Help with whining

[LateToTheParty]

Hello,

I just started fostering a dog (this is my first time fostering.) He's an old fella at 15 yrs old. He is pretty mellow most of the time and a really sweet boy. However, when my husband and I are eating or are in the kitchen he likes to come in and start whimpering and whining begging for food. This happens every time we eat and most of the time when we are in the kitchen, even if we are just doing the dishes or cleaning up. He does this even when he's just been fed so I don't think it's because he is hungry. He is also overweight so I think that his previous owner might have given him people food on the regular. We've only had him for a few days.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to correct this? When we are eating he can get pretty loud. I usually just look at him and say "No" which quiets him for a little bit but then he starts again and it continues until we leave the dining room table. Otherwise we just ignore him and hope that by not giving him our food he'll learn to stop eventually. I have two dogs of my own but they never did this so any suggestions are helpful.

Thank you.

[mala]

I think the best thing is to completely ignore the behavior, not looking at him, not telling him no. Yeah, its annoying, but any acknowledgement of the behavior is reinforcement. It is certainly something he has learned from previous owners and you probably have years of training to overcome. It wont be overnight.

Alternatively, you could teach him to "go to bed" or a corner or something. Durring meals send him to bed.

[charlatti]

Ditto mala -- teach him to go somewhere else during dinner, or maybe crate him? Ignoring it should stop it eventually.

[LateToTheParty]

Thanks for the replies. I knew it wasn't going to be overnight to correct this. We'll just continue ignoring it and I'll try to work with him on going to his pillow when we are eating. Thanks again.