The term, ‘puppy-dog eyes,’ wasn’t coined for no reason. Many pet owners have had to shoo away and scold their pets (pets – not just dogs, because cats beg too!) at the human dinner table. Unfortunately, your adorable furry friend just wants to get their paws on your delicious dinner, and this bad behaviour can stick around forever if you don’t nip it in the bud.

Let’s look at how you can teach your pet some good table manners:

1. Keep your pet in the same spot during dinnertime.
   If you’re training your dog to respect your mealtimes, now is the time to make use of the ‘stay’ and ‘sit’ commands. When it’s time to sit down and eat, lead your dog to a corner where he can still see everyone (dogs need to feel a part of the family) and command him to sit and stay. Even if he repeatedly gets up and approaches the table, consistently lead him back to the spot and give the commands so that he starts to learn his place during your mealtimes.
   Cats are quite different, as they will very rarely listen to any commands and can be extremely persistent. Although you can try to put your cat in a corner or away from the table, she will likely continue to approach. With cats, it is sometimes best to shut them out the room, if possible, and if you are not having any success in shooing her away.


2. Reward them.
   Whenever you walk away from the spot you’ve led your dog to, and he stays there, reward him with a small dog treat. He needs to learn that disobeying the command to stay in his spot means no tasty treat this time!


3. Establish a routine.
   Both cats and dogs are creatures of habit – which is why they know exactly when their mealtimes are. It could make the world of difference (particularly when it comes to very-hard-to-table-train cats) to give your pet its dinner at the same time that you sit down to dinner. This means that everyone in the house will be enjoying their food at the same time and no one will be begging anyone else for anything!


4. Never give in.
   Pets are just like children in a way – they need consistency and if you falter in your rules just once, they will believe they can get away with it time and time again. Irrespective of how tempted you are to give into your pet’s adorable attempts at begging for a morsel of your meal, do not give in. If you do have leftovers that are pet-friendly, put them aside and feed them to your pet when it is their set mealtime. By giving them scraps outside of their meal time, they will associate your mealtime with an opportunity to get scrumptious scraps. Ensure that everyone in your family sticks to this rule, including kids and visitors.

It is also important to remember that human food is not good for pets and feeding your pet scraps from the dinner table can lead to health disorders and obesity. Ensure that you stick to the abovementioned table manner-training tips so that you can enjoy your meals in peace from here on out!

Make sure you can take your pet to the vet for routine care and treatment for illness or accidents. Sign up for pet insurance with Oneplan™ Pet today.