nickyleari Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 I am having guests over tonight and am worried about my new foster and his nipping. Would it be best to muzzle him and let him stay at the party or should I crate him? We have only had him a week and don't trust him yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 IMO, crate, absolutely. A rescue dog can takes months, even a year to settle comfortably into a new house/family. You should be taking things very slow with him, and I wouldn't expose him to a party atmosphere and lots of new people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickyleari Posted August 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 that's what I thought, thanks I am having guests over tonight and am worried about my new foster and his nipping. Would it be best to muzzle him and let him stay at the party or should I crate him? We have only had him a week and don't trust him yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetlander Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 IMO, crate, absolutely. I agree. Crate him so he doesn't need to deal with the stress and you don't need to worry about where he is, how he's doing and what he's doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra s. Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 Does it have to be one or the other? If he's reasonably comfortable with new people, I'd take the chance to let him meet them BEFORE they get loud, and then take him to a quiet room later so it doesn't get too overwhelming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickyleari Posted August 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 Sorry I am new to this but what does IMO mean.. I agree. Crate him so he doesn't need to deal with the stress and you don't need to worry about where he is, how he's doing and what he's doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickyleari Posted August 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 Love your dogs picture... He has nipped two people coming into our house so I don't want to take the chance of him doing that and I don't want to stress him. His behavior is changing daily, I think because he is becoming more comfortable. He is getting more rambuntious at the dog park and I don't want to be worried about him with company over. Does it have to be one or the other? If he's reasonably comfortable with new people, I'd take the chance to let him meet them BEFORE they get loud, and then take him to a quiet room later so it doesn't get too overwhelming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra s. Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 Sorry I am new to this but what does IMO mean.. In my opinion Love your dogs picture... Thanks I suppose if you're not comfortable with him meeting them, then he won't be comfortable, either. He'll have to learn to accept people coming in someday, but I agree, it doesn't have to be right now if you feel he's just settling in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 You may either crate him or not but more important he should be in a quiet room that your guests will not enter during the party. Crating him in the middle of the action is only marginally worse (ETA: I meant "only marginally better") than muzzling him and forcing him to interact with all those strangers would be. Basically what you need to do is avoid a stressful situation that will only be a bad learning experience for a shy dog with anxieties about strangers. A party will probably be too high stress to be a training opportunity, so it's better to manage the environment. IF he seems comfortable and your guests follow directions well, you might take him out and lead him around the guests with plenty of treats without allowing the guests to mob him a couple of times for short periods of time during the party -- then be sure to put him right back before he gets overwhelmed. However, if the party is very crowded and your guests are not good at following directions (if they are likely to mob him or try to pet him even if he is scared) I wouldn't do this. If you are not sure, I would err on the side of caution and not bring him out at all, especially since he has already nipped people. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 You may either crate him or not but more important he should be in a quiet room that your guests will not enter during the party. Crating him in the middle of the action is only marginally worse than muzzling him and forcing him to interact with all those strangers would be. Ah, yes. Excellent point, Melanie. I just assumed (I know what that makes me! No comments, please. ) that the OP meant to crate him in a separate room, but it was a great idea to make sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra s. Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 Ah, yes. Excellent point, Melanie. I just assumed (I know what that makes me! No comments, please. ) that the OP meant to crate him in a separate room, but it was a great idea to make sure. That makes two of us then I assumed the same. Hi Melanie, did you get that PM? My "Sent Items" folder is empty, so I'm not sure if I did it right. The new boards still have their secrets! I tried to send you the picture you would like to use, but I don't know how to do it over these boards without shrinking it to photobucket size. Maybe you can PM me an email address that I can send the full version to? Sorry, back to topic!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dog fan Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 And give him a really good reason to be in the crate A nice meaty bone could keep him occupied and hopefully take his minf off the noise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickyleari Posted August 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 Thanks for all the advice. I ended up having him play ball for quite a while to get tired before the guests arrived. I let him stay out while the first few came. I told them not to look or interact with him initially. It worked really well. He ran around with his ball in his mouth and inspected everyone and was very well behaved. Once too many people came I put him in his crate with a nice big bone and he was happy. I am so proud of him. He had 7 guests come and he was composed around all of them. It worked out great. Now lets hope that we can continue to build on this. He is sitting here giving me the loving look, I adore. And give him a really good reason to be in the crate A nice meaty bone could keep him occupied and hopefully take his minf off the noise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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