Awesome job, Bella!
Can you please give details about how you trained them only to eat on command? I'm interested in this. Thanks!
Cathy,
It really isn't a hard thing to teach. It does require complete consistency for them to "get it" though. Bella came at 6 months old and Takota came at 23 months so even if it's not a "puppy" you can still teach this.
To get any food (or toy, attention, up on furniture that someone is sitting on already) I have them ALWAYS sit and look at me (or person on couch, lol) first.
When starting to teach "take it" (the command I use but you can pick any word(s) you want to use) I first start with a sit/. Then I have them "watch me" (my command for looking at me) and then I "offer" a treat with a closed hand. As long as they are sitting and looking at ME (not the hand with the treat) I then open the hand and say "take it". As they get better about holding focus on me I then open my hand as I offer the treat (closing it if they look or try to take it before command. When that is solid I slowly offer the treat closer and closer until I can hold it almost against the nose and they focus on ME and wait for "take it".
I use the same principle when feeding but begin with sit and watch me while I'm still holding the bowl, slowly working up to putting the bowl down (sometimes even before they sit), once they sit and look to me I give the take it command and allow them to eat.
Probably the hardest part is making sure they ALWAYS sit and look before reward is given. The only exception to the sit and look rule is during training sessions, then as soon as I am rewarding with food I say "take it" and give the treat. Bella and Ursa (our 11 yo raised from pup) won't take the treat in training without "take it". Takota is still working on that and not taking treats from just anyone. He is highly food driven so it's taking a bit more to get him fully trained when food is offered. He does know not to eat meals or grab dropped food without command but we're still working on when someone "offers" food.
If you have a verbal "cue" for wrong behavior (I use "aht") you can also use that if they start to take something before the command. Kota gets "aht" at times when we're out working on socialization and someone offers a cookie. He's getting much better and is looking to me first about 60% if the time now. It took us 3 months before we started to work on his socialization since he came totally untrained and he needed to learn the basics first. Because of that, Takota has only had about 3 months of weekly outings to learn about not taking things from others. Takota did learn to wait for the command at meals and cookies in about 2 weeks but he was getting 5 -6 training session a day during that time.
Hope this gives you an idea how to get started, if you need more info feel free to PM me and I'll gladly help any way I can.
This is something I am extremely dedicated and strict on after having a dog poisoned in my yard. It does sometimes take the "leave it" for them to learn not to touch things in the yard once they have gotten used to it being "their" yard without commands but it can be done.
