How to Stop a Puppy From Jumping Up and Stealing Food From Kids

Charlie is a nine-month-old Cocker Spaniel puppy in Omaha. His new family asked for a puppy training session with me to address a few issues: getting over excited, only listening when they have treats, chewing, mouthing, humping and stealing food.

Charlie did really good at the door, likely due to the scent from other dogs on my pant legs.

Sitting down with the family, I noticed they were rewarding charlie for jumping up by petting him some of the time when he did so. Anything your dog is doing when you pet them is why they think they are getting the attention so I suggested they start petting him with a purpose.

When one of the kids got a snack, Charlie jumped up to get the food. Jumping up on people and snatching food were a few of the major issues the guardians wanted to work on. I showed them a few different techniques and exercises to help Charlie learn its not ok to grab food or steal food and instead to move away instead. Teaching a dog to keep a respectable distance from people eating is a great lesson that will pay off for the rest of his life.

By the end of the session, Charlie had stopped jumping up, was ignoring treats left on the floor and listening to the commands and corrections from his family members. Getting to help puppies learn to behave how their family members want is one of the big bonuses I get working as a dog behaviorist, excuse me puppy behavior expert, lol.

I sum up the session and many of the puppy training tips i shared with them in this Roadmap to Success video.