Invited guests and pet behavior

When your pet is a large dog, very energetic, and you invite people over.... do you restrain your dog at all, or expect company to accept their bodies and clothing will be walked on, slobbered on, nose-goosed, bitten, clawed, licked?

i would put the dog in sit or down and let them come in (the guests ) and then let them say hello - some people dont mind dogs all over them others are scared stiff so i guess you need to know your guests and act accordingly

and you said bitten eek!!!!!

i love all animals so pet fur, cuddles - would al be fine wiht me

Echoes, I',m with pheonix. It would depend on the guest. Anyone invited to my house knows I love my critters... love me, love my critters. If a guest would be disturbed by one on my fur family I would probably confine the critter while the person was there. Not everyone enjoys having a big dog slobber, etc all over them.

That said, I also would not tolerate any of my dogs acting that way. I expect them to have good manners with people.

I have two big dogs that LOVE people. When people come over I ask them if they mind the dogs, if they do I put them either outside or in their kennels, depending on weather and time of day. When friends come over, they know my dogs, and they know they're friendly (sometimes a little too friendly), and none of them expect me to put them up. So it really depends on the person coming into my house.

the people who come to my house are more than like 'dog people"..that said..i expect my dogs to behave. i don't tolerate them jumping all over people or biting. if i know those that are coming are not as friendly or tolerant..i have 2 crates & the dogs are confined to them or placed in another room.

i wouldn't allow any dog of mine to bite anyone in my home period. my guys all have been to obediance training . sure they may get a little excited but that is so not acceptable.

same thing when i have friends for meals..my guys (hopefully) know to not beg from the table or bother us while we are eating..just as my guests know not to share food with them.

with 3 bassets i can not have a free for all in the place...but that said..it shouldn't matter if they are three small dogs or 3 large dogs. the house belongs to me..i am the alpha, not the dogs...they need to behave the way i set the standards for them, not the other way around. my guys are not perfect..but i try to not put them in situations where they will be nightmares.

same thing walking them...they walk calmly on lead. all 3 at one time. no pulling. they know if they pull we turn around & go home. period. walk over. no park, no hike etc. end of story. i dog sit so usually i walk anywhere from 3-6 dogs at one time so behavior is important.

stumpy

I would not expect company to accept bad behavior from my pets. This is where training comes into play. Dogs need to be taught how to behave and learn boundaries. If, for whatever reason, the dog has not completed this training or can not otherwise be controlled around guests, I would separate the animal when guests came over. Everything the animal does is the fault of it's owner and it is up to the owner to responsibly handle the pet. This is just part of owning a pet.

That being said, I also expect my guests to listen if I say 'do not ____ with my pet.' (This is assuming they have a choice and the animal is not in the process of accosting them.) By coming into my house, guests have to accept my rules. That's just basic good manners. Take your shoes off at the door, use a coaster, don't feed the dog at the table. If they choose not to follow basic instructions that lead to a safety hazard, then it's my responsibility to keep them away from my pet since I'd still be technically liable, which may mean not inviting that person over in the future. The only (kind of) exception here is children. Even if you tell kids not to do something, they should always be monitored. In that case you're responsible for looking after both animal and child.

My dogs (3 dogs, all around 40 lbs each) are either leashed or put behind a baby gate before guests come in. If my guests wish to greet my dogs, they are brought out one at a time, and the dogs are expected to sit nicely and allow the guest to pet them. Then, my dogs are told to go lie down on their beds. If my dogs choose not to go lie down, they are either crated, leashed, or put back behind a baby gate. If either I or the guest invite the dogs over to us, then they can get up...otherwise I expect them to stay on their beds.

For guests that I know are dog friendly and are over quite frequently, I'm less strict with my dogs. The dogs are still expected to sit nicely rather than jumping on people, and to go lie down when told to. People that are over frequently and know how to appropriately correct my dogs, may do so if my dogs are being obnoxious. Otherwise, I will correct the dog.

I do NOT allow my dogs to jump, scratch, or slobber on other people, either in my home or out in public. If I'm concerned about my dogs not behaving in any situation, they are kept on a short leash, I watch them, and keep them under control. They are also rewarded for appropriate behavior, to reinforce what I want from them. Of course, my dogs are also highly trained - one's a certified therapy dog, one competes in dog sports, one is just a pet, but still well trained.

Thank you all for your replies. The dog had been alone for about an hour while we were at dinner. I had to go home for the dessert to take over and waited some extra time, hoping the dog would have had his excitement and settled down. He is huge - probably 80 lbs and only 4 months old. He is in obedience training and can sit and lie down on command. But he is not expected to stay off the guests. His biting is puppy biting, but he's huge so he breaks skin. His paws are as big as my fist. He is slobbery (he's a mix of New Foundland and Burmese Mountain Dog).

As I entered he was preoccupied and I was glad but after a few steps he was bounding over to me. I was carrying the desert with both hands and before I could walk the 10 steps to the table, the dog has his slobbery face in my butt, then jumped around to put it in the front (sorry if tmi). By the time I sat down, I had a blob of dog slobber about 3" on my slacks. I felt filthy and couldn't wait to get out of there. I like dogs. Puppies are especially cute. But at 80 lbs and nearly 3 feet high, he needs to be leashed or held onto or something.

This is a relative. Another relative has 2 large dogs - boxer/pit mixes I think. Both of them walk all over my feet, climb up on the couch and get in my face and lap, lick my legs if they do stay on the floor. I completely avoid going there because to carry on a conversation means bobbing and weaving to get away from the dogs, or to get the dogs out of the line of vision between me and their owner.

Oh well. My choice to make since they are also 'love me, love my dogs' kind of people.
I guess I should be glad they don't have that attitude about their spouse... lol

I'm very much a 'love me, love my dogs' person, but I think well behaved dogs is just common courtesy, and teaching dogs self control can only benefit the dog. I don't want my dogs jumping or slobbering on ME when I walk in the door...I can't imagine guests would appreciate it either. My dogs can jump on me when asked, but not uninvited. I do understand that puppies don't quite have that level of self control yet...that's when management is needed (leash, crate, etc) until the training is there. Even with relatives, my dogs are expected to behave politely.

I think the major differences here are the age of the dog and the fact that you chose to go back to the house alone to get the dessert (unless I'm misinterpreting the scenario?) Since the owners were not there, there's no way they could have controlled the puppy around you. And I would also not expect such a young puppy to have his manners down yet, although we'd be working on it.

Personally, I would never let a pup like that loose in the house if I wasn't there to watch him. He'd be contained in some way so he couldn't get into things and develop bad habits. You really have to watch 'em at that age.

For my dogs if people come over and are bothered by animals I put them outside. With the cat, she has her room if people mind. Most that come over know I have animals and don't mind.

I went back to my place to get the dessert to take to their place. They were there when I arrived, since they returned home right away. I was hoping he had done the 'greeting' routine before I got there.

Keep in mind this 'puppy' is big enough to knock someone down, tear clothing and skin. I don't blame the pup at all, I just think the 'parents' need to restrain him - to show him that when people come in, they are not there for him to maul. Can you imagine when he's full grown and 150 lbs doing this kind of thing?! yikes.

Ahhh, yeah, in that case they needed to restrain the pup. Heh, the size doesn't mean he's mentally developed enough to have the rules down, although there is zero reason they shouldn't be working on it now. Unfortunately, with those kinds of manners in a dog his size, he's a likely candidate for ending up in the shelter. I wonder how devoted they'll be when things go downhill. :/

Oh, he won't end up in a shelter. He's very beloved and was selected for his breeding. They have 2 cats from the shelter and wouldn't take an animal there.
He settles down, it's just the initial 15 minutes that I'd like to skip

I will like him more when he's older. In time he will settle down. But until then he needs help learning how to be around company.

It depends on the guest. Lol if I don't like the guest or if they know me and we are close than I would let my dogs do whatever. However if I like them and I don't know them too well I would try to restrain my dogs.