Feeding Problem

[puregold]

hi everyone my 12 week old husky goes absolutly mad when im feeding her she throws herself at me and the cupboard and trys taking the food off me before ive put her dish down . i know puppies are greedy but at all other comands which i have taught her she is so well behaved and obedient and i just dnt want her too grow up with feeding issues so if anyone has got any tips or advice i would be very gratefull

thanks

 

[Linda A]

I've taught my dogs to do a sit/stay at feeding time. They have to stay until I put the bowls down and they release them. You might start working on something like that.

 

[brody_smom]

She really needs to learn impulse control. Maybe put her in her crate or another room while getting her food ready. Only let her out when she is quiet, then wait for her to sit before you put her food down for her. If she is really food-crazy, you might consider feeding her by hand so she has to wait for it, or put her food in one of the puzzle feeders that only release a small amount of food at a time. We use one made by Kong that is really good.
http://www.dogsofhonorstore.com/products/kong-wobbler-large.html

 

[jackienmutts]

Linda is right, start working on a calm behavior, eventually even up to a sit/stay if that's what you'd like (personally mine are just calm and quiet when their food goes down, but they don't have to work for it) - or no food goes down. Here's a link to a Kikopup video - granted her dog already has a calm behavior, so you've got quite a ways to go. I've been working with a Golden and two others in the family (and family members) on this very thing. The Golden especially (who's 2) would carry on, barking and demanding, much like yours - she's had lots of practice! - while dinner was being prepared. She now *tries so hard* to lay quietly and wait (and the other two do much better). When the bowls are ready to be put down, if she starts carrying on (which sometimes she still blows it and cuts loose), then the dinner goes back on the counter and everyone (calmly and quietly) waits for calm. Try again. If all goes well, then dinner gets put down. If not - then (mostly just her) bowl goes back on the counter. Just stand and wait for calm. The reward is dinner. It could take many many tries and loads of patience sometimes - pack all you have. She'll quickly figure it out tho, cuz she's really gonna want that food! And be prepared, it may also get worse for a short time, cuz demanding and high excitment used to be fine - and now it's not - so HUH? It takes work, and won't happen overnight - but it will happen. And as Kikopup shows in the video, do lots of rewarding for calm behavior so pup gets the idea you're looking for calm and quiet. She'll get it.

 

[648117]

I agree with LindaA and Jackienmutts.

Holly has always been fine with her food and once it was prepared I'd get her to sit/stay while I put it down and released her. We taught Lewis this too but he was bouncing around while the food was being prepared and knocked the bowl out of my hands once.
So we changed it so now they have a little square mat each that they have to go and sit/stay on before I start getting the food ready. Holly learn't it really quick but Lewis was slower and still sometimes messes up. If he gets up before being released then the food gets put back on the counter and he has to get back on the mat. Lewis also "chatters" while waiting on the mat, I allow it because it isn't loud (and it's cute ).
We used to release them at the same time (by saying "ok") but I recently changed it so they can be released seperately using their names.
I like being able to do it seperately as it means I can increase Lewis's self control if Holly gets released first, and I feel it strengthens Holly's stay if Lewis is released first (a lot of dogs break their stay in obedience if the dog next to them breaks - Holly has done this in class before).

Also, we found Holly's "stay" incredibly useful when we first got Lewis, it made things sooo much easier.

 

[puregold]

hi and thanks to you all for your suggestions ! akira has got sit and stay off to a fine art (apart from when her food being prepared ) i have been trying to get her to sit and stay while her food is being prepared and have kept putting it back on counter but she she still goes frantic and i was worried i was possibly making her behaviour worse by doing this , at least now i know that sometimes puppies do this and will carry on trying to get her calm then let her have her food. thanks again for your suggestions and videos (which will def watch) and will let you know how she doing

 

[jackienmutts]

Just keep working at it. Keep in mind she's still a baby ... a baby who's all excited about her food, and she wants it, and she wants it NOW! It's going to take her learning self-control to be calm, so take any tiny moment you can get. Do you clicker train? If not, this may a good time to start. And if so, maybe grab the clicker and use that too (yeah, I know, and your extra set of hands ) - and not only have the bowl ready, but the instant she's calm for even a second, click and put the bowl down. A moment of calm will be when she gets her food. Then after a few days of a moment, try for two moments. Don't go for a minute, start small and work up - we're talking a second. And you be sure to pack all your patience before her meal time, don't be frustrated with her big show. Just take a deep breath and ignore it. Maybe have a few kibbles or treats on the counter handy (don't know what you feed) and IF she by chance is quiet for even a second, toss something to her immediately so she gets the idea "hey, I get something if I'm quiet!". She'll start figuring it out, cuz dogs do what works for them. It'll happen, she'll get it.

 

[puregold]

thanks have been putting what everyone has said into too practise and have seen an improvement in akiras behaviour ( obviously not perfect) I dnt use a clicker coz am unsure exactly how it works in training her , would def give it a go though . keep you all informed of her progress and thanks once again