visitors, friends and setters...

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Hi again,

 

This is just for entertainment and sharing experiences... I was-once again- wondering-if you feel the same...

 

Vito is very affectionate. He always wants to be as near as possible. Actually I love this of course as he on the other hand always accepts separation with no problem...

When friends come to see me I decide in advance whether to have Vito with us or not as not all of them are dog-enthusiasic as I am. All of them say hello to Vito of course and afterwards I separate him from the group. The punishment is actually that he has to sleep in my bedroom while the others are in the living room, balcony etc...Don`t get me wrong: I only have nice friends who accept and like my dog! But not everybody is keen on having a 75cm-Irish Setter on his lap trying to "kiss" ears and necks... :-) 

I could NEVER stand anyone refusing my dog in a way that would be more strict or severe than I would ever treat my dog. To avoid this, I sometimes lock him in another room. Of course I could also tell him to stay on his place but as soon as anyone would have eye-contact with Vito he would get up and go kissing again.

If the "other" friends who have dogs themselves join me we all have a great laugh as Vito can be really such a clown trying to get attention.

What are your experiences? Do most of your friends have dogs/setters, too?

How do the no-dog-owners get along with your dogs? Are your dogs staying with you all the time when you have guests?

 

Christine

 

[Sue and Cash]

Cash loves company which is great because Dublin was nervous and freaked out whenever anyone came in till he sniffed them. Dub always had to be put in a bedroom when a repairman came though because he would jump on them in a not friendly manner. Cash thinks the repairmen are here to play with him and he hangs out with them. The air conditioner repairman enjoyed it....the other day the oven repairman got freaked out and asked me to remove the dog. I tell them he is a puppy and harmless but I do understand he is rather large already at 53lbs and if they aren't dog people that is scary. We have a dishwasher repairman coming today and I will just lock him up since I don't even want to deal with him climbing on the poor fellow while he is on the floor working. As far as family and friends, Cash has a crazy greeting of tail wags, kisses and whining and then will settle down. So I usually can leave him out. And yes for some reason all my appliances have gone on the fritz in the past month. I might not see a repairman for years and suddenly everything is breaking! But I think it is great training opportunities for Cash and I love what I am seeing. He likes company even in uniforms and with equipment.

[Ilona & Gina]

Anton is quite happy to see other people and greets them, but then he goes on his bed. Not so Gina. She kisses our guests and sits in front of them, looks at them with her brown eyes as if to say, "I know you can't resist me anyway!". She learnt not to jump up, but you should see her little bum bouncing up and down. She soooo wants to!

I have a policy not to invite people who are not willing to include our dogs in our activities. I broke up some "friendships" because these individuals told me that they are "only dogs". Why I make such a fuss of them, they wondered.

These people are not welcome in our house anyway. So all guests who are welcomed to our house love placid Anton and affectionate Gina. They HAVE to :)).

[Teresa]

My girls are normaly very queit with visitors. They get up, greet and go right back to their beds. However if the visitor plays or gives them atention, they play and ask for atention. But they still settle down very quickly once people stop giving them atention. In the most extreme situation the word "bed" does the trick. If the visitors are "family" them we are talking about a diferent thing. By family i mean actual family and close friends that also love them. Then there is a lot of fuss for a while, but then they settle down after playng and anoying everyone for a bit. All the anoyed people feel honored and trully enjoy it :)

[Melinda Auld]

The majority of my friends are doggy people anyway, so they are used to being greeted enthusiastically by my rabble. Glenn's parents are those who think dogs belong outside only, and I have taken to putting the dogs away when they come, partly because I feel my guests should feel comfortable when they visit...but mostly because I don't trust myself not to get upset with them when they start pushing my dogs around...

[Lynn Spencer]

My two girls are always inside; they have their own dog door so come & go as they please.
They are usually very good with visitors & once the initial greeting is over, then they will go & lie down quietly (most of the time). I don't put them outside or separate them as this is their home & everyone who visits here, know that they visit our dogs also.