Doxie News Dachshund Blog

One of the things Cesar Millan emphasizes that I and probably all dog trainers agree with is that the feeding ritual is very important. Your goal is to have you dog be as calm as possible. Cesar has a pack of dogs, so the way he accomplishes this is the feed the calmest first, which shows the others how to act if they want to get food faster. I'm sure it's very effective.

But for those of us without a pack, training is the best way to handle feeding times. Every trainer out there has some ritual to make feeding time as easy as possible for the human and to teach and reinforce self control in their dog. This isn't about power or control, it's about making life with your dog pleasant for both of you. Feeding time is one of the biggest rewards your dog has during the day. You can use it to your advantage to help your dog see that being patient and calm leads to good things.

For dinner, Kody gets kibble, but Kody's favorite meal is lunch. I prepare it at the same time I prepare my own lunch, and it's very good (and healthy), so he's always very excited for it. When it's ready, I have Kody go outside the kitchen, he knows he should be on the carpet. Now he knows the cues and does this automatically. He usually sits, but sometimes lays down, which he chooses is not important to me, but it should be one of the two. I give the command, "wait", which Kody knows means to stay were he is until I release him with, "okay". I put the plate down on the ground and will remind him he's waiting with a "good wait" if see he's getting antsy. When I have stood up, he gets the "okay" and goes to his food.

I'm writing about this today because Kody surprised me and decided to make a break for it early. Usually I'll notice the signs before he moves, but I didn't today. I was a little bit panicked because I didn't know if I could stop him mid-run. Without lifting the plate back up (I honestly didn't have time), I said, "No, no, no! Out!" He turned around and went back to the carpet! I was so proud of him!

I have pulled a bit of a Cesar Millan on you. I have told you this great success story but I haven't told you how to do it. If you go to a positive training class they will quickly and easily show you how to train your dog to sit and wait. Then you'll just use what you learned at the class at feeding time. It's just not the type of thing you can share very well over the internet. You need the instructor there to help with any special issues your dog has or notice anything you're doing that might be misleading the dog. It will be fun for both you and the dog. Positive training is like a game for a dog, they really like it. Then you too can have calm feeding times!