Need Easy Solution to Keep Family Dog Away While I'm Busy

You have to train the dog, that's all there is too it!
If you have time to think & concoct & search for these "magic gates" than you have time to train the darn dog!!

Bunches and bunches of flowers to you Suz T, and InMy30'sAlready......

So, is the question .....Who's the more intelligent animal?

Sorry, that just slipped out.

posts like this irk me.
my husband wanted this dog. he doesn't want to deal with it.
i'm 'too busy' to train my dog. i'm fine with spending hours and hours dealing with my untrained dog by yelling at it and being inconvenienced by it, but it's just too much bother to be a responsible dog owner and train it correctly.
i won't crate my dog, but will crate my food.
and now i want a magic button to fix all of my problems without ever actually dealing with my dog.
i guess you continue to cage your food. you've pretty much ruled out all the sensible answers.
khairete
S.

I have always had big dogs. I just train them to stay outside the kitchen while I am cooking and outside the dining room while we are eating. If the dog forgets I point out the door and say GO. LIE DOWN. STAY. And my dog does it. Sometimes even now I will reinforce her good behavior by throwing her a treat and saying Good girl! Good lie down! If she tries to sneak in I point and say NO. GO. And she is pretty darn good about it. I will sometimes even lie her dog bed there bc she likes to watch me. You definitely need to train your dog. You just tell the dog what to do with a simple command. You physically bring the dog where she needs to be if needed. My dogs do well with hand signals too. So I point for Go. I use put my hand out like a stop sign when saying Stay. You then praise and give a small treat. Do this over and over and over. When the dog comes back into the kitchen use a stern low voice to say NO. Then repeat the command, make the dog do what you want and then praise and give small treat. Make it your goal one week to do this constantly. Dogs are smart. Mine all have been wonderful about training and listening. You must reinforce the good behavior regularly though.

Our friends have always had big dogs.
Their rule is they are not allowed in the kitchen area while food prep/cooking is going on and they are not allowed in the dining area when people are eating.
They trained them this way and it works well for them.

You/your husband NEED to train the dog.
Otherwise why bother HAVING the dog?
Your house, your rules - YOU have to be the dominant member of the pack.

He needs to be taken to training classes.

Our dog used to try to get into EVERYTHING. Taking her to training and teaching her deference (which is the most important part of training) and obedience (which is the result of deference) made her into a wonderful, brand new dog that we love to have around.

She rarely gets into anything that isn't hers anymore, but all I have to say (not yell) is, "leave it." and she'll go on her merry way.

I know you say that doggie training is too much work. Have your husband take HIS dog to training. The dog needs to be trained. It's silly to spend money on cages and perimeters and such when the problem is easily solved by 8 Mondays of a one hour class and a little practice at home. If you have time to do all the ideas you've concocted, you have more than enough time for training. I hope you reconsider. Truly, you will all be so much happier with a well behaved dog.

Well, we have a larger dog, too. Not Great Dane large, but GSD. She is big enough to do everything you have described. She doesn't. Because we trained her as a puppy. She's 11 years old now, and I feel sad when she sprawls in the kitchen (in front of the oven, right where I'm trying to walk back and forth) and I have to tell her to move. I'll just step over for a while, and if she doesn't decide of her own volition that it's not a great idea to stay there (usually she does) then I'll tell her to move.

She also doesn't beg food from the table, and usually won't even appear at meal times. If she does, I tell her to go lay down. She does. On her bed across the room.

Now, in her old age, the kids have begun spoiling her a bit and sharing a pinch of cheese or turkey with her when they are making something in the kitchen, so when she hears them in the refrigerator, she'll go in there and sit nicely within their line of sight. It usually pays off. But she doesn't go for anyone's hands and only investigates the island counter top (sniffing alongside) after everyone has left the area. :)

Seriously. You should take the time to train the dog. You'll all be much happier in the end. Should've been done long ago. I'm guessing you didn't crate train him, either. Otherwise this wouldn't be a question, b/c you could just invite him to his crate and shut the door while you're cooking. :/

Train the damn dog. He needs it, and furthermore, he wants it. Dogs are happiest when they know their place in the pack. They derive joy from doing what they know makes the head of the pack happy. You are not letting him know, in a language that he can understand, what his place is, or what you expect of him.
You are sending him mixed messages, and so he is responding with confusion.
Find a good obedience class, and both of you go with the dog. A good trainer will teach you how to teach the dog, using the dog's natural instincts to elicit the behaviors you want from him.
Locking him away from his pack (your family) by closing him up in the garage, another room, or outdoors while you ignore his attempts to communicate with you isn't going to help. It will only make him neurotic. Dogs are social animals. He needs to learn how to behave in order to remain in the good graces of the pack leader.
Because he is trained to only eat from his bowl or from a person's extended hand, I can leave a plate of food on the coffee table, and my dog will not go for it.

In the time it took you to write this post you could have schedule your husband's first dog training session.

Heck, the dog could probably be perfectly trained in all the time you've spent strategizing, searching for Magic gates, concocting your own, worrying about how stupid it looks and "caging" your food.

Just can't quite figure this one out? No one around to "entertain" the dog? As my kids would say...first world problem.

Ditto Suz T.

Tell your hubby to train HIS dog or find a new home for it.

good answers here...I will just add that you and your husband both need to read up on dog behavior and exactly what is required of owning a dog. They're not people, they don't understand you when you talk. You have to meet them on THEIR level. A dog TAKES time and money. If you aren't willing to spend both - don't have one. Period.

while you are cooking? set boundaries - we did this for our dogs - we use the "carpets" or mats that you get to decorate your kitchen.

We trained him NOT to go past the carpet.

If you don't want to do that? Baby gates. Or better yet - tell your husband to walk the dog while you are cooking dinner! :) If the kids are old enough and can handle the dog? Have them walk the dog while you are cooking dinner.

Peanut butter in a Kong will keep him busy too - especially if you freeze it and then put fresh peanut butter in it? That will help.

The best thing you can do though? TRAIN THE DOG....find a trainer to help you.

Can't you just turn the dog outside? I don't allow the dog in the house while I am cooking or while we are eating. Dog hair. Simple as that.

If you block the doorways, maybe with half doors, and he barks, ignore him. When he lets you work in peace, reward him. You will have to do some amount of training if even the barking is a bother. Your whole family should be involved.

Dog in garage and door shut. Put music on and ignore the dog's barking.

Bedroom. Put dog in there and shut the door. Turn on TV to drown out the dog's barking.

Put dog in a bathroom so if hey have an accident they are not on carpet or flooring that can be damaged. Put noise on to drown out dog's barking.

Put the dog in the back yard and shut the door.

Easy Peasy. Dog NOT in kitchen.

Dogs in the kitchen is gross. At any time. Period. Teach/train your dog to stay out of the kitchen all the time.and then when you are cooking they won't come in.

It's an easy solution to me. The dog might be the most awesome dog in the world but if I was coming to your house to eat and I saw the dog in the kitchen while you were cooking I'd likely make my excuses and go home. To me it's nasty to have animals in the food preparation area.

How about getting him a Kong to put treats or better yet...peanut butter.
Keeps them busy for a bit.
For your big dog, get the industrial black large Kong from the pet store.

Another thing to try is giving him a large plastic jug that held juice in. The tough
ones. Rinse it first. Make sure your dog will only bat it around the room & not chew then swallow it.

I've had to throw a ball out the kitchen doorway into the living room to get dinner done in peace.

So you can't put him/her outside while you cook because he/she will bark?

How about having a stash of dog toys (get the tough or industrial ones for big dogs w/stong jaws) & just bring it out while you are cooking dinner.

What bout cooking dinner ahead of time in the morning when he/she is more tired/mellow/half alseep? Then just warm it up at dinner time?

Or how about using a slow cooker? This works best for me.

(Can you tell I have high energy dogs and kids?) ;)

Could you put a piece of plywood across the kitchen doorway so he/she can see you cooking but not be in the kitchen? Put them away after cooking so your house doesn't look silly. ;)

Also, as far as putting things back far enough from the dog's reach....I've had to find the highest spot in my kitchen (far back on counter in corner on top of a wire stand, top of fridge?). Hope that helps. Good luck & hang in there....you'll
find your solution.

Edit: one last idea: how about putting leash on dog & putting the hoop you hold around bottle of kitchen table so he/she can be in the room w/you but not jump up or roam around?

I have a little dog that does the same but he doesn't bother me since he's away from the food. Maybe put his leash on and anchor him to the coffee table or something else until you're done? Not sure but hope you figure it out. Good luck.

Dogs are pretty easy to train with treats. Just doggie on a leash and say a command like, "out of kitchen" and as soon as you bring the dog out of the kitchen area, you give him a treat. Over and over and over, until he can do it on his own. When he's off leash, do the same thing each time he listens to your command. Basic dog training hand commands will help too. Sit, stay, come, etc. Then you can talk to your dog easily and keep them safe and in control. It's really not hard and they love learning.

Dogs have a powerful sense of smell, but they also have a powerful sense of the pack. That means they respond best when they know their place. They, like all canine-type animals (wolves, coyotes, etc.) learn their place and their role when the leader of the pack takes the time to teach them and give them consequences. No one in your family has decided to take that role by training. You're doing everything else that actually takes more time and expense.

Dogs can be crated. They can be separated from certain rooms all the time or part of the time. They can be squirted with a bottle of water every time they commit the offense. They can be rewarded with a training treat when they respond to a command to "sit" or "stay". They cannot be taught by being yelled at, or by being shoved, or by having a new piece of equipment brought in to cage the food.

Your husband and you need to TRAIN the dog - not just provide a family member to entertain and distract it. You can also get expandable, modular pet gates that either block the area where you are working or confine the dog to a larger area elsewhere - more room than a crate but still isolated from the kitchen. I know plenty of people who use these to confine several large dogs or limit them to one area. They are easy to move so you can pass through them, but don't attach to walls if you don't want to do that. They collapse easily for compact storage. Here's just one link. Family members of mine have 2 units with about 6-8 panels each, because they have a huge common area (kitchen and great room) that the dogs are allowed in without giving them free range around the entire house all the time. Here's one link http://www.amazon.com/Primetime-Petz-Degree-Fold-Configur...

Will the dog bark? Yes, to start with. So you set it up when you aren't trying to do the cooking. You train the dog. You can also crate the dog even though you say it "would not go to a cage" - it would if you or your husband trained it.

You can also get a treat toy (a "Kong" filled with peanut butter, a rolling treat ball filled with small training treats, etc.) to occupy the dog so it's not totally bored. But feeding is not a substitute for training.

I think you may not be well suited to a dog at all if you think its cold wet nose is gross. It's part of the dog.

Make a plan with your husband, hire a trainer, have the trainer train the dog AND YOU BOTH (very important), and be consistent. The dog will learn if you take the time to teach it.