hello there, i need some advice on how i can stop my pup from stealing and climbing onto the sitting room table. whenever one of us brings anything into the sitting room and put it down on the table the pup comes over straight away and tries to sneak a few bites. she puts her front paws on the table and stands there trying to get the food off your plate. anytime she does this she is told 'OFF' and we keep telling her so quite firmly until she is sitting down again. however if after the food is finished and there is a cup of tea left on the table she's on the table drinking my tea as soon as there is no adult in the room, my kids will call me and i take sasha off the table saying 'off' again. this doesn't seem to have any effect on her except that she has learned that if my kids call me to get off the table before i arrive because she seems to know that i won't give out unless i actually catch her in the act. i have tried to get my kids to tell her to get off but they think its just funny (except when its their stuff she goes at). while i was at work today she went onto the table again and drank my husbands coffee, only he cought her and gave her a slap that sent her flying. she hasn't learnt from it, she is on the table again. i want to avoid her getting slapped again, so any tipp on how to stop her stealing, quickly , will be appreciated. and not leaving anything on the table won't go down too well with the family. please help.

You should never hit your dog, certainly not hard enough to send her flying!!! I take it she's a fairly big breed that can get on tables quite easily? Our Cavs and Yankee will put their paws up on tables, but do get off when told. Our general rule is to put them in the kitchen while we are eating, and to take all plates and cups out before they are allowed in again - removing the temptation is the best way to control it, I'm afraid. :-(

i didn't hit her, wasn't even home, just relaying info. i don't agree with hitting animals either but he lost his temper with her, and thankfully there wasn't any psychological damage done. she still loves him and isn't scared of him. but told him not to do it again, she's only a baby.

Put her in another room while you're eating. It's unfair to continually put temptation in her way.

How would your children react if you put some sweets on the table in front of them then left the room? I don't think you'd expect them to ignore the sweets, would you?

We was having this problem she hasnt actually stolen any food yet but does try and stick her nose in and is quite annoying when trying to eat, so after watching 'its me or the dog' we have invested in a £2 bike horn gave 2 honks at tea time and she ran away and got in her chair! so fingers crossed this is going to work :-)

we have glass doors and after locking her out for a few meals i have lovely big scratches in my door. so that doesn't work. anyway she gets food as well when we eat but she is more interested in what we have.  i think we should be able to have a cup of tea without the pup trying to drink it every time we put it down. tea and coffee is not a unfair temptation. i'll try the horn and see how we go. hopefully it will work.

PS we don't normally hit her. it was an ecxeption and i was promised it wont happen again.

If the tea or coffee has milk and/or sugar then it will smell tempting. Besides, if humans eat or drink it, logically it must be good to eat or drink! ;)

This is a puppy isn't it so you will need to train her not slap her & why not use a baby/dog gate ? My dogs never get fed at the same time as me they aways get fed before me & they never get bits of my food from my plate only in their dishes(pasta etc)

unfortunately  if your not all singing from the same hymn bk ( as we say lol) progress will be very difficult. as i have found out.
every body must do the same thing every time it happens.
my kids learnt the hard way our problem was they liked kai jumping up on them but now he weighs about 5 stone they are not so keen, also they complained about stuff getting pinched from bedrooms.... guess who was leaving the doors open all the time :rolleyes:
finally (thank god) they are doing what i told them to do in the first place, and it is getting better now :)

sounds like my house!!!! my kids also think its all so cute and explaining that sasha will be big in a few months doesn't mean anything to them.toys get pinched from their rooms too, but i told them it's their own fault for leaving the door open. they then inform me that they were tired of which ever toy sasha took anyway. i just can't win.

Sounds familiar! Husbands and children are far more difficult to train than dogs! Especially when you consider that they even speak your language!

LOL @ marleen...
dont worry they'll soon learn when that brand new pressie that they absolutely love has just been ripped or chewed to shreds :D :D

yeah, christmas is coming!!!

i think i have found the problem. it's me , not the pup. when ever she put her paws on the table i tell her 'off' and once her paws touch the ground she gets a little tidbit. i think i may have trained her to actually put her paws on the table while thinking i was doing the opposite. could that be possible????????

that def is possible .
In our house the dogs go in the kitchen when we are eating my girls have tried the odd cuppa in the past LOL ...its too tempting for them .
If you get into a good routine now while he/she is young then your are making rules which become a habit in an older dog.
Either get yourself a crate and use it  or a child gate so that pup can see you but not roam all over the house unsupervised consequently getting itself into trouble... my girls go into rooms when I allow it.

HTH
~Roni

Remember that all dogs are basically scavengers, and that is what they will do :P
A dog can be taught to leave food alone whilst the owner is in the room, but few dogs will ignore a nice juicy bit of meat or cake for ages whilst the owner is not there!

This fact has to be faced ;)
It's probably best to keep her outside whilst the family are eating, or pop her in her crate if you have one.
Also, start to train her to behave well whilst you are eating - so, give her her own stuffed kong and also gradually train a good "settle" command, this may be difficult with children moving around etc but find out how to do it and give it a go when things are more settled :)

Lindsay