How to handle food excitement?

[Tagg]

Tinsel spins. He used to vocalize in time to the spin, I can't really call it true barking because he is impaired, but I had to stop it before it became the norm. For him, food is something he may never feel comfortable about. He was starved before so he is almost terrified that he isn't going to be fed. I used the microwave timer to announce the food is ready. I interrupt him if he starts to vocalize by walking away from the counters. He stops to look at me and I tell him he is good and walk back to finish prepping. If he starts to vocalize again I say uh uh and walk away again. He can spin to his heart's content but no vocalizing is allowed. He gets fed in the hall so I take him to his spot first and ask for a sit. Actually, I no longer ask him - he sits and waits for it to be put down. Sometimes I count to 10, other times I count to 30 but I vary it every night so he doesn't anticipate.
It didn't take long before he realized that he may as well not use up his energy doing either behaviour until the timer went off and that barking or whining slowed the process down.

[mellie]

Sally is very interested in food prep but she is very polite too. The cat, on the otherhand is totally underfoot and head butting me the whole time, underfoot, tripping me...

[eyost]

Status update. We're doing a bit better. Tia is starting to understand that nothing continues until she settles down. While not perfect, it's a far cry better than we were last week. She now knows she cannot charge to the bowl until I say so.

Funny thing is my wife asked me why it was such a big deal to have her settle down. Explained it's all about boundaries and if we don't establish it early on, we pay for it later.

Thanks everyone.

[2GoodDogs]

Wow, an 11 week old puppy!

If I had an 11 week old puppy, I'd probably hand feed it one kibble at a time and teach her tricks... but I don't have an 11 week old puppy... can I have yours?

[Calliesmom]

gotta say- out of my three shelties, the puppy is the calm one when it comes to dinner time

[Silaria]

I'm glad things are improving.

Originally Posted by eyost

Funny thing is my wife asked me why it was such a big deal to have her settle down. Explained it's all about boundaries and if we don't establish it early on, we pay for it later.

That's a good explanation for it. Personally, I'd use the word 'manners' instead of 'boundaries' but we are essentially talking about the same thing.

Keep up the good work with your pup. You'll be rewarded down the road for all the time you are putting into training now.

[mbfrench]

Originally Posted by Chris

With five furballs, dinner time is like Mardi Gras! Gotta say, I just love it!

I hear ya on that one. However we do try to keep the excitement level down.Everyone has thier "special" places they eat. And they automatically go to those places.
Dishes are placed on floor once they have all four feet on the floor. Jasper is the worst,as he will spin 100MPH. When he stops the nonesense,he will get his bowl.
But they are all good pups,and we love them to pieces.

[eyost]

Originally Posted by 2GoodDogs

Wow, an 11 week old puppy!

If I had an 11 week old puppy, I'd probably hand feed it one kibble at a time and teach her tricks... but I don't have an 11 week old puppy... can I have yours?

LOL. That is a thought.

[Mignarda]

I put up a video last month of Dickens and his little cousin Callie the Schipperke getting lunch. This is how it ought to be done if you want a quiet life. Callie's a bit excitable, but believe me, what you see in the video is very sedate for a Schipperke. Dickens, of course, is a perfect angel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp13Z49nRKY