Greedy Puppy

Bettyboop

I have a 5 month shih-tzu and he is so food orientated it driving me mad.Only time he wags his tail is when food arrives :rolleyes:He gets 2 good meals a day and dog treats in between but he is never satisfied.He has bit my hand and fingers lots of times and it bled like mad.I make him sit for his dinner but he still lunges at the plate and you have to be quick or else you will be bitten.Caught him eating a t.towel as there was a gravy stain on it and putting flowers in a vase he ate the rose petals that fell (yeh he will be poohing rose petals:D) but seriously what can I do to sort this out? His food bowl is full off teeth marks as he tries to eat it .I have 3 other shih-tzus and never had this problem.He is wormed regularly so dont know why he is the way he is .As I said he only ever wags his tail when food is involved.
Any help appreciated:(

Justask

Sorry but your thread made me giggle out loud...I can just see it Dont ya just adore pups...

Any pup i've ever had has been the same, they grow out of it..

ISDW

At 5 months, he should still be getting fed at least 3 times a day, if he's that hungry all the time I'd actually feed him 4 times a day, then he'll feel full for longer.

lorebringer

Firstly, this type of food obsession is totally normal for a young puppy - you have nothing to worry about!

It really sounds like you need to teach your dog the "leave it" command and you can then apply this to various situations (feeding him, getting random things from him etc.). You'll need to start off with a treat in your hand (pinched between your fingers), let him sniff and lick at it then the minute he turns his head away give him another treat (that you should have hidden in your other hand). After a few gos you can start saying "leave it". Once he gets the concept you can try leaving the treat on the floor or in your open palm and get him to "leave it" for 3 seconds, then lots of praise and another treat. A clicker may be useful but you can do it without.

Victoria Stilwells technique for "leave it" is fantastic but I can't find a video at the moment, perhaps a more thorough search would find something. This is quite a good video on "leave it" (even though the lady is a bit annoying) - http://youtu.be/e4qgbmTf_Jw

summer_ina_bowl

ISDW is right, he should be fed at least 3 times a day at his age Make sure it is puppy food as he needs the extra calories for growth at the moment. As for the behaviour - sounds about right to me lol, I spent my lunch break today chasing a moving black bag around my garden - I had been peeling potatoes into it, when a lurcher pup I'm fostering decided to get into the bag in order to eat the skins despite having just been fed, I guess the bag spooked her, as she took out the front door wearing it and started doing laps of the garden *rolls eyes*

However, if your pups is underweight/weak/very irritated, I'd consider a visit to my vet to rule out any disease or illness.

Good luck!

Gremlin

Even though its normal for a pup to behave like this, you need to let the little guy know this is not acceptable behaviour. I found that a water pistol can be a useful tool to reprimand a dog (some may not agree), they don't like getting squirted but of course it doesn't hurt them. Reward when he behaves, a little squirt IMMEDIATELY when he misbehaves, he'll soon learn whats acceptable and whats not. The other posters ideas of spreading the food out over more feeds will help too. After a surprisingly short while you wont even need to use the WP, just mention the word and you'll get remorseful looking good behaviour.

HTH

Whispered

Just wanted to add to the above - a food obsessed dog is an easily trained dog . Take full advantage of it. He'll likely do anything for a nice bit of food.

They also tend to thrive after illnesses.

I know that's not very helpful for your situation now, but I suppose I wanted to let you know that there are advantages to having a greedy little grubber.

EDIT: Sorry I know I said "to add to the above" - but I'm not advocating training methods like water in the face, I have a greedy little fella here too. I didn't even try training with a negative reaction to his behaviour. He's now still very excited around food but much more respectful. I'm not looking for a debate gremlin - each to their own and all that, but I just didn't want to misrepresent myself by adding "to the above" if you know what I mean

magentas

Whispered wrote: »

Just wanted to add to the above - a food obsessed dog is an easily trained dog . Take full advantage of it. He'll likely do anything for a nice bit of food.

They also tend to thrive after illnesses.

I know that's not very helpful for your situation now, but I suppose I wanted to let you know that there are advantages to having a greedy little grubber.

Good point...sounds like you'd make a good trainer!;)

OP my pup is a right greedy guts with her food! She's nearly 5months now and gets fed very well but will literally try to pull the food out of the other dogs mouth. They only correct her if it's a nice piece of meat or something!

I've been using the "OFF/LEAVE IT" command with her that our trainer suggested (as lorebringer posted) and I swear I thought "it'll never work on her"! but now I can leave a treat ON HER PAWS and she won't touch it until I tell her to take it!

It just takes time and effort to get this kind of discipline but you will get there. Use chicken or turkey breast for treats.

I'm really sorry but I thought Lola was bad til I read this...eating a teatowel because it had a gravy stain!!! I'm still laughing at that!:D

LucyBliss

I've been using the "OFF/LEAVE IT" command with her that our trainer suggested (as lorebringer posted) and I swear I thought "it'll never work on her"! but now I can leave a treat ON HER PAWS and she won't touch it until I tell her to take it!

It just takes time and effort to get this kind of discipline but you will get there. Use chicken or turkey breast for treats.

We did that too with one of ours who was completely manic when it came to food. He was so bad that he'd try to steal food from my grandmother's plate as she was sitting on the couch eating. We wouldn't let him on the couch and he'd spend his time trying to hop over our legs to get at her, he was so determined to get eating.
With a lot of work and repeating myself, he was finally able to sit beside her and wait until she would give him her leftovers. Nowadays if food falls on the floor in the kitchen, he won't touch it unless you say he can. It's quite a turnaround from the loo-lah pup he was! And if it can happen to him, it can happen to yours too, OP!