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Do Your Dog Mingle Around Your Guests?

  • Yes

    Votes: 48 48.0%
  • No

    Votes: 4 4.0%
  • It depends

    Votes: 32 32.0%
  • Yes, but not the whole time

    Votes: 20 20.0%

Does Your Dog 'Mingle' With Guests You Have Over?

7K views 53 replies 47 participants last post by  huntergreen 
#1 ·
I posted this somewhere else, and the answers were pretty much the same. Since the holidays are pretty much here, does your dog stay out amongst your guests, or do you have them in another part of the house? This isn't about your dog living there and having the right to be out. I was just wondering what you prefer to do with them or does it just depend?
 
#2 ·
I'm very careful when I have guests over and the dogs are out. Hondo doesn't want to be a social butterfly. He'll greet and then ignore.

My main concern is for some reason folks think the best thing to do is feed the dog. I don't want any of my dogs eating tempting treats from everyone who wants the dog to like him. And it doesn't matter how often I say, "Please don't feed the dog(s)" someone is going to feed them anyway.

If I have a lot of folks over, all the dogs get crated. If it's just a handfull and I can keep an eye on things, I'll have them out. Honestly, most of the time we are all outside. If people are over and we are inside due to adverse weather conditions, I put the dogs up.
 
#3 ·
It depends on who is over. Long ago I gave up on the "it's their house too" concept that my guests had to like it.

Once in my home the dogs are very social and like to interact with the guests. Since our guests are usually regulars I know who I want them to be around, and who is likely to either act like an idiot or a tease.

It's like when walking them. It's my job to protect them and not put them in bad situations.
 
#4 ·
My house is my dog(s) home. This is their safe place and by my ethos as much theirs as it is mine. I know they don't pay taxes and upkeep and legally they have no rights to the place in any court or law. However, they do guard and watch the house as best they can. Following that line of reasoning my dogs belong here and have run of the place. They are well mannered(okay that's a fib, they are becoming mannered). They say hello and figure out who is most likely to give rubs(no treats, that's my bag). The pup(Allie) is an attention whore, she wil butterfly all the live long day. Cable will greet, get a rub or two and then retire to his bed and watch the proceedings. If food is involved both will helicopter a bit, till I tell them to knock it off.
 
#5 ·
Lisl is not into the 'meet & greet' scene. More like meat & eat.

She will bark at you until I tell her to stop and you'll be lucky if you can get up to use the bathroom.

She sits at my side or on the couch and will watch every move you make until you leave.

I would have to crate her if you wanted to move around the house.
 
#6 ·
Depends on the size of the gathering. If its everybody who are regulars. They greet get affection and whatever treats I have handy,then they go off to do what they do.They are definitely my dogs in that a couple times my SIL took each for a stroll around the property and they were like" where's the Mom?" . They (chevy does not understand why they cant just sit on the floor as she believes our family room couch is hers. More then 10 people they go out.
 
#9 ·
Hunter is a social butterfly with people we accept into our home. A friend of ours who he loves raised his voice in anger on the phone with his ex last week, and was facing me, and Hunter stood up from where he was sleeping and stood in front of me and postured. Hunter is a total mush and snuggle bug, as long as you don't mess with me. Haha.
 
#11 ·
My dogs love being around my family. They get excited, so I do bring them out one at a time so they can say hi to everyone. My one cat is a problem, he has to be locked up if we want to eat in peace.
 
#14 ·
We don't have a lot of guests, except for my Mom, who comes over pretty much every Sunday.

My Mom is quite the animal lover and especially likes white animals.

At one point, I noticed she wasn't interacting with Hans at all and asked her why. Her reply? "I just don't know what to DO with him!" I had to laugh.

She isn't used to big dogs, and in the early days before he had very much training, I guess he could seem pretty rambunctious and intimidating.

Sometimes* I *still don't know what to DO with him, LOL!







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#15 ·
It depends. When we used to host Christmas and my inlaws would come over I put the dogs up. My FIL did not like dogs in the house, but having them down was easier than going to their house (my MIL tended to like to cook things so their was no life and no juice left in the meat).

Most people though it is love me, love my dogs.
 
#16 ·
when we have guest over for dinner (especially people who have never met our dog) its usually a good time and a good laugh. kato always goes around the dinner table hoping to give kisses for food. i've converted a few people who were very hesitant and had a bias against shepherds into seeing them in a new light. i've had plenty of memorable reactions to a big bad german shepherd giving a stranger a kiss.

20131124_203530.mp4 - YouTube
 
#31 ·
when we have guest over for dinner (especially people who have never met our dog) its usually a good time and a good laugh. kato always goes around the dinner table hoping to give kisses for food. i've converted a few people who were very hesitant and had a bias against shepherds into seeing them in a new light. i've had plenty of memorable reactions to a big bad german shepherd giving a stranger a kiss.

20131124_203530.mp4 - YouTube
The fact your dog tries to get food from people at the dinner table in my opinion shows lack of training. Have you considered training your dog to sit quietly on a mat whilst you and your guest eat at the dinner table.
 
#18 ·
No. It's stressful enough having people over without having to keep after him and make sure he doesn't get into trouble. He adores people, especially strangers entering the house, and he goes completely crazy. He turns into a rampaging pony-sized puppy. He gallops full speed through the house grabbing things off of the ground, couches, tables and throws them in the air or tries to give them to people. It's ridiculous and I can only manage him with constant commands which really wears me out and makes it so I can't do any sort of socializing at all. So I put him in the backyard and if people want to go see him they can. And then I don't have to worry about him sneaking food or bothering people who may not like dogs.

Not to mention his tail is usually assaulting someone or clearing off all the beer cans/bottles and wine classes on the coffee tables. He's just too big and gets way too excited.
 
#20 ·
I just realized that the poll question is asking if your dogs likes to mingle but the OP is asking what do you do with your dog when company is over, so my above post might be confusing. Yes, he loves loves loves mingling with people. But no, I do not let him have free roam of the house when company is over. He likes mingling too much.
 
#22 ·
Yes, but. Mine get very excited when the doorbell rings and will bark when people come in the house. We rarely have guests over, so this is a difficult issue to fully tackle, so we leash them at first, until they calm down. I like to give them something to do, a bully stick or a stuffed Kong or something, so by the time they're done, the guests have been there awhile and are less of a novelty. Or I may just keep them on leash and feed them treats for remaining calmly in a down for a period of time. Then, I'll drop the leashes and let them drag them for a few minutes, until I'm sure they're not going to jump all over everybody, and then take the leashes off.

When we have people over for Thanksgiving or Christmas, where there's going to be food on the counter in the kitchen while we're eating in the dining room, I'll put the dogs out in the garage pen until we're done. Without guests they'll usually remain in a down by the table with us, but it's just easier not to have to pay close attention to what the dogs are doing when we're entertaining dinner guests, and Halo can STILL not be trusted around food if she thinks she can get away with anything!
 
#23 ·
Happy is very timid. Any one that comes into our home that she hasn't grown up around or has met a couple of times, she barks and growls and runs up to my bedroom or she'll watch from the stairs. She isn't aggressive in anyway she just acts terrified and I try getting guests to give her treats and she won't even take them. I usually pick her up and have to carry her downstairs and ill put her on the couch so people can pet her. Or she'll run into her crate because she loves her crate. I just don't understand it because I try so hard to socialize her. We've gone to the local dog park everyday for the past two months and she's great with other dogs but if anyone tries touching her or gets near her she runs from them. Or she'll just stay inbetween my legs.


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#25 ·
Depends on who's here and what's going on.

Duke doesn't do well with children and he's petrified of older people (due to past abuse)... so he can't be out with any kids or when my mother and grandmother are here (or any older people... woman especially). The girls are non-stop and extremely active, so if we've got a lot of people over, or when we're doing work around the house... it's safer to not be tripping over any dogs. They're usually for that crated.

There's only a few people (mostly my siblings and a few close friends) that I can trust and allow all the dogs out with. My dog's grew up around them and they are used to large breeds.... the dogs adore them. When they're here, my dogs get to stay out.

People we barely known, or strangers.... all dogs are crated, 100% of the time.
 
#26 ·
Well my dog is still a puppy (13 weeks old) I've been socializing him a lot with my friends and people at the dog park near my friends house, and he hasnt been having any problems mingling with people at my house hehe. :cool:
 
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