Quick question: I arrived at a sit, gave the dogs food, but they are waiting for a command, it seems.
The Welcome Guide is very long, but I cannot find this piece of information.
What could it be?
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Bon apetit?
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They are English dogs.
There was a thread about this, but I cannot find it.
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We just say to ours âokayâ or âgo on thenâ and thatâs usually enough @pietkuip. Also you might have to ask them to sit, then place the bowls down and then say they can start eating. Itâs the sound of the next instruction theyâre waiting for. #goodluck
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We still say Bon apetit in England.
Maybe âgrubs upâ. Is the HO not contactable?
She is driving, I guess.
I feel that the HO could have taken more time for the handover. This went a bit too fast. I had expected at least tea with scones. Or dinner. Or a walk.
Anyway, dogs did start eating. First one, then also the other.
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Iâve found that sometimes HOs use a command word without realising it - itâs just habit. Unfortunately, as you know, dogs can be creatures of habit.
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Now I found it in the Welcome Guide:
âI put the bowl on the floor and tell him to wait then after a minute or so tell him to take.â
So it is: âTake!â
And they need it to be pronounced with a bit of a diphtongue! Then it worked 
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âFor what we are about to receive make us truly thankfulâ
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@ElsieDownie I also had associations with the âaccipiteâ, âTake and eatâ !
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Funny, Iâm working on this exact command with my 3 month old puppy right now. I say: Go!
This is so funny, I just had a flashback.
I was minding my sister-in-lawâs dog - well trained. Itâs a German household. They forgot to tell me there was a command to start eating. So I put the food down. Dog looks at me anticipatory. And I say: âOkay!!â with some vigour.
Now the dog was quite young, maybe 10 months old. And, just for a second, you could see this confusion cross his eyes. But he decided he was hungry enough to risk it and my command was cheerful enough though he couldnât understand it, so he went for it.
But just that split second of âhuh?â was enough to make me realise I messed it up!
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Thatâs my girl. Itâs wait, sit, eye contact. Sheâs a pro at it. When I petsit other dogs with her, I never have to worry whether they are trained that way or not. I feed them first and her second, several feet away. She automatically goes to that spot, sits and waits until Iâm done, then follows her routine.
She has her limits. If the other dogâs a grazer, all bets are off after they leave their bowl.
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In this aspect, these dogs are well-trained.
But not in many other aspects of behaviour. Also not when it comes to eating (their own poo, grass). For that, one of the dogs is supposed to be walked with a strap over his nose. I forgot that instruction this morning (there were so many instructions yesterdayâŚ) so I had to keep walking at a brisk pace. I could certainly not sit down on a bench because then the dog would start grazing.
So I wonder a bit about this kind of training. What is the purpose? Feels a bit like training children to pray for their food.
Probably just to show to the dog who is in charge, which is a good thing.
But it did not generalize to other aspects of behaviour. The HO is clearly not in control of these two. They are controlling her, and she is adjusting her own behaviour.
For example walking them separately because they are not good on the leash (and pretty strong).
Iâve no idea on the other stuff. Our dogs were trained not to eat unless told, but were well trained in other aspects too. Training isnât easy and not a 2 minute job, takes time and effort and the owner must want to do it.
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I knew a dog who wasnât fed until his owner had finished eating, for precisely this reason. He also had to follow her through doors, not lead. It took time to train, but he had very good manners.
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I remember my mother in law walking our two Beagles offlead, she came across two mounted police so she called the dogs to heel. The police remarked to her it was nice to see such well trained dogs. Those are the things to remember proudly.
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In theory the âwaitâ command is taught so that they follow it in various circumstances, for example waiting for the pedestrian green light or at the zebras when crossing the road. They should stop and wait until released with the magic word.
A certain amount of grass eating is normal, Iâm assuming you mean they go over and beyond, maybe ripping the lawn?