# Barking when preparing puppy's food



## GoldieMad (Mar 10, 2006)

My 10 week old male goldie is developing a bad habit of barking a fair amount when he's getting impatient as I am preparing his food. He has to wait for a while as I have to feed my two older goldies first, but he just sits and yaps away.

I know the theory - don't 'reward' him for this, wait until he's quiet THEN feed him, the problem is that he won't shut up when he knows the food is there!

Should I just wait it out, ie if he's still barking when the food is ready then I just stand there and ignore until he has been quiet for, say, 15 seconds or so, THEN give him the food?


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## Lisa_and_Willow. (Dec 18, 2007)

Willow did this but thankfully grew out of it. I waited until she was quiet before giving her the food but it took awhile for that to sink in her head and her puppy barks became squeals which was even worse. Luckily it didn't last long with her.

Good luck!


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## GoldieMad (Mar 10, 2006)

Thanks. Did you ensure that she was quiet for a noticeable period of time before giving her the food, or was it simply a matter of trying to 'find' a quiet gap between the barks?


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## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

Rookie went through this stage too. He would bark when I was preparing his dinner because I wasn't doing it fast enough to please him. I call it his "bossy barking." Every time he barked, I would stop preparing his dinner and just stand there with my hands at my sides until he stopped barking. As soon as he stopped barking, I'd go back to preparing his dinner. He eventually learned that barking just slowed down the whole process.

Just stick with it and be consistent. It's just another phase to get through!


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## GoldieMad (Mar 10, 2006)

Thnks, will give it a bash (the method that is, not the pup!).


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## hgatesy (Feb 14, 2007)

Camden went through this too. We just would turn our back to him when he started and completely ignore him. It was a slow process... but he eventually worked through it.


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## LIKNWISKY (Dec 10, 2007)

We make Wisky wait in another room while we pour his food. When we say come, he enters the "feeding" room and sits again until we say ok. Then he is allowed to eat. He knows its coming but he can't see what we are doing or come in the room until we say. Works great.


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## KonasRents (Jul 15, 2008)

I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one with this problem! Kona barks up a storm in anticipation for her food! Thanks for the advice.


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## temper (Feb 26, 2007)

I'm glad that this "problem" is not just limited to my 11-week old puppy! Kayleigh gets very upset when I'm slow in giving her meals. She uses her "big girl" voice, barking and growling.


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## Coopermama (Feb 27, 2008)

Cooper who is 7 months old today did this while waiting for his Kong to be filled. As some of the other posters suggested we just turned out back on him and waited it out. Once he sat nice and stopped barking I would resume filling it up.
He no longer says a word when waiting for any treat or meal. I think it is just a phase that they go through and like kids if it isn't reinforced then they'll move on. Good luck!


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## skylielover (Sep 27, 2008)

I couldn't help laugh, because my 9 week old pup does the exact same thing. She just did 5 minutes ago in the kitchen. I have her on a special diet which takes longer to prepare, and she was barking and jumping the back of my legs watching me! It is kind of amusing, but I know I have to be stern.


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## GoldieMad (Mar 10, 2006)

I 'fixed' the problem by preparing Charlie's food in advance, that way I could give it to him immediately (ie BEFORE he even started barking). After a short while that appeared to break him of the habit and now I just take my time preparing his food and there's no barking! He does dance around like mad when he can see that I'm approaching him with the bowl of food (he has a BIG appetite!) but that's quite endearing.


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## kgiff (Jul 21, 2008)

Mine does this too about once a week. The first bark, I turn my back. If he barks any more, he gets scooped up and put in his crate.


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## Turbo22 (Jun 16, 2008)

Turbo did the same thing a month ago. Everytime she barked, I would put down her bowl (on a high countertop) and walk out of the kitchen and ignore her for 10 minutes. She slowly learned that barking made me stop preparing her food..and it worked! Hope this helps.


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## cannondog (Oct 10, 2008)

We started by training Cannon to sit and stay, and now he will not go to his food until we give the "ok" command and every few days we make him wait a second or two longer so he gets more and more patient. Something else we started doing was from watching the it's me or the dog on animal planet - she suggested getting a cracker or two, or something crunchy, and BEFORE you give the dog the food, act like you are eating a few crunchies out of their food bowl (but eat the cracker bits instead) to show that YOU are the boss and you eat first. As soon as they learn that they are the boss, and that they eat when you have it ready, it will probably stop  Cannon crowded up and got right up on us (but never barked) when we first got him, but we've been working every meal with the sit/stay and eating a bit before him and it really is paying off! I like the tip of leaving the food bowl and walking away for a few minutes too...it's all a way to make sure they understand you are in charge.


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## SoGolden (Jul 17, 2008)

*Quieter meal times...*

Harry used to bark like crazy whenever I turned on the water at the kitchen sink! I started letting the water run while he ate and the barking episodes stopped. He started to associate the running water with something positive. If he barks while I prepare his food, he must wait even longer for it. He has gotten quieter at meal times.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Have you tried to feed them all together? I always did and never had any problems with one having to wait!


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## GoldenOwner12 (Jun 18, 2008)

Shelley never barked she was far worse then barking instand of barking she jumps at the glass door with all of her weight. I just ignore the behaviour and made her wait a bit longer for her food. By doing this she learnt that her food wasn't going to come any quicker if she jumped at the door. Now she sits at the door and waits for it to come to her.


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## Eaglion (Oct 7, 2008)

All of my old puppies did this. Our new one does it too. What i realized is they especially do it when they strave ie ate less in the last meal etc. I am not sure if they can be trained to stop it. Anyways, they grow out of it. 

As i am at work during the day, I had never managed to stop them by command. This trick worked on all by avoiding their starvation. I feed with regular moist kible. When she finishes, i add some more but dry. As the taste differs she tends to eat some more but not much. Then i put half the portion of the next meal and hide the other half of the portion to several kong like toys. When she feels hungry she eats these. So i am not harrasted as soon as i arrive home. 

Night is an other story. I do not feed or leave any extra in the night time. Just before going to bed, silently I leave a very big chewing treat ie rawhide. When i am preparing her meal she gets busy with it. I do not recomend giving it in the morning as they take it as a reward for their barking.


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## samchu_mammy (Jun 20, 2008)

Here's what I've been training Sam:

He needs to be outside of the kitchen when I am preparing for his food. If he steps inside an inch, I stop. If he barks, I walk out.

The moment he quiet down and outside of the kitchen, I give about 1 minute in between. Then I'll go back and do the preparation. He did it again? No problem, I am out too!

Sam's been pretty good about waiting now =) Hope it helps yours~


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## martinrt (Jun 24, 2008)

Aston did this too for quite some time, and he would also just spin and spin in circles until the food was ready. I would just tell him to be quite which would temporarily stop the barking and whining. I make him wait until I tell him it's okay to eat after I put the food down. He eventually stopped barking when making his food but he still spins in circles and makes all sorts of weird whines and moans. Quite the talker.


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## Celeigh (Nov 29, 2007)

I'll admit it - I'm the bad parent in the group!!! (looking sheepish) Fergus will "Roo-Roo" and spin at the point I get the yogurt out and I just say "Roo-Roo" right along with him. It takes me no time to get his food ready, so I don't mind that he's that excited. Lily dances from foot to foot and and of course I dance with her! Then they both have to sit and they get their bowls. I'd like to think of it as encouraging happy behavior rather than bad behavior.


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