I taught my dog to eat

[GURUving]

I am tired of the same ole superdog tricks. I taught him to sit, stare at me waiting for whatever comes out of the chip bag, and when I say "EAT"!

He takes a chip and eats.

I told you before. Superdog.

I also tell him to sit. He sits

I tell him to ly down. He gets comfortable.

I start waving my arms like windmills, tell him to jump

and guess what!

He JUMPS!!!!!!

[Skittles]

1. lol

years ago I saw this cartoon with five panels - a guy and his dog

It went like this:

SIT! The dog sits

BEG! The dog begs

ROLL OVER! The dog rolls over

RHINO! The dog sports a huge rhinocerous nose.

GOOD DOG! Dog wags tail

[ProdigalJunkMail]

2. our dog is also polite

when you and the dog come to the door...the dog actually sits and waits for you to enter and tell her that she can then come in. She also WON'T eat until you tell her to do so. She will sit by the bowl for several minutes if you forget and then come and get you to remind you that you have not allowed her to eat yet!

WOW! That is uber-dog!
TheProdigal

[DS1]

3. Jesus, what the hell did you do to that thing?

It won't eat food in its bowl until you allow it to?

:scared:

[ProdigalJunkMail]

5. come on now...

no need to get all freaky. She has never been hit in her life! My wife (who had the dog prior to our getting married) is a little bitty thing...the dog on the other hand is huge (big ole black lab). She, with the help of a certified trainer, trained the dog to be essentially a calm and polite animal using treats...she doesn't jump on people and doesn't bark unless play time or something very unusual is going on. It also helps that she (the dog) is a lab...they just want to make you happy. She's a great dog and probably one of the happiest animals you will ever meet...face it, she never gets punished for anything.

Relax...
TheProdigal

[Dookus]

8. Ain't nothin' wrong

with training a dog to wait to eat for your command. It's the sign of a well-trained dog.

It doesn't involve any cruelty whatsoever.

[dweller]

4. any advice for my

cat?
this critter is driving me crazy. Whenever...w h e n e v e r...i walk near his food dish he comes running to it, cuts across my path, tripping me up, etc. I put food in his dish...he eats 2! (two!) mouthfuls...walks off. The dog comes over and eats the rest. I come back, he cuts me off, i give him food...and the whole situation repeats itself ad infinitum.

I've tried putting only one mouthful (4-5 kibbles) in the dish...and waiting him out. He eats half, walks away. The dog eyes me, looking for his chance...

I've filled the dish, and sat there holding him in front of it, expecting him to eat. He squirms his way out. I put the food back and as soon as i come back, he's running to the dish... the dog eyes me from across the room, a bit of drool forming on his lip...

think it's possible the dog trained him?

I'm thinking about getting a feed bag for him.

dp

[TheMiddleRoad]

6. Bad Kitty!!!!!

Feed the cat on an elevated surface where the dog isn't allowed (countertop). The cat will jump up on everything anyways so you might as well take advantage of this.

Your other option is simply to stop waiting on an animal. If it doesn't eat the food than the dog gets it. It gets no more food until tommorow. Tomorrow the cat will be hungry and more likely to eat more. It it doesn't figure out the program, then it's stupid to live and will die of starvation ;-)

BTW, the same regimen should be used with fussy kids. If they don't like what is served thats fine. They don't have to eat it but they aren't getting anything else. They won't starve, they'll simply be disciplined.

[bratcatinok]

9. Kitty bowl and kitty box

are both on elevated surfaces where Master Dog can't get to them. Somehow or another Master Dog has gotten the idea kitty food and kitty poo are gourmet treats. Rather than allow Master Dog to become disillusioned, I've taken the necessary steps to keep peace in the home.

[blackcat77]

12. That's what we do with our cat...

...but my wife constantly gives me grief about it. "Cats shouldn't eat on the table!," says she. "WE don't eat at that table -- the only thing you use it for is stacking laundry." "Doesn't matter. The dogs shouldn't eat cat food."

Yeah, right. Tell THAT to the dogs... :)

[dweller]

13. good ideas

but no counter cats here. He never has been, the highest off the floor he gets is the top of the trashcan in the Kit. (wooden, with wooden lid, that he cannot get in/tip over, etc) but it's his throne. I guess i could feed him there, but i'd be afraid he'd associate everything to go in it as his food, then i'd be back where i started, throwing away something and here comes the cat...

no 2 ways, he has me trained.

dp

[TheMiddleRoad]

14. Really ????

Are you sure that the cat is never on the counter??? Put some flour on the counter before bedtime and see if kitty is prowling.

BTW, the trashcan lid may not be high enough depending on the size of you dog. If it's at nose level, the dog will probably still try to eat it. It needs to be high enough that the dog would have to jump to get it.

You could get yourself one of those cat multiplex high rises with scratching posts, etc... Put the cat food on the top level where the dog can't get at it.

[HEyHEY]

7. Keep it down Bush will hear

And he'll offere you a P-R job.

[Zan_of_Texas]

10. Okay, I taught my dog to smell

Well, not like that, although he does have a bit of a fragrance cause he went swimming today.

No, he sniffs out various things and finds them around the house, as a game.

It's a fun game that takes advantage of the incredible capabilities of a dog's nose, which is something like thousands of times better than ours at tracking smells.

I put him on a down stay, tell him we're going to play "tracking". I get something, put it under his nose and tell him to sniff it, then I go place it somewhere several rooms away. I come back, tell him to find it, and when he does he gets a treat.

He loves the game, and it's fun when the weather is too crummy to do much outside (and he's already done all the crossword puzzles <G>). I usually do three different findable items.

Possible items to find -- an orange, open container of honey, bottle of a spice, jar of nuts, bar of soap, tea bag. I keep switching them around.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

11. our dog finds my keys

much better than that clapper thing. She thinks it is a game while I find it the only way to find the damned things...

TheProdigal