How to Help Your Dog Be Calm During Mealtime: A Step-by-Step Guide
Mealtime can be chaotic when your dog is overly excited, barking, or begging for food. Similar to managing a toddler at a family dinner, it requires patience and structure. Training your dog to associate mealtime with calmness not only benefits the family but also builds a foundation for calm behaviour in other scenarios, like hosting guests. By adding mealtime enrichment, you help your dog manage excitement and stay engaged.
Step-by-Step Guide to Calm Mealtime Behavior
Step 1: Introduce the Tool Start by introducing a food puzzle or snuffle mat to your dog. These are great for keeping your dog mentally stimulated and distracted during mealtime.
How to do it: Let your dog explore the tool outside of mealtime. Place treats visibly on top to pique their curiosity and, once comfortable, hide some treats inside.
Pro Tip: Use dry kibble or small, fragrant treats for easy access. Avoid sticky fillings initially.
Step 2: Practice Calm Behavior Get your dog used to being calm while engaging with their enrichment tool. This helps them understand that this activity is their time to focus.
How to do it: Set up the tool during a quiet time of day and let your dog explore it on their own. Reward calm behaviour with a “Good job!” when they finish.
Pro Tip: Keep initial practice sessions short (2–3 minutes) and increase duration as your dog learns. You don't want your dog to feel like the snuffle mat has completely, from one day to the next, replaced a behaviour they were probably very used to at that point. Keep things short and sweet for the best results!
Step 3: Transition to Mealtime Once your dog is familiar with their tool, start using it during family meals. This helps create a positive association between dinner time and the enrichment tool.
How to do it: Place the tool in a consistent spot during mealtimes. Use a cue like “Go to your spot” to signal the start of their enrichment time.
Pro Tip: Begin with shorter meals, such as snacks or something you can easily put back down on your plate as needed, before moving on to longer dinners. Don't forget that it's okay and expected for your dog to make mistakes, especially at first.
Step 4: Build Consistency Make using the tool a routine before every mealtime. Dogs thrive on repetition and predictability.
How to do it: Start with one tool for the first week or two to create familiarity. You can then rotate between tools to keep it interesting. As you try different tools like snuffle mats and food puzzles or even treat dispenser toys, you will get to see what your dog enjoys and responds to better. A mild game of fetch could be another alternative to prevent the unwanted behaviour.
Pro Tip: Keep a few different tools on hand to prevent boredom. This is where it comes in handy to keep the majority of your dog's toys away, for you to have access to only as you/your dog needs them.
Step 5: Reinforce Positive Choices Praise and occasionally reward your dog for staying calm during mealtime to make the behavior stick.
How to do it: Praise your dog after each mealtime. You can offer a high-value treat or a bit of playtime as a reward, you can also use their favourite bed or resting area to encourage them to stay in a specific spot.
Pro Tip: Gradually reduce the number of treats as your dog becomes more consistent, relying more on verbal praise. You want to focus on praising reward above all, but at first, reward anything you'd simply like to see more of.
With practice and patience, your puppy or dog will learn to stay calm during mealtimes and beyond, making meals enjoyable for everyone in your household, and something that represent focus and peace to them.