Why does my dog bark while I’m eating?

If your dog barks when you’re eating you might be wondering why and what you can do about it. This post will show you common reasons why they do it and what you can do to get your dog to stop doing it.

So, why does my dog bark while I’m eating? Possible reasons why your dog barks, while you’re eating, are that it wants your food, it is hungry, you or someone else has been rewarding the behavior or that it is doing it for attention.

There are a number of reasons why it might be doing it. But, there are some things you can consider when figuring out the main reasons. There are also a number of things you can do to get it to stop.

Why your dog barks while you’re eating

Below are the most common reasons why they do it and what would make them more likely to be the main reason.

It wants your food

The reason why it barks is likely to be that it wants some of your food. This would be more likely if you have given it food in the past, while eating, and if it starts drooling when watching you eat.

It is hungry

Another possible reason is that it is hungry itself. This would be more likely if it tends to bark more when it has not been fed in a while. In this case, it could help to try feeding it at around the same time that you normally eat so that it can eat while you’re eating and so that it will be less likely to want some of your food.

You or someone else has been rewarding the behavior

Another likely cause is that it has learned that it gets things that it wants when it starts barking while you are eating. If you or someone else tends to give it food when eating, it will likely do it more in order to get more food.

Instead, it would help to avoid rewarding it when it barks and to avoid giving it your own food when eating so that it learns that barking does not result in it getting rewards. However, it might take a few weeks for it to realize that but it is important to be consistent.

It wants attention

The cause could be that it wants attention. This would be more likely if your dog barks when you are talking to other people while eating. In this case it would help to avoid rewarding it with attention when it does it and to give it attention throughout the day by training it, playing with it and exercising it.

Things to consider

Below are some things to consider when figuring out why your dog has been barking when you have been eating.

What else happened when your dog first started barking when you eat

If it did not always bark at you while eating, it would help to consider what else happened when it first started doing it.

If it started doing it suddenly, it might be the case that it learned that it gets rewards when it does it or you might have started feeding it less frequently or later in the day.

What is different when your dog does not bark when you eat

It would also help to consider what else different when it does not bark since the timing could have something to do with it.

If it does not bark when you are eating alone, it might be the case that it does it because it is jealous of you interacting with the other people. Whereas, if it does not do it when it has already been fed, it would be likely that it does it because it wants your food.

How to get your dog to stop barking when you’re eating

Below are some things you can do in order to get it to stop barking at you when you’re eating.

Feed it before eating

One option would be to feed it before you start eating so that it is less likely to be hungry and to want food while it is watching you eat.

Avoid giving it your own food when eating

As mentioned above, it might be the case that it has learned that barking at you results in it getting some of your food. It is important to make sure not to reward it when you’re eating so that it learns that barking does not result in it getting things that it wants.

Make sure that no one else has been rewarding the behavior

It would also help to make sure that no one else in the family has been giving it their food otherwise it will likely do it to everyone else as well.

Train it to stay in a spot

Another thing you could try is to train it to stay in a certain spot and to reward it with a treat when it stays there without barking. Then you could get it to stay there while you are eating and reward it with at treat for not barking once you have finished.

Make it stay in another room when you’re eating

If you cannot get it to stop barking at you while you’re eating, another option would be to get it to stay in another room with a bone, before you start eating so that it is distracted from barking at that time. This should help avoid having it drool while you’re eating as well.

Give it lots of positive reinforcement training

It would also help to give it lots of positive reinforcement training so that it learns to listen to your command. Positive reinforcement training is where you encourage it to behave in a certain way by rewarding it when it shows signs of behaving that way and avoid rewarding it when it does not.