Begging is getting on my nerves. Plus staying out of the kitchen advice.

One thing that jumps out at me is that you are consistently rewarding her for paws out, but you’re not adding any duration. When I train Peggy, the rewards come easy at first, to capture the basic behaviour. But then I want to refine it.

So with the kitchen, I’d choose a spot outside—ideally where she could still watch me—and place a mat there. First I’d reward for all four paws on the mat. Then for sitting on the mat. Then for laying on the mat. At that point I’d do a real treat party—treats every 5 seconds for a minute or so. Then I’d slowly start spacing them out more.

This will work for begging, too, and is actually how we trained Peggy to lay in her bed while we eat dinner. Because we were transitioning from a pen, we tethered her to start, but still rewarded her as I described. Now she gets maybe one treat mid-meal, and always a yummy something at the end right before we release her.

We also still use the “tether”—just a very lightweight leash with a small clasp—but don’t actually anchor it to anything. Lol. Just the act of putting it on her says, “Okay, time for a nice long settle. Yummy things await.”

Get a mat and put it just outside the kitchen. A small rug will do. Arm yourself with tiny treats, think Cheerio size, bits of cheese or chicken. Put a treat on the mat. Wait for the dog to eat it, put another on the mat. Try to reward 15 times in a minute, so lots of rewards for staying on the mat. If the dog steps off the mat, treats stop. Don't coax the dog to get on the mat. It's the dog's decision to play along. So, hard as it is, say nothing. Wait for the dog to puzzle out how to get more treats.

After a minute, toss a treat off the mat for your dog to chase. Say nothing. Do nothing. Wait for the dog to step on the mat. Now, change the rules. Instead of just stepping on the mat making treats appear, ask for a down. When the dog is down, for a whole minute, treat continuously between the paws. Treat, swallow, another treat, swallow, another treat... Again, throw a treat off the mat for the dog to chase. Say nothing. Do nothing. See if the dog offers a down on the mat. Another minute of continuous treats for lying down. If no down, no treats. Let the dog figure out how to get the treat machine to work. Ignore anything that is not a down. Whining, pawing, barking, spinning... those are closed doors. Nothing but a down will start the treat machine. But, when the dog lies down, treat machine starts.

Repeat this game a few times a day until you are willing to bet me $100 your dog will lie down on the mat. When you are ready to bet, that's when you name this behavior, "Place." As your dog is falling down on the mat, say, Place. Repeat with a full minute of non-stop treats. Place, down, treats one after another, release the dog with a treat off the mat, repeat.

After a week of playing, back off to 10 treats a minute. Eight treats a minute. Five treats a minute. When you get to five treats a minute, walk to your kitchen sink, return, treat on the mat. Walk to the fridge, treat on the mat. Walk to the sink, fridge, stove, treat on the mat. Once you get to this point, put a longer lasting treat on the mat like a bully stick, make a sandwich for yourself, return to the dog, treat.

If you are consistent, and practice 10 minutes a day, you'll end up with a dog who is trained to calmly lie down on a mat while you are in the kitchen.

To stop bugging you while you are eating, Kong Wobbler. https://www.kongcompany.com/dog/play-type/interactive/wobbler-2/wobbler/ Best thing I ever got with my puppies. Load it up, let the dog bat that toy while you eat dinner. It spills out a tiny amount of kibble per whack. You can put your dog's entire meal in the Kong Wobbler. It can be a bit loud, but it beats whining by a long mile.