How to train your dog to be patient around his food bowl

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How to train your dog to be patient around his food bowl

Updated Dec 8, 2024

Fast-eating dogs are often aggressive around their food, so it is important to train your dog to be patient around his food dish.

Here’s how:

Place an empty bowl on the floor and step towards your dog so he walks backwards from the bowl.
When he is a few feet away, ask him to sit and stay.
Then step behind the bowl and put some food in it.
Make your dog wait a few seconds, then give him the signal to eat.
When he is done, step towards him again, so you are in between your dog and the bowl.
Wait a few seconds, step back behind the bowl, and drop more food into the bowl.
Tell your dog to wait, then give him the signal to eat.
Repeat until you have finished giving him his entire dinner.

By following these simple steps, your dog will learn good things come to the bowl when he steps back from it and will begin to step back on his own, which means he’s learning patience. This should eventually result in a calmer eater.

For more information on how to help your fast-eating dog slow down when eating his food – check out this post.

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Cathy Rosenthal (aka The Pet Pundit), CHES, CFE

Animal Welfare Communications Strategist, Writer & Educator

Cathy M. Rosenthal is an award-winning humane educator and author, animal welfare strategist, pet columnist, and speaker who has spent more than 38 years working in animal welfare with local and national humane organizations. She helps people better understand and care for animals through her nationally syndicated My Pet World column and has been the longtime pet columnist for the San Antonio Express-News since 2003.

In addition to her writing, Cathy develops humane education, leadership, customer service, and compassion fatigue training programs for animal welfare organizations nationwide, and has helped raise millions of dollars through grant writing, strategic communications, and program development.

Cathy is the editor and curator of Humane Perspectives: Leadership in Animal Welfare and is the author of several books, including Grant Writing Boot Camp for Animal Advocates, The Lucky Tale of Two Dogs, and The Happy Tale of Two Cats, which was the 2026 winner of the Association of Professional Humane Educators’ (APHE) "Educator’s Choice Award" for Best Humane Education Book for Young Children. She also received the 2026 APHE Nathania Gartman Heroes Award for Impact in Humane Education. Her humane education programs in Texas have reached more than 45,000 elementary school children since 2019.

She resides in Texas with her husband, their cat Sterling, and a former community cat, Maddie, who successfully negotiated an indoor living arrangement but still considers human affection highly negotiable.