A dog that begs obviously wants something. What the dog wants is not as important as how he asks for it. There are a variety of sources that teach an owner how to train the family dog. The steps involved are usually systematic and repetitive and you have to read pages and pages of content that you really do not need. Our goal here is simply to stop a behavior, that’s it. Your dog begs because it works, begging produces the desired results, whether it be a walk, food, play, or any variety of things that a dog may conjure in that little doggy brain. Now while this behavior works we cannot stop it, in fact it may be impossible to stop any cause and effect behavior, but it is possible to replace that behavior. Here are a few simple steps that will replace begging with two of the easiest “tricks” to teach a dog, down and sit. Down is simply a dog in a submissive lying position, while sitting is exactly what it implies. To teach these two behaviors will take repetition.

There are only three steps to teach these behaviors and they are extremely simple.

Step 1. Say the command Sit. (Tone is very important here, you must use the same tone every time you give this command. Dogs hear tone and stress in your voice and that is what they respond to.)

Step 2. After you have given the command you must now physically coach the dog into the proper position.

Step 3. After your dog begins to understand what you are asking him to do it will become easier and you may begin some sort of reward, you may begin the reward earlier if you wish, but it once he realizes there is a snack involved he will become much more accepting of his new “tricks”. Now you simply repeat at least every other day for about thirty minutes.

Now how does this help you curtail the begging behavior of your dog? When the behavior occurs you simply give the command of your choice. Over the period of just a few weeks the begging will stop and be replaced with either sitting or lying down. A dog will perform a behavior that gets results and if you only react when the dog sits they will learn that behavior. Simple.