Hi, all.

Nya is 12 weeks today, and boy, has it already been an adventure. It seems like I've had her for an eternity, rather than just a month. Regardless, she's doing extremely well with everything, except for her chewing (which I deem is normal) and her getting in your face when you have food. Basically, I'm looking for tips on how to get her to realize it's not okay for her to jump and try to eat human food out of our hands. I'll be having a snack (say a bag of pretzels) on the couch, and she will not stop jumping and trying to eat my food. I currently do not let her on the couch because I don't want her to associate her behavior as acceptable.

Obviously, I knew that this might be an issue, but I don't know how to quell it. I've had to, on multiple occasions, put her in the kitchen with a baby gate because I can't eat anything when she's around. She whines and whines. I don't let her out until I've finished my food. I've tried distracting her with chews and toys, and she still doesn't seem quite satisfied with not eating my food. I don't ever give in because I know how difficult that would be to break her of that. Does anyone have any advice?

If you don't want her eating people food when you eat - first (which it sounds like you already do) don't ever give her even a little bit. Eventually, she will learn that its just not going to happen.

This is an example of when either crate or "place" training would be appropriate. You can search "Place" training here - I can't give you more specifics because I have not trained this in my dog - he came crate trained but we don't use a crate anymore...

What I do know, is that being a puppy, there will be whining and complaining until it gets instilled in her that she must leave you alone. Putting her in the kitchen with a baby gate is a good start.

Is she allowed to jump all over you and get in your face when you're not eating?

seattlesibe wrote:

Is she allowed to jump all over you and get in your face when you're not eating?

No, we've taught her to sit and not jump when people approach her. She does reasonably well with this, even when she is excited. She does start jumping when I break out treats to train her, which can be a nuisance because she jumps and tries to take the treat from my hand - and then ends up biting my hand.

She has recently discovered that she's tall enough to reach the desk, so she has been attempting to reach things on the desk. I keep placing her back on the ground and saying "down." But this has also started her trying to reach kitchen counters, which she is still not tall enough for - but she attempts it anyway. So, I'll just randomly her scratching on the kitchen cabinets below the counter, trying to get up.

Does she ever get corrected or just ignored or redirected?

Do the treats always amp her up ? Will she eventually get treats after the jumping and mouthing?

On a daily basis, how often is she getting treats?

if she is biting your hand and jumping to get treats, i would make her sit and then give her treat. if she starts the biting your hand then just hold your hand in front of here and wait until she stops and then give her a treat, i would repeat it about 10 times. every day until she stops trying to get the treat from your hand.

it would also be a good time for "leave it" treating. i would start with a small plastic Tupperware/bowl with some treats in it, and just cover it with you hand when they stop trying to get the treats in the Tupperware/bowl that's when they get a treat from your hand not the Tupperware/bowl. move the bowl around and try it in different places.
then you can up the ante and try it in different places and different types of food when she master the bowl/Tupperware exercise.

when Leo was a puppy i would give him a food despising toy for him to eat his lunch wail i eat. it kept him busy. here are some that he likes.
http://www.chewy.com/dog/smarter-toys-iq-treat-ball-dog-toy/dp/45920
http://www.chewy.com/dog/starmark-treat-dispensing-chew-ball/dp/45447
the green one is is favorite.

seattlesibe wrote:

Does she ever get corrected or just ignored or redirected?

Do the treats always amp her up ? Will she eventually get treats after the jumping and mouthing?

On a daily basis, how often is she getting treats?

I've tried both ignoring her and redirecting her. Neither of those seem to deter her.

And treats do amp her up. I don't give her a treat without making her do something first, even if it's as simple as "sit." How often she gets them depends on my day, and how much time I have for training her. But she normally gets several throughout the day. I break them into pieces, so it makes them go further.

RedFlashFire05 wrote:

if she is biting your hand and jumping to get treats, i would make her sit and then give her treat. if she starts the biting your hand then just hold your hand in front of here and wait until she stops and then give her a treat, i would repeat it about 10 times. every day until she stops trying to get the treat from your hand.

I usually make her sit, but I will work on stopping the biting with that. Thanks!

RedFlashFire05 wrote:

it would also be a good time for "leave it" treating. i would start with a small plastic Tupperware/bowl with some treats in it, and just cover it with you hand when they stop trying to get the treats in the Tupperware/bowl that's when they get a treat from your hand not the Tupperware/bowl. move the bowl around and try it in different places.
then you can up the ante and try it in different places and different types of food when she master the bowl/Tupperware exercise.

I have been somewhat utilizing "leave it" on our walks because she will randomly eat stuff, especially earthworms (dead and alive), so I give a gentle tug on her leash to get her moving again. She was REALLY bad with that for awhile, but she has slowly gotten better, and no longer eats earthworms as often as she did.

RedFlashFire05 wrote:

when Leo was a puppy i would give him a food despising toy for him to eat his lunch wail i eat. it kept him busy. here are some that he likes.
http://www.chewy.com/dog/smarter-toys-iq-treat-ball-dog-toy/dp/45920
http://www.chewy.com/dog/starmark-treat-dispensing-chew-ball/dp/45447
the green one is is favorite.

I have a Tug-a-Jug and Wobbler, and she enjoys treats out of those. I have tried with food, and she would play with them for a little bit, and then decide she doesn't really want to work for her food. Though, I may try again.

Annie, you've gotten some good advice so far. I have two adult rescues here so I haven't had to go through puppyhood in a long time. That doesn't mean that I haven't had to teach them that stuff on the counter is mine and just because I'm clumsy and drop something doesn't mean that they can jump on it.

I can now leave meat on the counter to defrost, dinner on the counter between the kitchen and the living room and while I do have company when I'm in the kitchen, if I drop something they wait til I give them permission to get it. And this with a girl who came to me very food aggressive / possessive.

What has worked for me is to tell them "no" if they even lift their noses at something on the counter, it took a while but they eventually got the idea. Ditto with something I might have in hand (read "treat") I don't really mind if they nose it, they know it's theirs eventually. But if it gets too obnoxious, I set the treat down on the nearest handy object that's out of reach and that's it for a while.

(( yep, it's after 7:00 PM, I'm getting serenaded - it's supper time!! ))

As for the jumping up on people, my standard is a house leash, if they look like they're going to go up then step on the leash. It takes a while but they get the idea.

I tried using the Wobbler to feed her kibble today. She didn't seem too happy she was suddenly having to work for her food, but she did use it. Maybe I had started her too young the first several times I tried to implement it. But I'll continue to do this.