Snarled At Visitor

[amalexia]

Cameron loves people. She's always happy to meet people on walks, at stores (the few that we take her to, mostly the pet store where we get her treats, toys and other) and even at home when they arrive. When we walk, she will try to greet each person she sees. We've also had guests at our house multiple times since we've had her and she was always doing great (we have been enforcing a rule of not touching her if she is lying down and we give her plenty of space) although sometimes a little stressed (especially if the group is larger).

 

Yesterday, we had friends over (just two) for the afternoon and evening. She was fine at first: greeted them happily at the door, especially happy to get the special visitor treats (we have everyone who visits give one of these so that she associates that guests over mean tasty treats) and she settled down happily in her beds (she would switch between the more secluded slumberball in the living room and another bed which was in a more busy area of the main living area (we have one big open room for kitchen, dining and living room). At one point, she was laying down on the bed in the busier area and she snarled at one of our friends as he was walking by. Our friend is great with dogs and was not freaked out by this.

 

I took Cameron out to potty and told my husband to take the bed in the busy area away so that she wouldn't have to deal with people walking close by and stressing her more. Once we got back in, I gave her a bully stick on her slumberball to keep her occupied (and relieve stress with chewing) and she was fine for the rest of the evening (still stressed but fine). She eventually fell asleep and even dreamed.

 

My concern is twofold. First, this is new as she never had that kind of reaction to any guest at home. She still loves people and when on our walk this morning was happy to (try) to walk up to any stranger (we don't allow her to do do because not everyone likes dogs and I don't want to impose my dog to anyone; if they want to meet her, then we allow it), but I can't really put my finger on what happened that caused her to snarl like that. Anything we should be doing for this? We don't host all the time, but we do have people over usually around once or twice a month and I'd like her not to get worked up like that so that having people over doesn't get all of us worried or that we completely stop having people over.

 

Second, we are hosting our family next week, which will involve small children (ages 3 to 7). Given what happened yesterday, I think we will have her greet the people early and then put her in our spare bedroom with a baby gate to ensure everyone's safety and wellbeing. She'll have her beds in there with her water bowl and I might give her some interactive toys throughout the afternoon/evening to keep her busy if she is fretting (frozen Kong, licky mat, etc.). Does this sound like a sensible idea?

[ShebasMom]

Perhaps a muzzle if around the small children?

[Time4ANap]

If she was on her bed, she could have been asleep and just giving a warning as she sensed something getting close to her. They can and do sleep with their eyes open. A growl is a warning and just means that she isn't comfortable with whatever it is that's happening at that moment. Respect the warning and walk away. The bed is her space.

[greysmom]

Remember, a growl is just a growl - something to listen to and evaluate. It's not a sign of aggression (generally) and often is only pertinent in the actual moment. It (probably) doesn't mean much of anything except that she was uncomfortable in *that* moment. You *want* her to growl as it means she's communicating with you and not holding it inside, increasing her stress levels until it's not manageable.

 

Just like with children and large groups of people you need to keep an eye on her and how she's handling the party. Sometimes she'll be fine, sometimes she'll need a break in a quiet room to nap and recharge undisturbed. I personally probably wouldn't leave her in the bedroom for the whole party, especially if she likes people and attention, but it's definitely something to keep in mind as the party goes on. FWIW I would also not give her a high value treat like a bully stick or Kong in the midst of the party. It's too easy for a child to walk by and try and take it away, or just get to close for whatever reason, and you'll have another growl, or something more direct. Save the high value items for when she's by herself or in a calm environment.

 

And yes, if you have any doubts about how she's going to react, then her muzzle is an absolute must with small kids around, as is *close* supervision the whole time. If you or your husband will be busy and not able to keep an eye on her and her interactions with guests, then perhaps the bedroom is the safest option.

[Remolacha]

Remember, you haven't had her very long (anything less than a year counts a "new" in my book) so she is still adjusting to things. I think your plan for the family visit is a good one, especially with small children. I agree with Don, she was probably asleep, maybe just dozing, and was startled. I wouldn't worry about one growl, but be extra careful with the kids around.

[amalexia]

Remember, a growl is just a growl - something to listen to and evaluate. It's not a sign of aggression (generally) and often is only pertinent in the actual moment. It (probably) doesn't mean much of anything except that she was uncomfortable in *that* moment. You *want* her to growl as it means she's communicating with you and not holding it inside, increasing her stress levels until it's not manageable.

 

Just like with children and large groups of people you need to keep an eye on her and how she's handling the party. Sometimes she'll be fine, sometimes she'll need a break in a quiet room to nap and recharge undisturbed. I personally probably wouldn't leave her in the bedroom for the whole party, especially if she likes people and attention, but it's definitely something to keep in mind as the party goes on. FWIW I would also not give her a high value treat like a bully stick or Kong in the midst of the party. It's too easy for a child to walk by and try and take it away, or just get to close for whatever reason, and you'll have another growl, or something more direct. Save the high value items for when she's by herself or in a calm environment.

 

And yes, if you have any doubts about how she's going to react, then her muzzle is an absolute must with small kids around, as is *close* supervision the whole time. If you or your husband will be busy and not able to keep an eye on her and her interactions with guests, then perhaps the bedroom is the safest option.

 

Completely agree on the bully stick (well, and everything else in your post). I would never give that to her with children present. I gave it last night as we were only four (all adults) and all understood to leave her alone. That would otherwise not be something I would do.

 

She does seem to have a "shorter fuse" recently as she has been worried by the cat (we finally pinned it down with the adoption group and the trainer by filming her reaction) and a bit more stressed than usual and that is probably not helping her when we have people over so we'll see how she does next week but the bedroom might be the best option. I don't trust the kids much and neither the parents to enforce the rules (they all have family dogs at home and feel like Cameron will put up with whatever their dogs put up with (cuddling, hugging, laying on her bed, etc.). It's crazy to me how much people sometimes fail to try and understand why we have rules for Cameron as she is so new despite being an adult dog...

 

Remember, you haven't had her very long (anything less than a year counts a "new" in my book) so she is still adjusting to things. I think your plan for the family visit is a good one, especially with small children. I agree with Don, she was probably asleep, maybe just dozing, and was startled. I wouldn't worry about one growl, but be extra careful with the kids around.

 

Totally agree. She is still quite new. We just passed the six-month period with her and about 3 months ago, we definitely saw that the honeymoon period was over (silly us, we thought we were just lucky and she would never have some quirks!).

 

Part of it might have been our fault as we left her bed there in the first place (it really is in a busy place when we have guests and we normally don't keep it there so that she is not in the way). We now know that she has a bigger personal space bubble when with strangers hence why I think the bedroom is the safest thing with the small kids.

[juliemac]

consider baby-gating (or xpen) a part of the room off to keep youngsters from 'her space' without forcing her into a back bedroom away from the social part of the visit. And I wasnt clear how long the 'hosting' was scheduled for ... if it is more than a day, I might consider having a doggy playdate where Cameron can relax from having lots of strangers in her space. I do that with several friends (gives us safe coverage when we have to go out of town), and it is a godsend!

[amalexia]

consider baby-gating (or xpen) a part of the room off to keep youngsters from 'her space' without forcing her into a back bedroom away from the social part of the visit. And I wasnt clear how long the 'hosting' was scheduled for ... if it is more than a day, I might consider having a doggy playdate where Cameron can relax from having lots of strangers in her space. I do that with several friends (gives us safe coverage when we have to go out of town), and it is a godsend!

 

I'll see if we can baby gate the living room (where we put her slumberball when we have guests so that she has space of her own. That would probably make her feel more part of it.

 

People will be over probably between 3pm and 9-10pm so it won't be over multiple days.

[greysmom]

You can also use an x-pen to clearly define her space and to protect her from random little humans. It might be more useful if you have an open concept house without a lot of walls.

[amalexia]

Just wanted to update as we had the family gathering yesterday. We decided to opt for the room with a baby gate (that bedroom has full view on the main living area so it wasn't as if she wasn't part of the group). In advance of the gathering, we had started to put her in that room with a bed, a treat (raw turkey neck, bully stick, treat toy, etc.) everyday so that she had a positive association with the room. It did work as she is now super excited whenever we bring one of her beds in there.

 

On the day of, we placed both of her beds and her raised feeder in the room. We had her greet most guests and then we put her in the room and gave her some treats and a frozen Kong. It kept her occupied for a bit and then she would just come to the gate and receive pets from guests. Whenever she wanted some peace, she would go to one of her beds. We took her out for potty when needed and she was always happy to go back to her room. After her meal, she settled down and slept pretty much the rest of the evening, getting up only once for potty break.

 

We're quite happy with how it went. We ended up with a much less stressed and exhausted dog at the end of the night and it shows today as she has her normal amount of energy (whereas she would be very tired the day after we have visitors). I've never seen her this relaxed when we have visitors over. It also gave us peace of mind throughout the evening that she was fine and that the small kids were safe/not annoying her.

[Remolacha]

Glad everything went well! I think that would be a good solution for a lot of dogs during parties.

[Fruitycake]

Sounds like you hit your near-perfect solution.

[Banjoman]

Happy to hear it all worked out well for everyone but especially Cameron.