amazing because even the most "stubborn" of dogs works out the rules within the first session and it becomes a quicker and quicker responses every time if the handlers are consistent.

Hi Lindsay, new to your site and blog, really enjoy and learning. Thank you. As for this blog, you mentioned feeding in their crate. What about placing his crate in an area where he is unable to see what you are doing.? Don't latch his crate because he may think he's being punished for something. That's HIS safe house; to sleep, relax, play with toys, protection and to eat in ( just in the training phase. If he cries, barks, howls, etc. just ignore him. If Remy leaves his crate, tell him NO and lead him back to his crate and tell him STAY. This might take a few trips back to his crate and some loving patience. Once he is quiet and has stayed even for just a few seconds then quickly reward with his bowl of food and tell him he's a Good Boy. Walk away and allow him to eat. Only allow HIM to eat HIS food in HIS crate. With my experience, you're not only teaching him to remain calm and wait patiently and quietly for his food, you're also teaching him that it's on your terms and not his; that just because he's being vocal and basically telling you he wants his food right now. You are the ALPHA. He cannot be allowed to remain or become the ALPHA DOG. Through the whole process you are also reiterating to him that his crate is his safe haven. It's REMY's CASTLE! As soon as he's done eating remove his bowl from the crate. Place his water dish in a localized neutralized area, whether it's just for him or other dogs as well if you have more than 1 dog. Depending on how temperamental your dog is, you should only have to crate feed your dog like this for a few days. Dogs are very smart and he will pick up on what you expect of him and then you can put his feed dish wherever you want. He's learning to remain calm and quiet and also to not beg while you are making time to and preparing his food. If you have a dog that is skittish, has separation anxiety or if other dogs bully yours, you can even continue to feed him in his crate, just make sure to remove his bowl as soon as he is done eating. Remember, never lock him in his crate. This has done very well for me and has worked with several breeds and many different temperaments. Also, never make your dog feel like he's a BAD DOG. You're just re-enforcing habitual behavior to acceptable good behavior. Dogs want to make us happy. I hope some of this helped.

well Okami figured out the whole sit and wait for food thing really fast. Now granted she was ~18 months old when I rescued her so its a bit of a different situation. She also has a tendency to chew her food rather than just inhale her kibble. As a matter of fact I think the main way I have been feeding her recently (as in most of the time for months) reinforces that behavior actually. I have one of the larger hard plastic Kong toys that twists open for "loading" I have been putting 2 3/4 cup scoops of food (~1.5 cups total) in the toy and then set it on the floor for her to play with. if (when) she is hungry she starts nosing and pawing it around the room, and a few pieces of kibble fall out whenever the opening is down. she usually has "most" of the food out within 15-30 min, which tells me as far as the "puzzle" aspects are concerned that part has long since been solved by her, its more of a "gimmie my food... toy" at this point.

My boxer will wait for his food until I release with "ok", and I know he would wait forever because I once got distracted talking to my kids and didn't release him (oops!!). I went to feed the cats (on a different floor of the house) and when I came back to the kitchen 5 minutes later, he was still sitting in the kitchen, by himself waiting patiently to be released!! That's the day I knew I did a good job with his wait command! But I did feel terrible for the poor guy...