Training Tips: Food Manners

Disclaimer: I’m not a vet. These tips are based on my personal experiences training and caring for dogs. Please trust the advice of your vet for any medical or behavioral questions.

One of the proudest moments I had when Chloe was in training happened when she was about 9 months old. We were at puppy training class, doing some activity that involved us walking across the room. I bent over and my treat pouch fell, spilling half a cup of food and a handful of high value treats all over the floor. The person teaching the class started to lunge for the ground to block Chloe from eating off the ground before she realized that Chloe saw the food fall and froze.

It wasn’t because Chloe didn’t care about the food. She’s a very food motivated dog. It was because we worked so hard on her food manners.

So how do I get a food motivated dog to ignore a bag full of treats?

The number one answer to this question, and the most important rule when training a dog is consistency.

This is easy when it’s just one person working with a dog, but if you have roommates, family or people taking care of your dog, make sure they’re all on the same page.

Food manners start with meal time the day you get your new puppy. You’ll be surprised at how quickly your puppy will learn to sit and wait for dinner if you set boundaries immediately.

This is as simple as having your pup sit while you hold the bowl of food. Slowly lower, making sure they stay in a sit the entire time. With puppies you can place the bowl down and tell them “free” at the same time until they start to get the concept.

After a few meal times, your pup should be getting the idea that they need to wait for your ok before getting the food. You can build up distance and duration, having them sit and stay across the room from their normal feeding spot and putting the bowl down for a 20-30 seconds before freeing them.

Building up distance and duration will help with keeping your pup focused on you instead of the food, and reinforcing those boundaries.

As your pup gets better, you can ask for other commands while they wait for their food, building up that duration and the connection between you and your pup.

Food manners aren’t just about dinner time though…

Teaching your dog to ignore dropped food is one of those house manners you may not think of right away, but it’s a lifesaver when your roommate spills a bowl of grapes in the living room (it happens).

To teach this skill, you can play training games like dropping treats while working on other tricks, or setting your dog up in a stay and laying kibble out on the floor.

Setting up food along the floor can be a little easier to start out with. Have your put sit and stay, and either sit a foot or two away from them, putting out pieces of kibble, rewarding as they continue to hold the stay. If they do get up, block them from the food. Getting the reward of eating that food only reinforces eating off the floor.

As your pup gets better at resisting the kibble, try having them walk with you past food or treats on the floor. Start with your pup on a leash, out of reach of the food, making sure to keep them focused on you and marking and rewarding them if they choose to focus on you instead of the food.

“Drop treat” works like this. You ask your dog for a command, like sit, and when you lean over to reward them, drop the treat. If they lunge for it, use your foot or body to block them and when they check back in with you, give them a higher value reward. The key is to make them understand what you have in your hand is more important that what’s on the floor.

Small ways to work on food manners…

The first year I had Chloe, I was a college student, and ate most of my dinners sitting on the floor with my plate and laptop on the coffee table, well within reach fo Chloe. At first I kept her in a down next to me, and she soon learned that she wasn’t welcome to my food. She was only allowed human food like carrots and apple slices when I fed them to her directly. Eventually, I was able to leave a plate of food next to me on the floor, without worrying she would try to swipe a bite.

So the big takeaway here is two things: consistency and boundaries. They really go hand in hand. Set boundaries around food and make sure you and everyone else around your dog is on the same page about enforcing them. It’s a lot easier to teach food manners front he beginning than to fix problems around food later in your dog’s life.

Thanks for reading! Do you have any funny food stories with your dog? Let me know in the comments!