A pampered pooch has his own chair at the dinner table and gets fed Sunday roasts and fry-ups with a fork. Dennis the four-year-old bulldog has been eating "like a human" since he was a puppy, and pulls out his own chair before patiently waiting for his owners to finish their meal so he can tuck into his own tea.
Owners Sam Grant, 52, and Craig Grant, 54, enjoy having Dennis at mealtimes with them and say "it's like having a baby" again. The spoilt and well-behaved pup is very gentle using the family's silverware, and even lets mum-of-two Sam wipe away any slobber between bites.
Dennis joins the family for toast with butter every morning and again for dinner where he tucks into salmon, scrambled egg and sausages.
Sam, from Bowerhill, Wiltshire, said: "He's always sat at the table, he just started when he was a puppy and we didn't mind. He's got his own seat which he pulls out before he sits down.
"He eats with us if we're all sat together so once or twice a day. He doesn't get fed until we've finished. He sits down and waits and look at the food but he wouldn't ever take it.
"We finish our meal and we feed him with a fork at the end. It's like having a baby.
"He's really patient, he'll have a lick of his lips and a lot of the time he rests his head on the table just looking all sleepy while he waits.
"He has his own plate in front of him. If we fed him in between he'd start to dribble, he's a bulldog so he's a bit slobbery.
"He waits until the end and we have to put kitchen roll down.
"Every single morning, he has toast and butter. He loves fish, a bit of salmon, he likes anything we like, if we have a roast dinner, he'll have one.
"If we're having a breakfast, he has some scrambled egg and a sausage. He has what we have.
"He's like a human. I love it, it's bonding and I like wiping his chops.
"He takes the food really well and really gently off of the fork. I wouldn't take him to the Ritz obviously.
"He doesn't have his own cutlery and plate but I have slightly older forks I use for Dennis. We just put them in the dishwasher on a very hot wash.
"He's quite pampered but he's well behaved. If he snatched food we wouldn't let him do it."
The mum-of-two says she feeds Dennis like a baby because he became a son to the couple when their children Leah, 30, and Jordan, 28, moved out.
Sam said: "All the kids have gone so he's our son now, my replacement.
"Some people are grossed out by it. We don't really have many guests but my son used to be a bit grossed out by the slobber but people are used to it now and just expect him to be there."
Sam chooses to sleep in the spare room every night so her pampered pet can curl up next to factory worker Craig, and he's taken to doggy day care once a week so he can spend time with furry friends.
Sam said: "Craig loves him, he's definitely my husband's dog. He's always slept with Craig every night.
"We sleep separately so the dog can sleep with him. It's lovely.
"He's like a bulldozer, he loves people but he knocks everybody flying. He's well behaved in the house.
"When we're out he wants to jump on people so I have to be careful because he's five stone.
"He goes to doggy day care every Wednesday so see his friends. They've got a garden with a playground, an area with sofas set up like a living room.
"They have parties, he's been to a Jubilee and Halloween party. He loves it. He doesn't need to go because he goes out every day but because he's on his own, we want him to get on with other dogs. He can't wait to go."
Do you have a pampered pooch at home? Email nia.dalton@reachplc.com.
