It can be hard to resist a soft whimper or a sad look when you’re enjoying a meal and your dog begins to beg. “What’s one little piece going to hurt?”

But since you’re here reading this, you obviously know that this can quickly snowball from giving your pup a quick treat to a serious, and annoying, behavioral issue. Continue reading to learn how to stop your dog from begging!

Why Do Dogs Beg?

Sometimes the most obvious explanations are the correct ones. Dogs beg for food because it’s instinctual and they want food.

Since they’ve first been by our side, dogs have depended on humans for food and obviously that hasn’t changed now. And, of course, it tastes good too so that’s a nice bit of extra motivation.

To top things off, they beg because it works. Your dog has figured out that a slight whimper and a soft, sad look makes you melt and makes the treats or table scraps come quickly.

Once they’ve made that connection that begging equals food, it’s a tough habit to break. But it can be done! If you’d like, there’s a free video you can watch on stopping your dog’s begging, or you can keep reading if you’d like to learn a little more first.

Stop Dog Begging Tips

Whichever one of these tips to stop your dog from begging you wind up going with, the most important thing is to be consistent. If you refuse to give in a couple of nights, but then become a softie and feed them scraps the next, you will make zero progress.

Long term, this will be negative for both you and your dog, so be tough and don’t give in!

Ignore: Stay strong! You’ve sat down to eat dinner, and your dog has assumed their usual spot right beside you on the floor. They’ve got their cuteness on max, but no matter how tempting they are you have to stand your ground.

Don’t look at them, don’t speak to them… don’t do anything. Any bit of attention will only encourage your dog to step up their begging efforts. Worst yet, you may see those puppydog eyes and decide you can’t resist. Let them whine and whimper — they’re fine.

Your dog has plenty of their own food, so don’t let them guilt you into thinking those table scraps are necessary for their survival and/or happiness.

Separate: Another effective method is to prevent your dog from begging in the first place by removing them from where you’re eating. Bring your dog to another room to lay down or play. If they’re comfortable in a crate, put them there for a nice nap while you have your meal.

Whatever you choose, make sure to give them pets and praise so they’ll associate it with being a positive experience. You can also try closing their path to you by putting up a baby gate to prevent them from rushing back as soon as they smell food.

Redirect Their Attention: If your dog has separation anxiety and you’re not comfortable leaving them out of sight while you eat, there are still a few options. Give your dog a few of their favorite toys to keep them occupied, or better yet, something with a food reward like a Kong.


Just be sure to remember step #1 (ignore), because it will likely take some time before your dog will stay completely occupied and not return to the table to beg.

How to Stop Dog Begging

If you want to stop your dog from begging all the time, you have to leave no doubt in their mind that you’re in charge — that you’re the pack leader. You run the show! To teach them this, I’ve found it’s best to learn by watching rather than just reading.

I tried many times to write out how to be your dog’s pack leader before deciding it was better to just link the video series that explains it. Doggy Dan is one of the world’s leading dog obedience trainers and has an excellent video series where he teaches you how to put an end to your dog’s begging and all other misbehavior using his very easy to follow methods.

In the first video, Dan will reveal to you why the two most common methods of dog training only doom you to failure. You can watch the video now by clicking here. Follow the methods he teaches in his videos and you’ll never have to spend another second dealing with your dog bothering you non-stop with their begging again!

Remember that until you fix this issue your dog’s begging and other behavior issues are going to continue forever. They will not simply wake up one morning a changed dog, so you need to take action now so that you and your dog can have a loving, stress-free relationship.

Best of luck, and be sure to pin this article in case you want to take a look again later for any reason.