# Food adequacy and begging



## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

Whether or not you are feeding him enough should be based on his weight and body condition. If you can easily feel, but not see, his ribs, you are doing fine. Goldens are notorious about begging. Mine do it even after having just eaten a big meal. If it annoys you, you may want to teach him a "go to mat" behavior (consistently reinforce laying quietly on a rug, mat or bed while you are eating), or an "out of the kitchen" behavior, where they are not allowed in the same room as you are when you are eating. That said, I've had good success in simply NEVER feeding them when I'm at the table. If begging at the table NEVER results in their getting table scraps, the behavior should eventually extinguish itself through lack of reinforcement.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Most Golden Retrievers would literally eat themselves to death if allowed. I own one right now. It's been found with research in Labrador Retrievers that there can be a genetic component to it. Do not give in. 

Teach your dog to go to "place" on command (this is an excellent and easy thing to teach - kikopup on youtube has a great video) Set up a mat or small rug or dogbed away from the table and use your mealtimes to teach and enforce the concept. Give him something to chew while he's in place or make sure he's had some playtime beforehand and let him just settle there. This is a super important concept and he's old enough to learn it.


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## SoCalEngr (Apr 11, 2020)

Krtk said:


> Did any of you have such an issue? Did you find an answer to fixing or curbing this practice? Do you have any suggestions about this behaviour?


I sometimes refer to our golden, Kona, as "the most optimistic dog in the world". If someone opens the refrigerator, goes into the pantry, cracks open a food container, etc., she alerts and goes on "good behavior". We simply tell her "no", or, if she is too persistent, "leave it". Others appear to have a "place" command they use for occasions like meal times. We don't (we graze a lot).

Bottom line...

Goldens are incredibly cute. They always seem to be hungry. Nope, they won't starve if not fed every time _*they*_ think they should be.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

SoCalEngr said:


> I sometimes refer to our golden, Kona, as "the most optimistic dog in the world". If someone opens the refrigerator, goes into the pantry, cracks open a food container, etc., she alerts and goes on "good behavior".


Ha! This is exactly how I describe Shala when we are at my fiance's house with his kids. In my house, I can drop food in front of her, leave food on a plate on the couch beside her, eat in front of her, and she doesn't blink an eye. She would never eat it. She knows the rules here. She doesn't bother coming into the kitchen when I'm preparing food. At his house, where there are kids who eat constantly and drop food on the floor all the time, she practically can hear them just THINK about food and she is sitting there smiling, ready to help clean up. She is a totally different dog at his house. I make her lie outside the kitchen and just lie down anytime they are eating, but it is a constant effort.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

I often joke that mine would take dryer lint as a treat! Sounds like you just need to do some training if you don't want to be stared at while you eat.


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## CCoopz (Jun 2, 2020)

Yep 100% agree my Teddy is a typical golden, always ever hopeful for food. We have NEVER given him any of our food from our meals or snacks. 
He lays down in the kitchen when I am cooking with an eye to anything that drops. But he will not touch it if I notice it too and say no or leave.

When we are eating a meal on the sofa he will come and sit directly in front of you staring at you if you let him. But I do a back/away gesture and say ‘back, back, back’ and moves away to his towel (designated spot) on the rug in the room.

When we are eating at the kitchen table or dining room he will initially lay under the table ever hopefully but as he has never been given scraps he soon gives up and moves away.

When we have dinner guests we put a barrier up across the dining room door (can’t close it as then he’ll bark) but the little devil just goes up and lays on the middle mini landing up the stairs. Then he has a prime view and stares at us eating with big mournful eyes 👀

But we can leave a half eaten sandwich on a plate on a coffee table and go out the room for a couple minutes and he never touches it as he knows it’s not his and he would be in big trouble. Never deliberately trained this, he just knows BIG NO NO! 

The problem we have with his retriever obsession with food is scavenging! Summer was a nightmare, I was constantly on picnic watch. He had to go on the lead if I spotted a picnic in the distance. Once we were walking along a little countryside path and walked past a young family. Unbeknownst to me the toddler had a waffle in their hand. Ted very sneakily and very gentle took it out the toddlers hand as he walked past! Thankfully he has a very gentle mouth and the parents thought it was hilarious. 

He also sniffs out dog treats in other dog walkers pockets from quite a distance. Will plonk his butt down and sit in front of front them and present his paw! I now politely ask the person not to give him a treat but so many of the older generation don’t listen and think he’s so cute and one treat can’t hurt! 🤦‍♀️ And I don’t have the heart to tell the elderly not to do it! So god knows how I’ll train him to stop pestering strangers for their dog treats.

So yeah Golden Retriever usually = food obsessed


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## Krtk (Oct 15, 2020)

pawsnpaca said:


> If you can easily feel, but not see, his ribs, you are doing fine.


This is an excellent guideline. I checked his belly area and I could feel his ribs but not really see it even when he's lying on his side. I guess he's doing just fine  



nolefan said:


> Most Golden Retrievers would literally eat themselves to death if allowed. I own one right now. It's been found with research in Labrador Retrievers that there can be a genetic component to it. Do not give in.


Great to know that - I thought I wasn't feeding him enough food. 



SoCalEngr said:


> Goldens are incredibly cute. They always seem to be hungry. Nope, they won't starve if not fed every time _*they*_ think they should be.


That is a relief. I do tell him "No" and more often ignore him but he is just too adorable that it feels too cruel to not give him a speck of food when we eat. I need to become a bit more stringent for his sake now. Thanks!



CCoopz said:


> Yep 100% agree my Teddy is a typical golden, always ever hopeful for food. We have NEVER given him any of our food from our meals or snacks.


I never feed him our food as I read that what we eat is way too much sugar and salt for dogs. So, I usually reserve some of his food or zero calorie dog cookies for our meal time. However, reading the comments here, I guess I should instead be teaching him to sit quietly and not beg / prod us for food. I'll start doing this right away as I think we've been training him to stay calm in return for food favours. Thanks for all the pointers and sharing your tips! These are certainly great points.


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## goldensmum (Oct 23, 2007)

When we got Quinn he would sit and drool and stare whilst we ate going from one to another in the hope of getting something. Started him laying down at my feet and every time he moved he was put back into the down position, no talking other than to tell him to stay down. It didn't take him too long to work out that moving got him nowhere, but if he laid still all through our meal he was rewarded with a treat, but this was always done away from the table and in the kitchen. Never be tempted to feed your dog treats whilst sitting at the dinner table it will just encourage them to beg for more.
Even now we still give Reeva a treat when we have finished our meal, she was taught the same way. Better to start the way you mean to go on. Good luck


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