Why does my dog beg so much?!

I've always wondered why my dog begs so much! Every time we sit at the table to eat she nudges your leg for food, every time she smells cheese she jumps at the counters to try and get some and every time she hears a bag of food being opened she is right there beside you! Why is this?

When you are eating and you dog smells the delicious food, they can't help but want to have a bite. Begging is found in many different breeds as a personality trait, but it is very easy to correct. I had no idea that there was even a way to stop them! I love my dog and every time she gives me the puppy face while I'm eating, I always give her a bite. It's hard to resist that cute little face. Here's some tips on how to break your dog from this habit:

1) Don't feed your dog directly from the table ( I am guilty of this!)

The lengths my dog will go to
get food!

2) Only feed your dog table food if they are behaving
3) Put the table scraps in their dog dish
4) If possible, keep your dog away from the dining room
5) Make sure you feed your dog before you eat so they are no longer hungry while you are eating
6) Bribe them to stay away from the dinner table with a treat

Every dog is different so you will have to find out what works with your dog, but it is possible to break the habit of begging!

Until I did this little bit of research, I always gave my dog food right from the table and it became so bad that she always expected it! Now that I know possible steps to help prevent begging, I will definitely be using them. I already feed my dog before we eat, but she seems to never be full!

Now I know that it is our fault that our dog begs so much, and I now know how to help her stop! All of the research I did came from here.

Kahlua's food

I often hear the question: "What kind of food should I feed my dog?". There are so many different kinds of food that it is very hard to decide what to feed you furry family member! There's soft food, hard food, vegetables, meat and many, many different brands of food. I mean how do you pick?!


When we got Kahlua this is exactly what was going through our heads! We asked the breeder what she normally feeds the dogs and her answer was Purina One SMARTBlend Lamb & Rice Formula. This food had all of the necessary vitamins and protein that Kahlua needed while she was a puppy, and it was smaller pieces to avoid choking. This food also had the nutrients that are found in the mothers milk, so they still get everything that they need to grow nice, healthy and strong.

Soon, Kahlua grew out of that food, because she was too old for it, she needed some better food with the proper nutrients and vitamins that she needed at that age. We decided that Purina Beneful Original With Beef was the right food for her. She loved the taste and loved to chow down on the fun food (different shapes). We also tried the Purina Beneful Original With Chicken, but she liked the taste of the beef better. We stuck with Purina because that is what her breeder fed her dogs and we thought that it was a good choice.

Kahlua started to get bored of the Beneful Original With Beef and we also noticed that she was gaining weight from this food because it had more fat in it than Purina One. She stopped eating because it was always the same kibble and bits. She wanted to spice up her food a little bit, who can blame her? So we were on the lookout for another food that she might like more than her Beneful. We tried the Purina One SMARTBlend Lamb & Rice Formula again and she absolutely loves it and is still eating it to this day! It is the perfect blend of real meat pieces and kibble. She eats her dinner in seconds every night! Why she started to dislike this food the first time is beyond me because she is right back on it!

On special occasions like her Birthday, Thanksgiving or Christmas, we give Kahlua a little bit of a different meal. We give her Purina Beneful Prepared Meals. She absolutely loves them and devours them whenever we give them to her. Another thing that we do for her once in a while to change things up is to put a little bit of gravy on her food and she also loves this.

The food you buy your dog really depends on what they like. If they don't like their food you just have to keep on trying something new to please them! Would you be satisfied eating the same disgusting meal every day? so why would you treat your furry family member that way? Also, you have to watch the ingredients in the food. Really good food will have vegetables and real meat with lots of protein, other foods will have lots of gluten and such. You should listen to the breeder you got your dog from or you veterinarian when it comes to what food is good for your dog.


All of the research I did for this blog came from here.

Kahlua and Lady's first play date!

Recently Kahlua had her first play date with Lady Riddell. It was a rough start. We thought that they would click instantly because their personalities are so alike (hyper), but that wasn't the case at all.

It all started when Lady arrived at our house. She was all happy and excited to see me! We kept Kahlua inside so that Lady could get used to the backyard. We also had the neighbors dog, Mugsy, over. After Lady had a couple of minutes to sniff around we let Kahlua and Mugsy out to say hi. Lady was really nervous and her hackles were sticking up (Hackles: hair on the back of the neck, like when cats get their arch). All Kahlua wanted to do was play with lady, but her barking just made Lady more nervous. They all took about ten minutes to sniff each others butts. It was really funny because they had a dog butt sniffing train going on! (I wish i would have gotten a picture!!!).

After a research on the internet, I have found out why dogs insist's on sniffing other dogs butts. It is their way of shaking hands as us humans do! By smelling another dogs butt, they can detect lots of useful information such as: "...the sex of the other dog, whether the dog is in heat, what the dog ate lately and whether the encounter is likely to be a friendly one." A dog smelling another dogs butt can also be considered a form of stress reliever for the dog, it has a calming affect. It is very weird that dogs must sniff butts to find all of this information out.. could you imagine if we had to do that too?! I'm glad that we have the handshake instead!!  

Anyways, eventually Lady settled down. All of a sudden, out of no where, Kahlua started racing around the backyard. Lady chased after her and got her cornered a few times and they really were starting to have fun! (Mugsy is an older dog so he just stood by and watched from a distance). Afterwards they each got a treat for being good, and a nice cold drink of water. It was time for Lady to go back home. I would say that it was a very successful play date and that Kahlua and Lady are on the road to a very long friendship!



All of the research that I did for this post came from here.

Happy Birthday Princess!

My dog was born November 13th 2007. Recently she had her 6th Birthday. Unfortunately I was gone most of this day this year, but when I got home in the evening I spent all night with her. We played tug-of-war, one of her favorite games, as well as soccer. She was so happy and it made me extremely happy to be able to celebrate on this special day with her. To finish up the night, I gave her her Birthday gift. I got her some Chew-lotta Milk-Bone's. She indulged in her favorite bone until it was time for bed. She had a wonderful Birthday.

The way that dogs are born is a little different then the way that humans are born. Sheltie litters can vary from four to six puppies and the puppies are in the uterus of the dog from fifty six to sixty six days (about two months). The litter that Kahlua was born into consisted of four puppies. Unlike humans, dogs are equipped to handle birth more independently. The mothers know exactly how to give birth and owners are suggested to be bystanders and let them do their thing. I think that it`s pretty amazing how the dogs just know what to do and have that instinct. The mother of the litter is also the one who cuts the umbilical cord with their teeth and helps the puppies take their first breath by licking off the sac from their face so they can breathe.

We got Kahlua from a breeder in Wallaceburg, Ontario. We went and visited her and picked her out after awhile of searching for the perfect contenders for our new family member. We were not aloud to take her home just yet though. It was too soon to take her away from her mother. It is safe for them to be separated from their mothers at around seven to eight weeks old, and it is recommended that they be with their new owners by twelve weeks old to get used to their new family.

I`m so glad that we chose Kahlua that day! She has made my life so much better ( so corny but 100% true!).

All of the information I researched for my blog came from:
here
here