Food time should never be made into an event. Do not get the dog riled up for dinner.
Be sure your dog sits and waits for the food bowl. For the first few days, you might want to keep the leash on the dog for this exercise. As the dog sits, you will bend toward the dog with the bowl. If the dog gets up, stand up and have the dog sit again. Repeat until he can stay seated while you lower the bowl.
Put small amounts of food in the bowl. As the dog finishes the first few bites, place more food in the bowl. Feed the normal amount of food, but do so in small amounts.
Feed one-half of the dog’s food out of a food-dispensing toy such as the Buster Cube.™ This will not only help with food issues, but it will also help keep your dog busy both in body and mind.
When your dog is interacting with the food-dispensing toy or eating food from the bowl, you can teach him that when he leaves the bowl or toy to look at you, he will get something even better. This is a very important and fun exercise! Begin by placing dry kibble in the bowl or food-dispensing toy. Let the dog eat for a moment, then walk over with a tasty piece of cheese or other highly desirable food item. Say the dog’s name. If he lifts his head, praise him and give him the food item.
Trade. While this game is similar to what is written above, here you are not only asking the dog to lift his head, but to let you have one object for another more desirable one. Place a tasty treat that the dog loves in your pocket, and begin by giving the dog a boring toy — one that the dog finds only mildly interesting. We want the dog to quickly understand the game as well as avoid any aggression, so we must begin by giving the dog something that is not highly desirable.) Once the dog has this item for a moment, take the tasty treat out of your pocket and calmly say “Trade.” Draw the dog toward you with the treat, and let him nibble the treat while you pick up the boring toy. When he is finished with the treat, have him sit and return the toy to him. We want your dog to learn that you always have something better and that he can trust you.
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