Pet (Dog) Etiquette when Entertaining
Follow the Pet (Dog) Etiquette rules when Entertaining, so everyone has a good time when dining together–both the guests and the dog!
When you host a dinner party, there are so many etiquette rules and ideas that you are expected to follow, right?
We all love our pets, but, sadly, this doesn’t mean your friends and guests will, too. We’re always trying to make sure our pet behaves, and that everyone has a good time (both the dog and the guests).
Pet (Dog) Etiquette when Entertaining
Yes, we had a dog, Haggis Barley McStitch, a Cairn Terrier who we were so in love with. Because we have Alder now, and we entertain a lot, we already know our little dogs have never been angels!
In the past, when guests would come, we’d corral Haggis out in Paul’s office (separate from our house). He’s not good with kids. He was, until one kid ruined that for him when he was a puppy (we know exactly what happened), and now it’s impossible for other kids to be able to love on him.
Once he grew up, we’d let him stay inside to see if he could behave himself when we had company over. Behaving himself, for Haggis, meant to contain his excitement, and not jump up on the guests when they walked through the door.
Talk about hospitality! Our dog LOVED to greet people at the door! :)
We didn’t want our guests to be annoyed, but on the other hand, he was a part of our family.
How to know if you should put the dog out:
- Evaluate your guests’ body language: Are they pet lovers? Do they seem to like your dog or animal?
- If the dog can’t stop jumping up: Especially when excited, usually when greeting the guests, who are often bearing gifts of delicious platters of foods in their hands!
- If the barking is out of control: Our dog is a protector, so one thing can set him off (which can be scary or alarming when you’re not expecting it).
- Beggars at the table: If the dog can’t leave your guests alone, chin in laps or annoying, slobbery behaviors.
- Stealing food: If you’re entertaining casually with food at easy reach, watch out.
- If your dog is super-protective and nips at people he/she perceives to be a threat to you (even when they’re good friends).
We have friends who keep their dogs in the laundry room or garage, or crate them. Usually these are larger dogs who can literally make you fall over if you run into them.
Alder the Whoodle
Now with Alder the Whoodle, many times we’ll let him calm down, and he does pretty well. If it’s warm out, we put him in the Sprinter van (with water, his ball), because he loves to sit in the drivers seat, no matter what, and just watch. He’s happy there.
We’re still in the process of teaching Alder now to be a gracious guest. We’ve yet to break his initial excitement when people come through the door. He usually settles right down, but if not … out to the van he goes.
We know he’s not perfect, and we’re always thankful when our guests are gracious in return, as we are when we go to friends’ homes with pets!
Here’s the question today:
Do you keep your animals in the house when you entertain? Or, do you do as we do, and watch the “body languages” of your guests?
Dog recipes to try:
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
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I like dogs. I’ve always had at least one. Recently, I went to visit my brother for an afternoon. I had not seen him in nearly two years because of medical things and other complications. He sat on his sofa across from me, my sister on the other sofa, and held on to his two Chihuahuas while we tried to converse. The whole time, these dogs were staring at me and snarling, and they would make little lunges toward me if I moved my arm or my hand. I felt it was extremely disrespectful that my brother would allow this, no matter how he felt about the dogs. I felt he could have put them in another room for an hour or so. I was extremely uncomfortable, and I do not plan to go back there again.
The owners certainly were not sensitive, were they? Sorry about your bad experience.
Hello! My problem with my dog Nappy is a little different. When people do come over I have tried putting him in his crate or settling him in my room but the second there is a door between him and people he will bark constantly and loudly. He just gets really upset when I am not directly in his sight. Luckily though, he is a very well behaved dog who does not jump on people or beg from strangers/anyone not me so he now stays out. Usually after he’s made his rounds saying hi to everyone he goes over to the couch and sleeps on his pillow (he loves sleeping on couch pillows rather than beds so he’s claimed a very specific pillow). Once he’s asleep he stays asleep and only wakes back up if someone starts petting him. Hence the name Nappy. Also I seem to have a cat who is freakishly social. Her name is Tanisha and honestly she’s worse than the dog because she’s a Bengal and will start yelling at people for some bizzare reason like they looked at her to long or something. She’s actually more of a food stealer than Nappy if theres a plate on tbe table. She also is like Nappy though where if she gets put in the bedroom she starts yowling and hollering which gets annoying quick but she usually stays there because of the food stealing. Good thing she stops talking after about 15 minutes.
I have a 3 year old chocolate lab and a 4 year old yorkie. Initially the yorkie was very excited when people come over and wouldn’t leave them alone. But now if I tell guests to ignore him when they walk in until he settles down, he usually becomes uninterested and chews his toys. As for the 3 year old lab who is basically 100lbs, he not only wants to jump on guests but will not leave guest alone once they have been in my home for hours.
We have tried removing the dogs from the excitement, but the chocolate lab whines and cries the whole time in the basement until our guests leave.We have tried toys to keep the lab busy but he still whines and howls. Whenever he is not with us or in a different room he whines and cries for attention. I have tried everything and I am at my whits end. I love to entertain but our laborador will not leave our guests alone and the majority of my family are not dog lovers, so it makes it hard to have guests over without removing my dog. How do I teach my dog to stop whining so much and to sit nicely when guest are around?
Our yorkie is fine with strangers and leaves them alone, but our lab is relentless.
HELP
Hello Sandy! I like your Haggis, It looks very cute, Do you have naughty pictures of it or it does not naughty? I like Funny Pet Pictures, If you have some funny pic of haggis so share with me or upload on your post.
This is a hard issue, I love my friends but have a difficult time when the pets are greeting me at the door jumping, licking, or jumping up on the couch by me. I try to be polite, friendly and pet them but truly inside it is annoying the you know what out of me. Chances are if your guest don’t have pets inside their home, then they don’t for a reason, allergies or just don’t like indoor pets. I am usually praying all the way to their home that they have put their dog away before I get there, it makes me really nervous & uncomfortable. I feel guilty just writing this…
I see clients in their homes that is my job, and several have pets so I’ve gotten used to them a bit, but cat allergies are no fun either. I recently went to a friends, sisters home for a quick visit while she was back in the state for a visit, my 4 yr old and 2 yr old grands and I were bombarded at the door by a huge Lab and Collie, knocking the kids down, licking them etc… it was very uncomfortable.
I would venture to guess that alot of people feel as I do and really wish their friends would just put the pets away for the couple hours guests are there, it would make the get together much more enjoyable & less stressful for guest who aren’t so comfy with indoor pets.
We have a very calm, loves people (but doesn’t jump), doesn’t bark or growl cocker spaniel who listens to commands, but when guest come over we often put her in our bedroom or outside in the fenced back yard. Even when guests come that are comfortable with Miss Macy we will often let her out back just before they arrive to avoid the excitement of that initial arrival.
On the other hand, my parents, own a Jack Russell that is about a year old and a very loud barker, high jumper (literally jumps up into your face) and they have no control but they don’t seem to see the need to put him away as they think his antics are cute. Unfortunately, we and their grandchildren, don’t agree and we have had to ask them to put their dog away and my children won’t stay at their house now because of the dog (which the Grands don’t understand.) It is an awkward situation for us.
Also, some guest just fear dogs no matter how well behaved/small they are (I have a bit of a fear of tiny dogs as I have experienced them to be a bit snappy.) and I would never want anyone to feel uncomfortable in our home because of that so we let Miss Macy take a break if needed!
BTW, your pup is adorable!