Would You Put Your Dog Away For Guests?
- Thread starter Rosefern
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Radar is always out, because everyone thinks he is the cutest thing that ever lived. I try and leave Argon out as much as possible, to allow him to mingle and pick up some socialization. However, if someome is truely nervous, I put him up, because he is so nervous himself, I don't want him upset by them.
During the Christmas meal (tonight) I'll put him up, because the toddlers do not stay at the table and I do not want them alone together.
During the Christmas meal (tonight) I'll put him up, because the toddlers do not stay at the table and I do not want them alone together.
Murphy is put away when we sit down to dinner. He is a counter surfer and will steal any unattended food. Yesterday was only the second gathering we've had since we got him and I tried to leave him out b/c he was behaving, I figured I would just loop his leash around the leg of my chair. He ended up with big bite of mashed potatoes off of my plate. Lesson learned for me.
Maya absolutely will not stand being crated if people are in the house. She will bark and frantically scratch at the door of her crate, or a baby gate, or the door and wall if just left in a room. She is a polite beggar (just sits and stares at you )and will eat anything that falls on the floor, but she will not just up and grab someone's dinner. The stress it would put her through to be crated is not worth it.
I would not crate my dogs just because a guest asked. Both are well behaved other than Murphy's counter surfing issues, which I already crate him for when necessary. Everyone is aware I have 2 dogs, and if they don't like boxer slobber or beagle mix fur all over them, they are probably visiting the wrong house.
I'm highly considering asking people with misbehaving children to leave my house though. I just found out from my husband that he kept telling my cousin's kids to stop feeding the dogs yesterday, and they kept doing it anyway. I'm pretty ticked off b/c my cousin doesn't watch his kids when they are at my house, period. I have never once seen him put a stop to something unless it is directly annoying him, or he heard me say something first. I have to constantly watch that the little one keeps her drink in the kitchen and that they do not torment the dogs or feed them stuff. I wish I had known they were doing it yesterday, b/c I would have put a stop to it. Maya is at the vet right now b/c she threw up blood this morning. It looks like it is unrelated to what she ate yesterday, but I do not appreciate the fact that my dogs were eating stuff I didn't give them.
Maya absolutely will not stand being crated if people are in the house. She will bark and frantically scratch at the door of her crate, or a baby gate, or the door and wall if just left in a room. She is a polite beggar (just sits and stares at you )and will eat anything that falls on the floor, but she will not just up and grab someone's dinner. The stress it would put her through to be crated is not worth it.
I would not crate my dogs just because a guest asked. Both are well behaved other than Murphy's counter surfing issues, which I already crate him for when necessary. Everyone is aware I have 2 dogs, and if they don't like boxer slobber or beagle mix fur all over them, they are probably visiting the wrong house.
I'm highly considering asking people with misbehaving children to leave my house though. I just found out from my husband that he kept telling my cousin's kids to stop feeding the dogs yesterday, and they kept doing it anyway. I'm pretty ticked off b/c my cousin doesn't watch his kids when they are at my house, period. I have never once seen him put a stop to something unless it is directly annoying him, or he heard me say something first. I have to constantly watch that the little one keeps her drink in the kitchen and that they do not torment the dogs or feed them stuff. I wish I had known they were doing it yesterday, b/c I would have put a stop to it. Maya is at the vet right now b/c she threw up blood this morning. It looks like it is unrelated to what she ate yesterday, but I do not appreciate the fact that my dogs were eating stuff I didn't give them.
It depends on the situations. Tilly is the one who has the most difficult time with strangers, usually I'll tie her on a leash and she gets to great people with me. If ever I had someone coming in who's afraid of dogs, since this has never happened I'll just answer to how I'd probably handle it, I'd probably put the dogs in my room during the visit. With my smallest dog, Kassie, I did have to crate her once when my son was younger and we had a birthday party of 10 or more kids/toddlers/babies running around. I was more afraid for Kassie's safety then I was for the kids.
Actually, yes. And in fact, I often do so.
And before the assumptions start to fly, YES all of my dogs are properly trained, YES they are super friendly, NO they do not want to eat children, etc. etc.
I put them away when I feel like it as a common courtesy. For example, friends of ours have a chocolate Lab that is also a wonderful dog and is trained. However, she likes to be near you all the time and has accidentally plopped herself down on my son's legs before and has knocked other children over (again, on accident).
True, if I know you have a dog and it takes precendence over my children & I guess, our friendship, then I will not go to your home.
But on the other hand, there is no way in hell I would have/will have told/tell my grandmothers to stay away all because they are afraid of dogs and just don't care for them in general.
I'm sorry, but close human relationships mean a lot to me and I have no problem kenneling my dogs or chaining them outside when people are over. Now, if I have one out and that person could care less or the kids want to play with the dog, then the dog stays out.
EDIT: Oh, & I can't tell you how many times another set of friends of ours has told us how great their little dogs were and well trained, until Cole tripped & fell & one of the dogs snapped at him (actually tried to make contact). The kicker? Cole didn't even trip on the dog or beside the dog. He was a few steps away.
And before the assumptions start to fly, YES all of my dogs are properly trained, YES they are super friendly, NO they do not want to eat children, etc. etc.
I put them away when I feel like it as a common courtesy. For example, friends of ours have a chocolate Lab that is also a wonderful dog and is trained. However, she likes to be near you all the time and has accidentally plopped herself down on my son's legs before and has knocked other children over (again, on accident).
True, if I know you have a dog and it takes precendence over my children & I guess, our friendship, then I will not go to your home.
But on the other hand, there is no way in hell I would have/will have told/tell my grandmothers to stay away all because they are afraid of dogs and just don't care for them in general.
I'm sorry, but close human relationships mean a lot to me and I have no problem kenneling my dogs or chaining them outside when people are over. Now, if I have one out and that person could care less or the kids want to play with the dog, then the dog stays out.
EDIT: Oh, & I can't tell you how many times another set of friends of ours has told us how great their little dogs were and well trained, until Cole tripped & fell & one of the dogs snapped at him (actually tried to make contact). The kicker? Cole didn't even trip on the dog or beside the dog. He was a few steps away.
Smudge gets invited to other family members houses. He can chill.. Cider at 4 can still be a PITA.. She gets invites and I usually decline for her.. Today some family came over to my grandmother's for lunch and Smudge visited for a while. Cider lasted about 3 minutes, she was on people's laps licking faces being rude and no one likes it. So sadly she gets shafted often.
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It depens on the situation. My boys are very well-behaved around guests. But if needs be, I have no problems putting my dogs up. Sometimes the house is just too crowded for two big lugs to be cruising everywhere--especially if there are small children around. Not that I don't trust my boys 100% with children, but they will almost always start playing with the kids. A pack of galloping children and two stampeding Horsemen gets way too crazy.
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It depends, here. I actually had a party a couple of weeks ago where I moved the rabbit out of my apartment and crated the dogs, then did a HUGE cleaning because one of my good friends is allergic to animals and I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible.
She ended up getting snowed in and couldn't make it, and 90% of the party demanded the dogs be let loose so they spent the party hanging out with us, to most people's enjoyment. If I saw them tormenting anyone they were called off.
So I guess it depends on the people and what's going on. Though I love to have my dogs out, I know that it's not always the best situation for everyone involved so I have no problem putting them away.
But as I said in the other thread, I also get invited to parties where they INSIST I bring the mutts. So yeah, it all depends.
She ended up getting snowed in and couldn't make it, and 90% of the party demanded the dogs be let loose so they spent the party hanging out with us, to most people's enjoyment. If I saw them tormenting anyone they were called off.
So I guess it depends on the people and what's going on. Though I love to have my dogs out, I know that it's not always the best situation for everyone involved so I have no problem putting them away.
But as I said in the other thread, I also get invited to parties where they INSIST I bring the mutts. So yeah, it all depends.
WOW. That's harsh!
I love MY dog but not everyone LIKES dogs. I like my friends and family too, and since a gathering is only temporary, I would happily comply with someone who asked if my dog could be put away. My dog would actually welcome a chance to get away from the chaos, lol.
Regardless of how much I love my animals, people come first in my house.
I love MY dog but not everyone LIKES dogs. I like my friends and family too, and since a gathering is only temporary, I would happily comply with someone who asked if my dog could be put away. My dog would actually welcome a chance to get away from the chaos, lol.
Regardless of how much I love my animals, people come first in my house.
Personal choice really. But in my house it would depend on the day. If it has been a hectic day and Ajax has not gotten enough exercise then he will be a little more excited and attention seeking and demanding for people to play with him. And a big 90lbs White Shepherd demanding attention all the time is very distracting. In this case he would be crated with a tasty treat.
If he did get enough exercise that day then he is very civilized and will stay in his place and wait to be released and so on to great guests and such and in that case I would allow him to stay out. If guest complained while he was behaving this way I would tell him to go to his place and stay there but other then that they would have to deal with it.
As for Sheena, her being my Service dog, when guests are in the house she is tethered to me so she is always out. But no one complains about her. But if someone did request that I remove her I would refuse.
If he did get enough exercise that day then he is very civilized and will stay in his place and wait to be released and so on to great guests and such and in that case I would allow him to stay out. If guest complained while he was behaving this way I would tell him to go to his place and stay there but other then that they would have to deal with it.
As for Sheena, her being my Service dog, when guests are in the house she is tethered to me so she is always out. But no one complains about her. But if someone did request that I remove her I would refuse.
People who come to visit don't adhere to anywhere near the standard of love and loyalty our dogs do, so, in my world, they aren't as important. I owe a debt of love to my dogs, a debt that I can only hope to partially repay, and not relegating them to secondary status behind people who aren't permanent, loving fixtures in my life, who don't show me nearly the love and respect my dogs give to me freely, as their gift, well, by comparison, they don't really matter much in my life.
I don't think it's harsh at all. My dogs are well-behaved. Pepe doesn't seek out attention from people he doesn't know (there are about 6 to 10 people that he truly "likes"), and while Flicka goes up to anyone, if she's ignored, she'll go away.
I'm not saying that my animals come before people in my house, but the fact is my dogs live here, my guests don't.
When I was fostering, if I had dogs that weren't well-behaved with guests (jumping up, stealing food, etc), then they were crated.
I'm not saying that my animals come before people in my house, but the fact is my dogs live here, my guests don't.
When I was fostering, if I had dogs that weren't well-behaved with guests (jumping up, stealing food, etc), then they were crated.
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No, it's reality. My dogs live here, guests do not. The people that live in my house may come before the dogs, but any guest who comes and is not respectful of MY house doesn't deserve to be in my house.
I choose if and when any of my dogs are put in their crates- no one else. I would never do that to anyone else in their home, nor would I expect (or handle well) the same level of disrespect from someone else in my home. Pretty simple.
I choose if and when any of my dogs are put in their crates- no one else. I would never do that to anyone else in their home, nor would I expect (or handle well) the same level of disrespect from someone else in my home. Pretty simple.
I have put my dogs up for one person before and one person only. He's the husband of one of my best friends and is very uncomfortable around dogs in general, large dogs in particular. He met my two and petted them for awhile, but I could see that he wasn't comfortable, so I had my friend take them for the night. This was a special set of circumstances though; I lived in a 500 sq. ft studio apartment at the time so there was nowhere else to put the dogs, my friend and her hubby were spending the night on my pull out couch and knowing my dogs, at least one of them would have tried to climb in bed with them at some point during the night. I hadn't seen these people in over a year, so for their sake, I made an exception to my "dogs live here, deal with it" stance.
I'm not unreasonable, but for the most part, people know that when they come to my house, I have dogs and there is dog hair. I own a lint roller as well, so if we're going out, everyone has the option to roll-down before we leave if it's that big of a deal. Personally, I don't feel fully dressed unless I'm carrying a Chi's worth of hair on my outfit.
:rofl1:
I'm not unreasonable, but for the most part, people know that when they come to my house, I have dogs and there is dog hair. I own a lint roller as well, so if we're going out, everyone has the option to roll-down before we leave if it's that big of a deal. Personally, I don't feel fully dressed unless I'm carrying a Chi's worth of hair on my outfit.
:rofl1:
Sure, if someone came over who wasn't comfortable around Lucy, I'd put her in the bedroom. I'm not going to invite someone over to my house and expect them to stay in an environment that makes them uncomfortable. That's being a poor host in my opinion.
I'd definitely put her away if there were too many small children and/or people coming and going all night. I invite people over to spend time with them, not to babysit them as they interact with my dog.
On the flip side, I would REALLY hope someone would do the same for me if they invited me to their house. If I walked in and saw cats running around, I'd politely ask for them to be put away (I'm terribly allergic). If the owner wasn't willing to lock them in the bedroom for the night? Sorry, I don't want to be friends with someone who values a couple hours of their cats running around more than time with me. My friendships are more important to me than any animal being out for a couple hours.
I'd definitely put her away if there were too many small children and/or people coming and going all night. I invite people over to spend time with them, not to babysit them as they interact with my dog.
On the flip side, I would REALLY hope someone would do the same for me if they invited me to their house. If I walked in and saw cats running around, I'd politely ask for them to be put away (I'm terribly allergic). If the owner wasn't willing to lock them in the bedroom for the night? Sorry, I don't want to be friends with someone who values a couple hours of their cats running around more than time with me. My friendships are more important to me than any animal being out for a couple hours.
Inviting someone is a whole different story from what always happens at my place. I don't invite as a general rule, and when I do, it's always people who are good with the dogs. What happens to me is people invite themselves, and, frankly, they know the dogs are here and shouldn't expect any change in that when they invite themselves.
And people who just drop in? Oh, they get no quarter. That just completely pisses me off.
And people who just drop in? Oh, they get no quarter. That just completely pisses me off.