My pets hate me right now :p

I give my dogs what they want so they're not in my face, I found out if you do something three times in a row with a dog you're stuck for life, my cat, thankfully he's outside and I can walk away from him.

See, that doesn't work for me because if you give him something and are still eating he will sit there because I've been giving him more lately. He used to only get one at the end and now he gets stuff throughout lol and oh wow, if that's true I'm in trouble haha I feel like most dogs can be retrained though, especially with begging, it's just a lot harder after you've been doing it a while. Something like severe aggression may be hopeless but even then I've heard people have success. I think it just takes a lot of work. I was able to train him to lay outside the kitchen when we eat and then apply that to other situations such as laying a distance away when I eat elsewhere. However now that I've been feeding him it's reinforced. But I'm fortunate enough he's very smart and almost immediately after I start reinforcing it again, he remembers what he's supposed to do and backs off. Although it is taking a long time this time. I tell him no and he sasses me (he likes to snap the air and make noises and eventually bark) and I've caved. I haven't given him as much as usual but he is VERY obnoxious. if this is to work i need to stop giving him things completely temporarily. HOWEVER. I do believe behavior can definitely change. THAT SAID. I read once about extinguishing behaviors (I try to read articles but I haven't read a lot lately. I love science based ones, you learn so much about training and behavioral modification, in all animals even people) that if you want to extinguish a behavior you have to COMPLETELY stop reinforcing it and that if you even reinforce it occasionally or ONCE every so often, it will continue to be reinforced. I had thought it was only continually reinforcing it but apparently it's even once in a while. It didn't list any figures but for instance, say you refuse to let him on the bed 99 times but you let him up that 100th time or you don't let him jump or beg mostly but once every few months you do, it will be reinforced and the behavior will continue. I found that so interesting. That may be where that for life after 3 times in a row things comes from. I know I find it incredibly hard to stop for good. It's so hard. He's so cute and I feel cruel. Also for us a big issue is night barking but that's partly the breed. But we've been trying to ignore it lately but my mom still sometimes goes and yells or I go down and tell him to stop or pet him or I'll shout down the stairs and all of that is reinforcing it but it's so hard. But I think if you are tough enough and have patience anything can be fixed. However I do think that the best course of action is to just be cold from the start, to not let the habits develop in the first place, but that is soooo hard to do LOL

I think it's a lot harder to untrain a habit than it is to (often inadvertently) train a habit. Unfortunately, I don't think withholding food will necessarily fix your problem! You may need to get more creative or look into some training techniques (ie. Teaching your dog to sit and stay in a different area while you eat). Cats are harder. I'm not quite sure how to train them not to be pesty, other than choosing a time to feed them that won't be a pain in the neck for you. I also agree that wet food is really good for cats.

I think you're right, which is why I wish I'd been good about it from the beginning haha but you're probably right. He actually already knows to stay out of the kitchen when we eat and a respectable distance away when I eat somewhere else but I've been giving him stuff so the bad behavior is probably reinforced. So I'm hoping that by not giving it to him for a week or so, he'll go away. He's already begun going and laying on the couch when I tell him no more, even after I've already given him some and still have food. If I had never taught him the behavior I'd agree I'd need to actively teach it but I'm hoping this will simply jog his memory. And when I did teach him, it was very hard at first, he would get up numerous times and I would get up and block his access to the kitchen or get a piece of food to bribe him back out if he managed to get in. Was it maybe rude during dinner? yes but he was in training and he never would have learned had I not continued to reinforce it. He's a smart dog and eventually got it after only a handful of times. He also now doesn't even need the bribe, I tell him if he's too far in and he scoots back out lol he's actually really good about not begging in the kitchen but elsewhere is a disaster. As for the cat, yeah, it's definitely going to be a challenge. :/ I'm going to try the set time thing too and oh yeah, she likes it better anyway.

I caved lol