dncelley

Thanks for your help! We do have a bed for our dog but it is right beside our table. He knows he has to sit on it but seriously has big shoe laces coming out of his mouth because he wants the food so much. Maybe we will have to move his bed away when we are eating! We put him outside but he is a GSP and oh boy does he cry. Bad enough for us to feel sorry for the neighbours! As for telling him to leave food he is very good at it. We can tell him to leave a bone or a piece of meat or anything and he will. It is the times where we just put something down and walk away that he will take it. Our dog is not allowed on the carpet yet he will travel 5-6 metres over it to take a piece of cake left on a plate on the coffee table.

How long did it take you to train him? When our dog was trained last time it was from a puppy. So it was like he never knew that he could get food. I'm worried that now he knows he can get it it will take months for him to give up!

We can usually do that. We put his food in front of him and say "no" and he drools and cries but wont take it. The bit I really want to get rid of though is his expecting food from us. I want him to not even be interested in us when we are eating! hahahahah!!!!!! It has got to a point where we have to put him outside when we are having tea because he drools all over the tiles and makes them slippery. Is it asking too much for him to lye on his bed when we are eating? Even if we give him food at the end wont he be excited because he knows he is going to get it? Am I crazy expecting him not to stare at us wishing for something when we eat?

Our dog used to be brilliant. He wouldn't lurke around waiting for scraps or anything. We have been bad lately though (ok for about 6-7 months) and have started giving him crusts and everything. You know just throwing them to him as we finish. He is now a pain in the butt! He drools and cries and creeps closer when we are eating. He has never taken food without us giving it to him before but last night we left a whole pizza in the box on the couch while we attended to our crying daughter in the other room. Yep. You guessed it! When we got back the pizza was gone! My husband flipped. So my question is if we stop feeding him again how long will it take for it to sink in? He is a VERY food motivated dog. Seriously he will do anything for food. How do we do it? Do we just not give it to him or should we use a command? He is a very intelligent dog but like I said his world revolves around his food!

Hi. I have a GSP that has the uncanny ability to chew only things that are very expensive or very loved!!! This is not usually a problem because we never leave anything out that is dear to our heart. The problem is that we want to start getting some outdoor toys for our kids. Now 90% of me says he wont chew but I just can't say for sure. We were thinking of getting a invisible fence and just putting it around the toys (an area 5m x 5m). We have a fairly big backyard so that he will still be able to run around and wont get zapped everywhere he goes. He has however grown up being able to run the whole backyard and is now 4 years old. I guess my question is firstly are they humane? Secondly do they actually work and thirdly do you think it would be unfair to suddenly introduce an area of the yard he is not allowed it. My other option (much more expensive for me) is to put pool fencing along and section off a portion of the yard. Hope you can help.