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Visitors Terrified Of Dogs


trinabean
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If there is only one way that people can get into the back yard and you can lock/secure that, trinabean, with total confidence that no one will open it, obviously that is the way to go.

I also think it behoves your visitors to respect your wishes and your family's situation (in terms of keeping Bruno safe) as much as you are respecting theirs.

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Id suggest a local restaurant and meet up there :p

If only! Probably needed to book somewhere weeks ago to get 9 people in for lunch at Easter though. Sadly, I didn't know they were coming until recently.

Presumably these people know you have a dog and they've chosen to come and spend the day at your home.

I would not be altering Bruno's routine at all. If these people have a fear of dogs, in my opinion they can either get over or find a way to keep themselves in control.

Surely they must know Bruno is not going to eat them alive. They're coming into his home by choice so let 'em deal with it. I mean really, what do they expect you to do with Bruno for the duration of their visit?

Parents who impart their fear of dogs onto their children do their kids a disservice. My neighbour has two small boys (4yo and 6yo) who are terrified of my Cavaliers though they know the dogs won't bite them. If Mum comes to my door with the kids and accepts my invitation to come inside I pay no attention to the kids squealing and jumping around if the dogs happen to walk near them. My dogs are not much interested in the kids either after the initial greeting. I sure am not going to crate the dogs for their benefit. They chose to come inside my dog's home so they can suck it up.

I wish Bruno were disinterested in visitors CavNrott. He is always happy to see visitors and is particularly interested in kids. He is gentle with my kids, just loves being near them. He's great with dog-savvy kids who visit ( I'm always hyper-vigilant and supervising). He will sit, drop etc for them, and follow them around trying to press his squeeky toys on them, so they can throw them. But I recognize that he is exuberant (doesn't jump up on kids, but will whack them with his helicopter tail and nudge them with toys etc) and I have always kept him separate from fearful kids, on the rare occasions we have had one here visiting. For his benefit and their comfort, I suppose.

Do you have a large enough front yard where the kids could play supervised?

The front yard is large but unfenced. We might do an egg hunt out there.

Lock the back door with Bruno out for a while, then pop him in your bedroom with door shut while the kids play outside.

That's a good idea. He loves our bedroom and could sleep or watch the backyard through the window. I could put a baby-gate across my bedroom door-way as an extra security measure...

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Ok, as a backup measure I have borrowed a crate from a friend. I will set it up today with some familiar bedding and toys, and will try giving him a few chewy treats in there. Just in case it might be useful tomorrow.

We have some other, dog-loving friends visiting tonight. He has a ball when they visit, as they will throw a ball all afternoon for him. He usually puts himself to bed when knackered, while they're still here. I might put his Snooza bed away and encourage him to use the crate as his bed tonight.

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If it was my house they would just have to get over their fear.

If only it was that simple but it would be highly irresponsible of anyone to have that attitude & i would guarantee the posters who say just get over it have fears that they should just get over as well & it won't happen.

If people can't put themselves out for one day a year for friends then that is sad .

I don't do kids but occasionally i just have to suck it up & interact .

It sounds like you have options & with understanding from both parties it will work & not be as bad as you think :) plus you sound responsible in knowing your breed is "out there " at times & not for everyone ,i too have the same type & apprepriate not all dog lovers like my dogs either

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If it was my house they would just have to get over their fear.

Yeah same here. Or just say the kids cant go outside.

Or the guests can stay outside if its that big of a deal.

I'm mostly kidding, but some onus lies on them, what's wrong with saying let's go have a picnic in a park or something?

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Yes, my initial suggestion was for a picnic at a park/playground. The mum was hesitant as their youngest has just had surgery and isn't supposed to go overboard on activity. Plus he's still on pain meds. We can make the backyard off-limits, eat at home then head out to a playground with the rest of the kids I suppose.

Sounds like a plan! thumbsup1.gif

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Lock the back door with Bruno out for a while, then pop him in your bedroom with door shut while the kids play outside.

This is what I would do

That's what I have always done too with tiny or old dogs around.

I have tied the bedroom door handles together with rope too in case any little naughty one decided to go in there anyway.

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You sound like you have plenty of places to put Bruno. Considering he's not aggressive or dangerous to turn your back on just put him outside or in a room. Doubt the kids are going to go actively seeking him out to play with. Not that big a fuss really.

If the visitors are afraid of the dog fair enough then, not everyone is the same. I wouldn't go changing life for it though just put him away. No trauma in it for a day or even three.

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What a shame I didn't see this earlier, I have about 25 meters of pool fencing sitting in my shed I could have lent you to make a yard for sweet Bruno :) I've used it with star pickets and it is really sturdy!

I have used the bunnings compost panels to make a fence/yard for my two when workmen have been here, and they haven't got through it.....you've met Rhino and know if he wanted though something he wouldn't hesitate :laugh: but they have respect for fencing(though will jump on it to get pats/say hello, so again star pickets have kept it steady)

Hopefully he'll love his crate, and maybe you could have him on lead, when the kids are outside, for short periods to let him stretch his legs/have a pee?

Have a nice day, I'm sure it will all be fine :)

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If only it was that simple but it would be highly irresponsible of anyone to have that attitude & i would guarantee the posters who say just get over it have fears that they should just get over as well & it won't happen.

If people can't put themselves out for one day a year for friends then that is sad .

I don't do kids but occasionally i just have to suck it up & interact .

It sounds like you have options & with understanding from both parties it will work & not be as bad as you think :) plus you sound responsible in knowing your breed is "out there " at times & not for everyone ,i too have the same type & apprepriate not all dog lovers like my dogs either

Judging others for their attitude is unhelpful as is judging us as being highly irresponsible. People are entitled to hold whatever attitude they wish. Most of us on here are responsible dog owners. We don't take risks with children and our dogs?

Many people have fears but we don't normally voluntarily cause those fears to be a problem for the host of the home where we have invited ourselves and our children to spend the day.

Since you don't 'do' kids you probably have very little understanding of the problems involved in having a dog phobic mother with dog phobic children in the house for an entire day, particularly when there is a problem with containing the dog away from the fearful people.

You have boarding kennels so containing your dog for the day would not be a problem. For most of us it is not so easy.

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If people can't put themselves out for one day a year for friends then that is sad.

Well, that's assuming you can. We have a friend who is very uncomfortable around cats. She accepts we have indoor cats and we go see a band or have dinner when we catch up.

A friendship can go both ways, like I said, some falls back on the guest in some occasions, not suggesting this necessarily is one, but you come to someones house and you don't expect them to bend over backwards, you cater for yourself a bit.

I wouldn't ask someone to put their birds outside as I don't like birds. The birds live there, I can suck it up or suggest something else.

If they choose to put them away that's lovely, but I'd never expect or ask that they do.

Edited by Steph M
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I had the same dilema xmas day.

My brother and his girlfriend are scared of dogs. My mum was here from the US, and she wanted us all here for xmas lunch, and suggested I keep the dogs locked in the garage allday!!! it was over 35 degrees most days here in Dec :eek:

I said I could pop them in there for a while if they wanted to go outside for a swim, but that was it.

They got the arse and wouldn't come, so we did xmas day in their tiny apartment, but at least I had a good excuse to leave, and come home to walk the dogs :)

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Lock the back door with Bruno out for a while, then pop him in your bedroom with door shut while the kids play outside.

This is what I would do

That's what I have always done too with tiny or old dogs around.

I have tied the bedroom door handles together with rope too in case any little naughty one decided to go in there anyway.

We do this too. Doof goes in our room when there are kids here because his anxiety makes me feel it's safer to have him locked up. Bear is fine with the kids, but we have one friend with a kid scared of dogs and so they both go in our room. They get a kong or empty peanut butter jar and they're happy. Doof is far happier in his quiet little bubble than with a bunch of screaming 2 year olds anyways.

It's not just about the visitors, it's for my dogs well being. My husband grew up thinking he was attacked by a dog as a toddler. He was actually knocked over by an over exuberant GSD, but his family isn't dog savvy and that's how they interpreted it. I owe it to my dogs to keep them safe and I don't ever want to be in a situation where they have inadvertently injured a child by being their usual happy (in doof's case, crazy) selves, and they get into major trouble as a result

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Can you put him on lead and keep him with you ? We had guests over yesterday and young children were petrified of our dogs .. Our female is fine but the male being 2 does get a little too excited so I put a lead on him and he stayed with me till he calmed and the kids went in the pool .. Do you have a partner maybe they could have the lead while you cook/host etc .. Kids could pat your boxer while on lead and you have control also ..

:-)

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Totally understand Trinabean, nice as pie but sometimes just get too excited laugh.gif

I usually just put Scout in my room with the TV on and he 'usually' just sleeps away the time. Has an occasional bark or whine as he's missing out. But sometimes he has to be out of the way - especially when a friend who has cancer pops around or work people. He survives the ordeal. One time I had to leave him outside for 3 days when my Nan came to stay when she wasn't well. Scout was not impressed, but he got over it [he did get to sleep in my room with me of a night]. Sometimes just can't take any chances, like with my Nan and her paper thin skin...one Scout claw could cause major damage.

I know he doesn't want to eat anyone, but he's very strong of paw and tail and forgets himself when excited.

I do remember when I had three huskies I blocked off one side of the house [forget the reason now], but that worked well as a temporary run. it was a narrow corridor of sorts with the neighbour fence on one side....a metal unopenable fence at one end and I think it was blocked off with some heavy gauge wire at the other end which acted as an openable gate. then there was the wall of the house with no doors on that side.

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