My 2 year old cav is murder when it comes to the rustle of a bag or someone goes to the fridge and when the kids are eating he will grab it from there hand if he can we have never given tidbits as he isnt allowed because of his special diet so i cant understand it if we gave in now and then i would be able to say oh thats because we done it once so why? its very annoying and people get angry with him for it and i dont like no one shouting at my dog

" its very annoying and people get angry with him for it and i dont like no one shouting at my dog"

If you don't like ANYONE shouting at your dog, just think about who would shout at him if he were in a pack of dogs and grabbed at someone else's food. They wouldn't just shout either.  If you don't let your dog know who's who around your home, he'll take over and could become dangerous. He needs to be put in his place and taught some manners. Teach him to lie down and stay back while you are eating.  

Most dogs act as if they haven't eaten for weeks, they're programmed to do it for survival.  Try teaching the 'leave' command like this:
1) Take two treats - one in each hand.
2) Offer one in the outstreached hand, but be ready to close your fingers around it as soon as the dog moves towards it.
3) Repeat this until he's sitting back and not approaching
4) Withdraw the first hand, and offer the second treat, saying 'go on then' (or a similar release that you feel comfortable with)

When you've repeated this a couple of times, he's stop coming forward for the first treat - now you can start using the command 'leave it'.....

HTH

Thanks for the info but i do do that every day but he wont listen to anthing he is really bad where foods concerned

"its very annoying and people get angry with him for it and i dont like no one shouting at my dog"

"but he wont listen to anthing he is really bad where foods concerned"

I know that you will probably defend his behaviour as reading between the lines I think maybe and that could be part of the problem , I am NOT saying all but part.

I totally agree some dogs are scavengers naturally and really it is a case of keeping thing out of his way as the others said. I know it is hard.

I don't however agree that is is a natural thing if he is taking food directly from peoples hands. That is a no go area I think especially with children.  Some may disagree with me but I think you may need to go back to basics of training with him.

Good luck :-)

Alas, I also have an "always hungry hound" and I know from experience it is not easy to live with.

I take ALL temptation out of his way! ie, rubbish bags, food that the kids leave lying around. I Know that it isn't at all practical in every day life and you have to be alert to it at all times.

I agree with Digger, this is a good way of training. Unfortunately, whenever the dog manages to get titbits, it is self rewarding, so the drive to do it again is so great. People shouting at your dog is unacceptable and has no impact on the behaviour, it is a natural born instinct in a dog. As you know too well, some dogs are natural scavengers. Because my dog used to have a habit of eating ANYTHING when we were out on walks as a pup, I taught him the simple command of wait/leave. I now do this at EVERY mealtime, he is told to WAIT (not raising voice) just firmly and then he looks at me, waiting for my command to eat it. I find this very useful in everyday life as he now looks at me to see that it is ok to eat. I will never be able to stop him doing it when I am not present but generally I am always with him.

HTH

I use the "away" command when I'm eating. All four dogs stay at least 8 ft away. If I'm at the table, they're to lie down and stay. I don't shout and I don't do all that other stuff. I just say, "away." Then they're rewarded. They are asked to sit/wait and then they're given a treat. You don't have to shout and you don't have to allow bad manners either. Good luck!

I've been teaching my pup 'leave' when feeding her, and she is 100%. Unfortunately this doesn't translate to when we're out on a walk. Even if I say leave she'll still pick up whatever it is (usually a mouldy banana skin at the moment!) and I have to take it out of her mouth. Although she usually lets me take it out, I don't really want to be touching mouldy banana skins. Will she eventually learn? Or am I just undoing all her training by saying 'leave' and her not actually leaving it? On writing this I've just thought of something. If I see her spot something I could make her sit and leave, and then give her a treat, and then walk her away from it, maybe giving her another treat if she walks by without going for it! I'll give it a try right now!

:-)

Teach your dog to be safe around hands, that means teaching the difference between food that he can take and food that he cannot.

If you teach your dog that the only food that he can have is a) from a flat hand and b) on cue then you will not have any trouble from a dog that takes food from people's hands.

You have been given good advice about training your dog to 'wait' and 'leave' :)

One thing you might care to remember,  if your dog tried to take another dogs food he would get a warning growl, if he persisted then he would be 'told off' strongly, this would be quite a bit more than being shouted at ;)  If another dog wouldn't put up with it why should you?

I really believe you have to stop making excuses for your cav, he has no manners and needs to learn some - especially around children.
You don't steal his food do you?  Then he shouldn't steal yours :)

Trouble is though, he thinks like a dog and i bet he has been rewarded accidentally time and time again by dropped  crumbs etc - and also the food he has grabbed. I think the training is the way to go. Sounds as if he has already been told off in no uncertain terms but it isn't working. Hard to tell what is happening exactly without seeing it though :)

Out of interest, why is he on a special diet? As it could be affecting his behaviour - for instance he could be hungry? ;)

Lindsay
X

You kind of said what I was thinking Dill but didn't want to offend so went around the block a bit :-)). 

It reminded me of a grooming situation I had recently.

Someone asked me to groom their dog  , he is 18 months a terrier breed. Lady dropped him off and left him for a few hours. I honestly could not believe the state of this dog, I have never seen such huge knots and such a badly matted coat, anyway I started to tackle his coat in a freindly, gentle and reassuring way but he kept trying to attack me ( under stated). I had given my muzzle to a freind so was a bit stuck as to what to try but wanted to see this little dog trimmed as it was a sin. I called the owner and told her he was trying to bite me etc and she said, "  I know, he growls and tries to bite me when I try to brush him and has always done that " . Hello !!!! She left this dog with me.. ( yes I know I should have discussed this with her but for some reason I got her muddled up with someone else and thought she had rescued him).

She was in a position that she was scared of him and he only did what he wanted. 

I asked her to bring him back when I had my muzzle which she did. I managed to do his whole body without too much trouble. I think a happier little dog also.

I adviced her to get a muzzle and put it on even when she is brushing him not so much so he wouldn't bite her but so that she could confidently brush him without being scared and the roles would slowly change from him being
in control to her being in control and think it is actually working for her. 

I don't condone ever hitting animals at all  but for the safety of all others you have to be in control and that is through training and positive messages I think. Others may disagree with my way of handling the little dog but I think ti worked.

Sadly small dogs are the ones often tarred with being grumpy and aggressive at times but I do really think that people buy small dogs and forget they need the same firm training and guidance as a big dog.

I couldn't imagine any of my dogs growling at anyone  and although all loved bits like my children they have not been allowed to do as they please. :-))

I know this is not quite on line with the poster but I think dogs have to know what they can and cannot do.. :-)))

Just wanted to add that when I say about the muzzle using it is only to take the fear out of being bitten not to been mean to the dog. I think it just helps break the fear cycle.

I groomed the little dog for a bit ( never hurting it) put it on the lead for 5 mins and walked it up and down the garden so as to reassure it he was safe with me and has not reason to be scared.  Hope that makes sense. I know it is easy to interpret things differently.

BFN

QUOTE:

"One thing you might care to remember,  if your dog tried to take another dogs food he would get a warning growl, if he persisted then he would be 'told off' strongly, this would be quite a bit more than being shouted at   If another dog wouldn't put up with it why should you?

I really believe you have to stop making excuses for your cav, he has no manners and needs to learn some - especially around children.
You don't steal his food do you?  Then he shouldn't steal yours"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ditto. Yup....I was sitting at my computer and had a cracker that I was holding in my teeth and it was sticking out of my mouth. Lyric came quietly up and I thought he was just going to sit down next to me. But he reached up and gingerly stole the cracker right out of my mouth. I didn't ignore him or start training him with treats in both hands and all that. I turned and very firmly and grouchily (is that a word?) said, "NO, NO, NO!!!!" He learned right then and there that that little stunt was not going to go over with me. He's never tried to take something off me since. It didn't ruin his self esteem. It didn't make him a coward. He didn't lose his love or trust of me. He learned what is good manners and what isn't. I won't have some full grown Doberman Pinscher or any other dog thinking he can invent his own way of aquiring food. Why does everyone walk so tender footed around their dogs? No wonder there are so many aggression problems, bad manners, obnoxious behaviors out there. Be assertive with your dog. That does not equal heavy handedness. I would have ruined my dogs by now if I was heavy handed. I'm not, but I'm not going to be a wimp around them either. They're all well mannered, happy, playful dogs who know what to expect from me and are not worried about it. They know the boundaries.

Thanks for the advice and maybe i will try stealing his food see how he likes it :) (HA HA )

Happygirl,

I'm hoping your last comment was a joke   If you tried it I think you would just end up with another, worse, set of problems ;)

Blue,
I too have had to deal with grooming a similar dog, he's very strong and didn't want to be groomed.  Not having a muzzle handy I used a soft leash to control his head.  Three sessions later and he was a different dog, no muzzle needed, no slapping, he's a total gentleman and now enjoys his sessions with me (after the first 2 sessions I was going to give up grooming altogether ;) but I'm so glad I persevered )