HI Everyone.

I have a very greedy cavalier who is nearly a year old. He is a lovely dog and fantastic in so many ways but his begging for food is driving me nuts!!!
I know i must have encouraged this at some point by rewarding his begging by giving in however he is getting more and more difficult around meal times and whenever the children have biscuits etc.
At the moment we shut him out of the room when we eat and if i give him anything i put it in his bowl rather than feeding it out of my hand. I say 'no' when he jumps up at the kids and ignore him when i'm having a snack and he sits in front of me whining.
Do you think he is genuinely hungry or is he just trying his luck. He gets fed a good quality dry food which he eats with no problems -however if there is the chance of him having anything else then he completely ignores his food and goes on hunger strike until he is sure he isn't going to get any.

do you think if i keep on with ignoring him he will get better - it seems to be getting worse at the moment!!

Hi!  Well done for making a start at sorting the problem - and it sounds as though you're doing exactly the right things! Yes, it's likely he will get worse before he gets better; it's called an 'extinction burst' - if something that's always worked before (dog whines, dog gets titbit) suddenly stops working (dog whines, owner ignores) the dog's going to whine louder and more to get the desired response. When this happens do not weaken, or the dog's been proved right - he needs to make even more noise to get titbits now! ;)

So carry on putting him in another room when you're eating, give hime his food only from his bowl, and let him go on hunger strike if he wants. No healthy dog has ever starved itself to death when there's food available! :D :D

Thanks for the advice.
I had to smile at your DO NOT WEAKEN - have you seen my little cavvies eyes!!!! Adorable :)
I will be strong!!!!
Just another quick thing - i dont feed him set meals. instead i leave his food down all day. Do you think changing this would help? I'm dont know what peoples views are on this. I have found it the best way to feed him but i am open to change if this is adding to the problem.

That's a very individual decision. Personally I feed my dogs at regular (ish! Sometimes I'm involved on here!) times, or they'd eat themselves to death. The only dogs I've met who had food available at all times were twice the weight they should be (cocker spaniels who each weighed just over 3 stone!) so from my experience it doesn't seem to be a healthy thing to do. These dogs also didn't seem to get any pleasure from eating, they just picked out a bit and waddled off, whereas dogs who have mealtimes tend to get very excited and happy at dinner time and lick their bowls clean.

Other people, however, have found free-feeding works. It's your choice. :)

We feed our dogs dried food for working dogs but twice a year my brother come to visit us for a few days,he lives hundreds of miles away from us.He loves all animals and likes to bring all of mine a little "treat",he brings treats for the cats and a HUGE tin of dog meat for the dogs.Aaaaaaaarghhhhh,i have asked him not to as it goes straight through my older GSD but he says he doesnt like to see them eating dry food all the time and the odd tin wont hurt.I finaly put a stop to this when both dogs then refused to eat their dry food after a visit from my brother.The dogs were non too happy about the no tinned meat rule and admittedly did loose a little weight but eventually decided that,as i was not giving in then they would have to eat the dry stuff or starve.It was quite funny to see their down turned faces when they were faced with a bowlful of dry food instead of the lovely suculent meaty mush.They would sniff and walk away discusted with me.Did not last long though.

I have never fed this way before as the other dogs i have had always ate whatever i gave them straight away (boxers!!!) My cavvie leaves his until he is ready to eat and will then eat it all in one go. He doesn't pick throughout the day. He isn't overweight but i understand what you are saying as if i wasn't as strict with his portions he'd be huge by now!! :)
I do think i am going to attempt 2 or 3 set meal times around when we eat - maybe this will distract him from begging? How long should i leave his food down to give him a chance to eat it? Is it about 20 minutes?

Yes, 15 to 20 minutes gives him plenty of time to eat if he's hungry. Mind you, cavaliers have a reputation for being very manipulative! Great little dogs mind! :)

I agree with Jeangenie, free feeding works for some but not everyone, some breeds will just eat and eat until they look like they're going to burst! My dogs have free access to dry food with the odd addition of raw meat/bones as my breed are prone to bloat. I wouldn't want them stuffing their faces twice a day, better for them to pick all day and night that way their tummies are never empty nor full. I found though with my mothers Chinese Cresteds that they just wouldn't eat this way, they needed to be tempted to eat twice a day and then would finish their bowls - it's just whatever works for you :)

LOL that's Cavaliers for you!! They are vacuum cleaners and just never stop eating. I doubt he's hungry, and be careful because they eaisly put on weight. Mine was once given so many treats by my kids when I didn't see that he actually over ate and nearly died -had to spend the night at the vets and it was touch and go. My mother in law believes hers is hungry and so his body weight is actually 100 % more than it should be as she feeds him all the time -awful.... I find the simple solution is to lock mine in his crate when we have dinner. He knows he will never get anything off me so he never even tries to beg off me, but he'll try his luck with anyone else. He'll also steal given half a chance -and he's almost 11!