Thursday, September 13, 2012

DoggyStyle: Pooches & Parties

Miss M is the hit of the party
We always joke that if Miss M were a human, she would be the Paris Hilton-esque social butterfly always needing to be out and about meeting people, but never sticking with one person too long. Miss M even knows the word "party"which causes her to stand at alert, and she even knows to start checking the front window when she hears me talking on the phone (apparently I'm so predictable I only talk on the phone when people are coming over?). 
I think it was Rescued Insanity who started a discussion about having parties when you have pups. Here are some things we've considered when having people over:

Lowering Excitement:
Since Miss M loves people more than anything, she has been conditioned to nearly explode each time she hears the doorbell. Hence the "Crazy Eyes". We started asking people not to ring the bell and just text when they're here so she doesn't get overly excited. She loves being the welcome committee at the door, and if she is too excited we also have her stay in her bed where she can only come out when she is calm.

On Food & Wine:
We are really lucky that are pooches are respectful and they won't eat food off the tables or off of people's plates, which are often left at eye-level during a party. We actually practice the "wait" command each day before they're allowed to eat, which has translated into respect for our human food. The one problem we do have is the pooches is 'happy tush'; they are so excited to meet people, their wiggling can translate into spilled wine glasses. Now we always make sure to use stemless wine glasses which are a bit harder to topple over, and we like these.

Party & Dog-Friendly Furniture:
We realized the furniture we chose for being dog-friendly also doubles as party-friendly seating. We have a series of lightweight ottomans and stools that double as side tables and foot rests and are easy to move for vacuuming and clean-up. The best part is they are easily moved around to create more conversational seating.

What are some other ways you have successful parties along with your pooches?



9 comments:

Taylor G said...

Our biggest problem with Mugsy is that he gets over excited when people walk in and will lend to jump on people. Most "dog people" understand but others get scared because of his size. If you survive the first 10 minutes in the house, he turns into a big baby and will try to cuddle up or be right next to our guests (Shannon and I dont exist anymore). Anyone have any suggestions on how to limit/avoid the first 10 min of chaos?

How Sam Sees It said...

BOL - we haven't tried!

Sam

Luv My Rosie said...

I think Miss M and Rosie must be sisters. All my friends know not to rind the bell and she always knows when Im on the phone that someone is coming over. Too funny!

Christine said...

It's the opposite of Miss M's reaction, but having a shy dog who used to cower under the kitchen table and tremble uncontrollably when people came over, we started keeping her on the leash for the first 15-20 minutes, where we could lead her to a quiet area (behind the kitchen island), have her do sit stays and eat treats, then eventually take the leash off when she was calmer. It helped and we don't need to do it anymore...maybe it could work for an overexcited dog too?

Sarah said...

Our Maggie believes that every visitor to our house is DYING to play fetch with her. Thankfully, most of our friends think it's cute and oblige. Because her behavior doesn't harm anyone (unless you consider having a myriad of toys dropped at your feet harmful), we just tell our guests to feel free to ignore her.

All the dogs get Kongs at dinnertime, if dinner is involved in the party, to make them less annoying to our eating visitors.

Hurley has graduated from stealing food from the table at the beginning of the party to waiting until we've had a few drinks, are not paying attention, and steals leftovers. Progress, right?

SherBear said...

There are few things Nala loves more than parties!!! She truly believes everyone has come over just to celebrate her and how cute she is. She knows she isn't allowed to eat food off plates or tables so she just likes to stare at ppl when they eat (everyone is instructed do NOT feed the dog as that would create a monster), although one time some grilled veggies fell onto the floor, probably one of the fondest memories of her life! Nala's party activities include greeting guests, collecting shoes (only her favorite people's), staring at you while your eating, taking center stage in the middle of the room to chew her bone, cuddling on the couch and finally either passing out on the couch or in the middle of the floor while sighing dramatically...it's a hard life being a doggie host!!

Two French Bulldogs said...

Ms M you sound like my Lily. Forget dogs. She is a #1 people person socialite
Benny & Lily

SherBear said...

I should also mention hosting parties has been wonderful at showing people how amazing pit bulls are...especially some of my guy friends from neighborhoods where pit bulls are used as a tough status symbol. It's usually the ones who are slightly scared of dogs or haven't had much experience around dogs that are the most charmed by her (they are also the ones most likely to break my rule and try to feed her)!! I love to spy on people when they are interacting with Nala, whether it's talking to her (in the cute doggie voice), asking her for tricks and/or just petting/cuddling with her :-)

Kolchak Puggle said...

The only way you party at Casa de Kolchak is covered in dog hair. If you choose to sit down, Felix *will* climb in your lap, roll over and request a belly rub. Hopefully, my guests find it as charming as I do.

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