Has begging for food become an issue with your dog? Perhaps your dog used to be good but things have gotten worse over time. Maybe the problem wasn't even created by you — but rather by someone else in your household. Perhaps food falling off the table is a result of your disability — as can happen with those who have loss of motor function. Judgement and finger-wagging aside, no dog should beg for food. Especially not Service Dogs. The good news is that with training and consistency, you can correct this problem. Read on to learn how to teach your dog to stop begging for food. First of all, the key to changing behavior — and this works for children, adults or dogs — is to recognize why the behavior is happening. Why do dogs beg for food? Because it's successful. That is the only reason. If a dog was never successful at getting food from begging it would not perform that behavior. In other words, you or someone else in your house is the problem. Not your dog. Dogs do not understand "sometimes" You can't give your dog food sometimes and then expect them not to beg at other times. This is something where you and everyone else has to be consistent. And being consistent with begging means