Poodle Forum banner

dogs and family/friends

7K views 55 replies 35 participants last post by  Lou 
#1 · (Edited)
The holidays have passed and we had a LOT of people here on and off. The kids all came (nice), the brothers and sisters, Aunts/Uncles, nieces, etcetera. The dogs did great with all the hubbub, but it left me wondering if I am a little too dog oriented.

-Someone yelled at one of my dogs to shut up when they barked at the door for a doorbell. I got mad at the person (I want the dogs to bark at the door bell). My dogs are well trained. I tell them 'quiet' and they are quiet. I showed the person that and they acted surprised that the dogs would listen to me.

-One friend/acquaintance of a daughter started teasing my Jazz, batting his rear end/shaking his head and trying to rile him up. It frightened Jazz and the guy called him a woosy dog when Jazz ran to hide from the guy (mind you, Jazz is 7 months old) and started chasing Jazz for fun to frighten him. I told my daughter that guy wasn't welcome here anymore (good thing it was a so-so friend and not a boyfriend ;)).

-My neice started pulling Bonnie's hair and I gently showed her how to pet nicely because her mom and dad thought nothing of an 18 month old pulling her tail (they thought it was cute). I tried to tell them Bonnie was a good dog and would not bite my niece, but another dog might.

-For dinner with 15 people I put them in their crates even though they are well behaved because someone else thought the dogs should not be 'around the dinner table'. They thought it was unsanitary or something.

-THEN- gasp- Bonnie jumped on the footstool where she likes to lie and someone called them spoiled and how come they were allowed on the furniture.

-I pick up the poop every day, but alas, someone stepped in an errant pile in the backyard and got ticked. How could I stand dog poop in the yard, they asked.

-Someone clearly thought Bonnie's holiday toenails were crazy. :)

Okay, so it wasn't all bad. Many people loved the dogs, but I wonder- is it only me that treats my dogs the way I do? Am I nuts or something? Yah, I know three dogs is a lot of dogs, but I like my dogs. I look forward to lying on the couch surrounded by my dogs watching TV. I don't mind them lying quietly around the dinner table (they do not beg).

I suppose the people on this group are fond of their dogs or they wouldn't be on this group. I'm not kookoo- really I am not. :angel2: It seems to me that if people want to come to my house (and they are welcome) that they have to understand this is a DOG house. My house is clean. My dogs are clean. What's the deal? I like dogs, sometimes more than people...
 
See less See more
#31 · (Edited by Moderator)
Interesting post. I had a similar situation before the holidays. Was really upset as friend was playing hard with Harry but unhappy he is still mouthing. Sure it hurts, he has teeth but if you play hard the risk increases.

I offered to put him in his crate or completely ignore him. Well she said she would ignore , but he continued to play and she continued to play. He nipped her and she smacked him in front of me. It was a 'play' tap but in my mind out of line. He is my dog at the end of the day and how I reprimand him is my decision.

I was upset and shocked but really did not know what to do as she was ignoring me already. I texted the next day and said what I felt. I felt better and also I was entitled to say it. She took it but not sure how the friendship will go now....

(Harry is not my child. He is a dog. But like an analogy of a child, every parent has own ideas of parenting. On the whole no one is more right or wrong in their method, but each parent has the right to determine what happens in the child's upbringing)
 
#32 ·
i find sometimes that the non dog friends are often the best to vist round mine because they totally ignore them so they both setle back down in their beds very quickly. the dog loving ones are a nightmare at the moment because they just want to fuss the cute puppy and ignore opie. i now tell guests that they either pay opie attention first or they have to ignore both dogs.
 
#35 ·
I have to say, I feel your pain this season. Normally holidays are done at my mother's home or mine. This year we were split between two nursing homes, visiting my Great Aunt and my grandfather. Neither of them are dog people. My aunt is very ugly to me, however the nursing home loves Remington, and we were even allowed to visit the therapy room to help residents to reach farther or encourage them. He was amazing, and loved it. However in visiting with my grandfather he got really nasty and was teasing Remington making noises and then he made this motion that he was hitting Remington. I came unglued. We spent the next couple hours while the family ate sitting in my car. The way I look at it, I was I am entrusted to look after Remington's best interest. I am there to protect him and be his voice. I get angry when they call him "dog"... My mother is one of the worst offenders of doing that. I try to remind her that if it were not for him, I would not be making the hour plus drive to see her....
 
#39 ·
Its so obvious how much you love Remington. I can see me sitting in the car too.
I was very lucky to have parents who love animals as much as I do and supported that while I was growing up. In contrast, my husbands family, well lets just say, doesnt have the empathy for them that we do. Isnt it nice and reassurring that children dont always take on their parents level of compassion towards animals?
 
#38 · (Edited by Moderator)
Personally I expect my poos to behave themselves. They are like kids to me, and I don't allow them to be spoiled at least to an extent. Also when guest are here I do my best to keep them away from guest that don't want to be disturbed. My Girls aren't allowed on the furniture or in my kitchen without permission. They are not allowed near people while they eat or to jump on people without being asked. Oh and i hate when people want to pay attention to he tpoo and ignore or rebuff the mpoo! Yeah she's bigger and livelier, but they should be treated equally. If my mini is not good enough nor is my toy. I also expect other peoples pets to behave while in my house. That said I would get upset if somebody yelled at my dog since I do stay on them anyway. My house my rules. I was taught as a child that you can't just make yourself at home even if you are told too lol! I would probably kick them out If they did it more than once lol.
 
#42 ·
You guys are lucky to have such friendly Poodles. When we have guests we have to either crate Panda or have him on leash as he will bark at guests and charge at them which is very intimidating.

We are working really hard to socialise him to strangers in his home (and to strangers in general) and we are making real progress. Its a slow journey but hopefully we will get there one day :)
 
#44 ·
Jan Fennel?

I actually have her book I think...If I do it will be somewhere at my boyfreinds parents house. We might be moving this weekend and if we are then I can get my boxes of things from there so will have a look to see if I do have that book :)

Otherwise I will order it :)
 
#46 ·
Thank you I will try find the book this weekend otherwise I will buy a copy if I cant find it :)

I had a look on the website and it says she isnt taking on clients anymore but one of the people who have completed her courses lives near enough to me to do a consultation however its £195 which is a lot of money. I might just try reading the book and see if it helps and if we are really not making any progress then see if we can afford the consultation fees.
 
#47 ·
Outwest- you are way too dog oriented. You are actually unhappy with the people being inconsiderate and impolite, and here you are dragging the poor dogs into it all! Sure, the subject of disagreement was the dogs this time, but daughters friend would have teased the 18 month old instead, and the shoe-poop fellow would be complaining about dandelions. Heck, thank the dogs for being there so nothing more contentious came up! ;)
 
#48 · (Edited)
I don't think Outwest is too dog oriented at all. I admire Outwest's commitment to raising nice well trained dogs and to enjoying just about everything there is to enjoy about a poodle (and a whippet). I also applaud her ability to be totally diplomatic in dealing with relatives who are not used to be around well-behaved dogs.
 
#52 ·
Things are back to normal here. Now I only have to deal with people coming across the street hollering, "Are those standard poodles! Can I pet them!" ugh. I have Jazz in a class because he has grown leery of people charging up to him and hides behind my legs. Not good. The instructor is really good, though. I am supposed to get a jacket for him that says 'dog in training' or something like that so people will leave him alone. The class is an attempt to see if he will be able to be a show dog or not. You can't be a show dog and not let a judge touch you! LOL. sigh. Neither his sire or dam is at all shy and I swear he wasn't shy until a month or so ago. I am hoping it is a phase, but wonder if being mauled by all manner of people, "Oooohh....he's so soft!" has made him this way.

Wish us luck! I am giving him two months to come around and then we'll decide about showing.
 
#53 ·
I hate it when nondog people come over and make a fuss. Our dogs are very, very well behaved but people who aren't used to dogs are not. We typically crate the dogs around people who aren't dog friendly or around small children (ones who don't know how to behave around dogs and respect their space). Not because we don't trust our dogs, but we don't trust children to handle them without supervision. Especially with parents that don't understand that our dogs are not toys.

We had a friend of a friend come over with two small kids. I asked their son not to pick up our Schnauzer. He's a rescue and he doesn't like to be handled unless he trusts you. After 4-5 times of insisting he put our dog down, I asked them to leave. Our poor fur baby was terrified! And you don't come into his house and treat him like that. It's no different than if someone came in and roughed up our son. Not gonna happen!
 
#54 · (Edited)
Wow, Im so glad you posted this thread.. Im getting really upset lately because these 2 guys (friends of ours) come over A LOT and they stay through the night and never leave sometimes LOL and they are teasing Lou (getting her worked up) making her jump on them over and over (I want her to NOT jump on people ever!) they are spoiling her with playing rough and LOTS of petting, and for that reason she wont even look at me when they are here, I get jealous and my heart is broken...LOL she lays all over their lap and she hasnt laid on my lap in a while :-( Im hating it, to the point of not wanting these guys around!! But they work with us, so we have to keep a good friend/work relationship... I dont know what to do. I try to tell them how I want them to deal/treat Lou, but I cant supervise every minute.. Like they play chasing Lou, I HATE THAT! In case she ever gets loose in the street, chasing her will be that fun game those 2 guys play! I never chase her and try to reinforce a good recall/come command... but aaarrrgghhh these guys are getting on my nerves :-( Lou is still a puppy and them letting her jump on them can be a terrible thing, my grandma is comming to visit from far away and I'm afraid that if Lou jumps on grandma, that grandma would hit the floor! and she has back and feet issues/pain....
I'm gonna read all the posts now, hopefully there is a way to fix this.
 
#55 ·
Lou maybe you could explain that you spent a lot of money on training for Lou and no offence to them, but they're ruining it. I'm sure they just love her (who wouldn't?!) but you have put so much time and training into Lou, you need them to respect how you want them to treat her. I think telling them about your grandma should get the point across! You could tell them that you need them to not play rough, chase Lou or let her jump on them because if she tries that with your grandma, that could put her in the hospital. On the other hand, why don't they get their own poodles? Then they can play like that with them!
 
#56 ·
I just love love love your response! Thank you so much
Yes, I have spent lots of money AND time, on training for Lou and am about to spend more. (Gladly!)
I will definitely do what you said and tell these 2 about it, so they back-off a bit.
They do... they love her!! Because she is so awesome, one of them calls her Lou-bear
I guess I shouldn't be THAT mad...LOL I will also tell them about grandma!
I think that will help a ton, thanks again.
Now, I just hope they dont forget to not chase her in the yard when playing with her. I will try to watch closely at first :)
Whew! I feel better - hugs for u!

Ps. one of them really wants a poodle now, but cant really afford to (single guy/apartment/travels etc)
The other just got a blue pitbull and sent her to the same training I sent Lou :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top