Question:
My dog is a 16 month old Shih Tzu. Everytime I eat food she barks at me, and the only way she will stop is if I give in to her. So I end up giving her table food. Can anyone give me advice on how to stop her from barking when I eat?

Answer:
Unfortunately, your dog is barking because you have inadvertently rewarded her begging behavior and thus have TRAINED HER TO BARK FOR FOOD! I know you didn't mean to do this, but here's how it typically starts- one day she really wanted some of your chicken cacciatore. While you were watching an episode of the new riveting season of American Idol, you ignored her stares and blew her off as she cutely sat there, waiting. She tried jumping up on your leg to get it, whimpering. Then she barked once, because she didn't know what else to do to get your attention. You hit a commercial break at that moment and noticed her there, so you shared a bit of chicken chunk with her. BAM. It was all over for you at that second. From then on if she ever wanted your food again, she knew what method worked. The bark.

It's the equivalent of the kid at the grocery store with his mom. He wants Cheesy Poofs and he'll do anything to get them. He tries asking politely. No dice. He tries tapping his mom on the shoulder a few times. Nope. He finally grabs her by the bottom of her shirt and yanks her with all the strength he summons from the absolute NEED to have Cheesy Poofs. This works. His mother throws the coveted item into the cart, and unbeknownst to her, has just taught her dear son to yank shirts really hard if he ever wants something that desperately again.

So how do you fix this?...

The law of animal and human behavior is this; any behavior that is followed by a desirable outcome will increase. Any behavior followed by an undesired outcome will decrease. In other words- don't ever give this dog anything in the world if she barks. If you hate the fact that she barks, don't ever reward it with a favorable outcome (food, attention).

I will tell you something else to expect which is so very important in this whole training-your-dog experience; be ready for "The Extinction Burst". The extiction burst happens when one particular tried and true method of getting something all of a sudden fails. It always worked before, now out of nowhere, it's being ignored. Your dog thinks maybe you didn't hear her the last 5 times she barked at you, so she barks LOUDER and LONGER this time. And LOUDER and LONGER after that, she repeats this pattern UNTIL she realizes that it no longer works. And then she stops. The extinction burst is over. The bad habit is on it's way to being extinguished!

So be ready to ignore her. Prepare yourself for the big burst before the behavior goes away, because if you give in under that louder and longer barking, you will have just raised the bar for your dog. You will have convinced her that you no longer hear the low, semi-annoying barking and that she has to go high-decibel to have any effect on you.

Also, look for the next behavior she chooses to use to get your attention. Dogs always try another way to get what they want. She may look at you coyly and maybe even lie down calmly. THESE are the behaviors you'll want to reward. If you don't want to give her human food, have a bunch of baby dog biscuits around just in case she's being nice and calm and patient. Give one to her only if she's being modest and un-presumptuous.

Be patient and determined. May the force be with you.