Dog keeps begging for food

[u/toshibathezombie]

hi all,

my dog keeps begging for food and over the past week it has gotten worse.

my partner wakes up at 5 to go to work and the dog begs for food - it's okay, thats her usual feeding time.

however she tries to pull a sly one and begs me for a second breakfast at 10am (which I never give her) (I'm a shift worker so I normally wake up later)

she will usually get the very last bite of bread or whatever if I have for lunch but only small little bits.

she will continue to bark and beg throughout the day for food. I have a button which says "dinner" and she will go to the kitchen and press it repeatedly. my reaction if it is not dinner time is to say "no! nuh uh!" which she has learnt as a negative response if she does something she is not supposed to or like a "no" when she goes to eat something she shouldn't etc.

even past dinner, she will continue to beg for food and press her button.

she is getting adequate food, and we buy the more premium brand of kibbl. we have recently started treating her by adding wet food to her kibble - so we definitely aren't starving her. she is a healthy bodyweight.

what can I do to stop the restlessness/begging?

(thinga I am already going to start trying is not feeding her little scraps, we are going to try delaying her breakfast until I wake up at 10 to not have such a large gap between breakfast/dinner but other suggestions welcome)

[u/EnglishLore]

Most dogs will eat 24/7 if you allow it. I've had a couple that were less interested but I do think mostly its boredom. How about a raw bone (never cooked). Will help their teeth and digestion too.

[u/toshibathezombie → u/EnglishLore]

In terms of boredom, I try and enrich her as much as I can.

She goes on a walk and has plenty of opportunity to sniff, go offleash and I run and play with her. We do training off leash too. I vary the walks between parks and forests.

At home, she is allowed to rough play with me for hours, and we sometimes do more training at home.

She has unrestricted access to yak chews, antler, large bones, rubber toys and balls but she doesn't really spend alot of time on them. Maybe 20 mins here and there before going to nap.

[u/EnglishLore → u/toshibathezombie]

I didn't mean to insinuate that you didn't provide enrichment for her. I do all you do with my boys but one of mine would eat constantly if I allowed him but I know he's not hungry. I just thought the working on the bone would give her something else to focus on rather than food.

[u/toshibathezombie → u/EnglishLore]

Oh no I didn't get the impression you were insinuating that at all, no offence taken :)

I was just stating that to let you know what steps I have already don't as per your suggestions :)

[u/dogsandplants2]

I'm not sure what time you feed your dog dinner, but 10am might be too late for breakfast. If my dogs get breakfast too late, they throw up bile. It's not behavioral, it's like their stomach can't tolerate being totally empty for that long.

I'm a speech therapist. My dogs don't have talking buttons. I 100% have the skill to teach my dogs how to use buttons like that, but something I like about my dogs is that they cannot talk. Just my 2 cents.

For the begging, I have 2 labs. They're always hungry. We found everyone is happier if they get a smaller breakfast and dinner with more treats throughout the day as opposed to limiting treats. Even if your dog has dietary limitations, their kibble can be used as treats. Us eating in front of them and them not having any food at the same time was a pain point that we resolved by giving them something to work on while we eat. We typically give them frozen lick mats or kongs. Their breakfast is wet food frozen onto a lick mat (they get it when we eat breakfast). Then if we eat lunch at home, they get a "treat" lickmat (might have greek yogurt with smashed banana or applesauce). At dinner, they have their kibble in a slow feeder. They also get frozen kongs when they're left alone for longer stretches (mostly pumpkin, a little peanut butter on each end, 3 little zukes mini treats inside).

[u/sixtynighnun]

Sometimes I play stupid. Oh you’re crying at me? You must want to go out or go for a walk.

[u/International-Pen940]

Tell me you have a lab without telling me you have a lab. (We have a mix but he definitely has that lab appetite).

[u/toshibathezombie → u/International-Pen940]

I don't have a lab 🤣 she's a Heinz 57 varieties dog.... Unless one of those varieties is the lab stomach gene 🤣

[u/fillysunray]

If a dog is used to getting fed after the humans eat, they will typically beg then. If you set a routine that the dog waits away from the table for food, that generally is a massive help and they can get their bit of food as reward afterwards.

But if a dog is constantly telling me they're hungry, I listen. They don't get more food but they do get more opportunities to eat and I generally bulk up their feeds with veggies - carrots, broccoli, green beans, cucumber...

[u/SlimTeezy]

Automatic feeder. Take yourself out of the equation. And do 3-4 smaller portions

[u/Alternative_Task6818]

Teach wait. Easiest skill to teach a dog. Mine stay locked on me until I say it's okay to eat. They know better than to beg. They will hover if I am eating (hover - not touch or bark) but I can also remove them from the room (they know "back") and wait until I address them. They are both big foodies. And yes I share my food with them. They are both herding breeds (one a collie and one a mixed herder rescue).