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When You Have Visitors


Ashling
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The behaviour of the dogs in our house depends on who is visiting. Sometimes they just want to say hello then go back about their business of lying around doing nothing. Other times they are protective and want to stay close by to watch. But then of course you have their favourite people and they are just so happy they can't seem to hear any of my instructions. With my poor old mum (by far their favourite person) we make them stand back and we get her down to the lounge area and seated as quickly as we can so they can all gather round her to say hello safely. My sbt girl can get overstimulated to the point of crazy face appearing so this little routine seems to expend a bit of energy and she is much calmer when she says hello with mum seated in a less confined area than the front doorway.

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The tradesman at my place end up in a fetal position cuddling mine on the floor not wanting to go. It's always an interesting experience :rofl:

Yeah the guy that put in my new gas heater last month was here for hours so I let them out, he had a lovely chat to Stan who was laying on the lounge overseeing his work. Even the JW that came knocking on the door loved them. After about 10 minutes of saying how he would love a greyhound but had a cat he got me to write down GAPVIC's details and was so happy he walked away forgetting to give me his Jesus pamphlet :laugh:

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If it someone I don't know very well, or if they are bringing a dog with them then our two go outside until everyone is in. Then the dogs get let in to say a very excited hello.

Instructions are given if they don't want the dogs jumping up but most people are ok with it coz it's easier than bending down to pat them :p

Collie has become sooooo sensitive when it comes to the front door since going blind. Dog bed in the lounge is positioned next to the front door, if Collie gets woken up suddenly he just starts barking at the front door.

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And what is it with some visitors who just leave the door WIDE open! I had people staying over on the weekend and they traipsed in and out leaving the front door wide open. Luckily I caught it each time, but had to ask them to close it behind themlves... My dogs were looking very interested at the big wide world out there!

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It is really uncommon for me to get a knock at my door as my house is quite far from the street and I have do not enter signs on my front gate. So if I get a knock on the door I am not expecting, Wiz always accompanies me to see who it is ;) :)

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The tradesman at my place end up in a fetal position cuddling mine on the floor not wanting to go. It's always an interesting experience :rofl:

Bit like that here, too! Tradesmen, who love dogs, & my tibbie girls fall into each others arms. The computer repairman asked how he could get a dog that looks exactly like Nina Zena. She looks exactly like someone shrunk a golden retriever.

As they play with the tibbies, they tell us all about their beloved dogs. I know the name & history of all the regular tradies' dogs! :) One even adopted a dog he saw, over my shoulder in the DOL Rescue Forum. He drove over-night to NSW to do so!

I've noticed that those dog-loving tradies also take responsibility for keeping gates closed. The ones who take no notice of the dogs are the ones who are likely to leave gates ajar or wide open.

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LOL, when I read this the first time I thought you meant you put the people outside with a bone..... the mind boggles.

Our visitors know they will be greeted by two excited wiggle bums but there's no jumping and they settle within a minute or two and just lie down and chill.

If we have people over for the first time we usually put them outside with a bone till they calm down then let them in later.

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One of our tibbies get easily irritated by young children and I can't trust him not to snarl at them so he goes into the laundry behind a baby gate with a chew treat. He's not overly impressed but the laundry is off the kitchen/diner so he can see and hear us and everyone (including him) can relax. I love baby gates as most kids can't figure out how to open ours! If there are tradesmen around and doors/gates are likely to be left open, both tibbies are crated in my bedroom with a treat, TV and air conditioning on and they like this set up.

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If we have people over for the first time we usually put them outside with a bone till they calm down then let them in later.

Wow!! Is it that exciting to come to your place!! ;) :provoke:

Love it, I thought it was just me who read it like that. :rofl:

In fairness, the amount of guests we have had who have riled the dogs right up this might be a good tactic!

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How do you train dogs not to jump on people? Basker will rarely jump on us because he knows he won't get anything out of it. But usually, when strangers or new people are around, they've already responded and patted and cooed at him before we can train the people to ignore his jumping. He's just too damn pretty for his own good, everyone wants to love him even if he's jumping. Bloody lappie good looks.

He's already bowled over a 3 year old with his silly puppy enthusiasm. Three year olds are hard to train to be good around puppies.

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The dogs get sent downstairs, and visitors go upstairs. No gates ( house is pretty open plan), but they are not allowed upstairs until they settle and/or I give them the "okay". Most of the time, the dogs would rather be downstairs anyway, where the sectional lounge is, lol. Every visitor knows beforehand, that we have two full-on ACDs, so if they are not dog lovers, they are not welcome. I do still expect the best behaviour from the dogs, though, no matter what.

Now, the three very sucky, and attention demanding, cats on the other hand..........

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How do you train dogs not to jump on people? Basker will rarely jump on us because he knows he won't get anything out of it. But usually, when strangers or new people are around, they've already responded and patted and cooed at him before we can train the people to ignore his jumping. He's just too damn pretty for his own good, everyone wants to love him even if he's jumping. Bloody lappie good looks.

He's already bowled over a 3 year old with his silly puppy enthusiasm. Three year olds are hard to train to be good around puppies.

Ours are taught "off" and "settle". If they are sitting nicely, they get petted. I ask people to ignore them, if the dogs are full of beans. Offerings of toys are also ignored until everyone is calm. If they can't behave, they don't get to be with company, or get petted while out walking.

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You need to train your guests as well as the dog I find. We have to ask people to ignore them and then when they are quiet give them gentle pats and if they start getting wound up to ignore them. If they jump our guests are to turn around and bump them off with a hip. Much less fun that way!

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If my visitors like dogs and are people I know the house dogs are allowed in. Sometimes I have to put Cupcake away as she won't leave people alone. If it is strangers or people I know don't like dogs (like my in-laws) the dogs are always crated.

To be honest, much as I love dogs I truly hate being mobbed by someone else's dogs so I expect others to feel the same way. I tend to be an "affection on my terms" person with both humans and animals.

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