My dog is stubborn? Chocolate lab, 2 years old?

[Tyler]

Hes a good dog but whenever were eating dinner he begs and puts his head on our laps. We go to pet him when he does this but whenever we have food he only focuses it on him. If theres food nearby and I go to pet my dogs head he will keep moving his head so no one can pet him. He also whines when he doesnt get a rawhide even though we give him about 3 dog biscuits and the regular amount of food every day. My mom also makes tomato gravy and pours it on his dog food, but he wont eat it unless theres human food in there. He only eats his dog food at the end of the night when he realizes he wont get anymore biscuits. When there isnt food hes a sweet and loyal dog and loves everyone. Hes energetic and playful.

[Akita Lover]

When he starts begging at the table, tell him "No, go lay down!" Do not give him any positive attention when you are eating. That is only rewarding him for his poor behavior. You must never give into your dog's whining for food or any other resource. Adding extras to his food is just fine, but you must feed him on a schedule only. But, at this point, I think you need to just stick with dog food. He is controlling an important resource (food) and this makes him above you in the pack ranking, which a dog should never be!

[Kelly]

sounds like you are teaching him bad behaviors. Your dog is begging because you give him food when you eat so he expects it every time. He doesn't want to be petted (which is rewarding him for his bad behavior) he wants to eat the people food that is not good for him. If you want him to stop you need to change your behavior by not feeding him anything but his own food out of his bowl without people food in the same dish. If you do not want him by you when you are eating you need to take him to a different area or kennel train him. Teach him basic manners or get him into a basic training course so you are better able to teach your dog.

[Kaido Potato]

Sounds like you have been teaching your dog some bad habits. No feeding him human food, especially when he begs. Just don't give him scraps and he will learn to eat his own food. No healthy dog will starve themselves. Just to say, tomato gravy sounds nasty, I suggest not pouring that on his food.

Also, some dogs don't like kibble. You could try feeding PMR.
Personally, I don't think any processed dog food is healthy. All dog foods are loaded with preservatives, additives, and things dogs don't need like apples, rice, (sweet) potatoes, and lots of things like that! Dogs are CARNIVORES and they need meat! They can't get anything from all of that extra gunk that they don't need, that's why they poop so much! Have you ever seen a dog’s teeth? They weren't made to chew, they were made to tear! They are sharp for ripping, tearing, and devouring meat!

Lots of allergies can be caused from corn, wheat, soy, gluten, rice, and many, many others things found in kibble. PMR (prey-model-raw) is 80% muscle meat, 10% organs, and 10% bone. Gave my dogs smaller poop piles, shinier coats, less ear infections, cleaner teeth and gums, and less gas.

Start with raw chicken, it's pretty bland. Just do chicken for the first couple of weeks and then slowly add organs like liver, pancreas, spleen, lungs, or other things like that. Then you can gradually introduce things like RAW pork, beef, lamb, and goat and see how she does.
I get most of my meat free. I posted an ad on craiglist for unwanted meat and people have been calling from all over! It works great! I just recently got 70 lbs of turkey and beef from a man who was cleaning out his freezer.

Here is a Facebook site that will gladly give you advice if you need it!
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/26176…

If you switch to RAW, you will be so glad you did! All those stupid myths about it being bacteria contaminated or makes a dog vicious is WRONG! Don't listen to those people that have so-called "researched" it!

Good luck!

[homeowner]

when he is begging you have to ignore him. if he won't eat his food because he wants something better let him go without. he will eat when he is hungry. he is training you to give him what he wants and if he realizes it won't work he will stop