Dog and Christmas

sassyblue

aileth wrote: »

I'm going to suggest we all go for a boxing day walk (that is the day when we'd be seeing them anyway). If they're not interested, I'll say that me and OH will bring pup anyway and take all the dogs out by ourselves :cool:

You're not listening to them aileth. They've asked you not to bring your dog.

You're normally a level headed poster but you've lost your sight on this one. It's only two hours your dog won't know any different.

I used to have an over excited dog and we would leave him at home on some occasions when we knew he wouldn't settle, it is the kindest thing to do. You just have to accept that not everyone is going to welcome or love your pet the way you do.

*Louise*

I'm sorry but I can see their point. Whether it's people winding up the dog or not, the fact is that there will be people there, and your dog will react to them.

You shouldn't be offended, but who really want's an excitable animal running about when there is already loads going on? Maybe once his training is complete he will be made more welcome by family members.

lee111s

Thank god I have a very dog orientated family! It's quite a disappointment when I don't take Lenny with me! He's a springer (mental) and all of my family think he's great! My cousins were quite upset once when I didn't take him due to being at the vets.

whitewing

It will be great for your dog to be home alone for a day. He can catch up on his sleep, chill out, play by himself and look forward to you all coming home. (I'm being wistful as part of me would love a home alone chill out day!)

tinkerbell28

sassyblue wrote: »

You're not listening to them aileth. They've asked you not to bring your dog.

You're normally a level headed poster but you've lost your sight on this one. It's only two hours your dog won't know any different.

I used to have an over excited dog and we would leave him at home on some occasions when we knew he wouldn't settle, it is the kindest thing to do. You just have to accept that not everyone is going to welcome or love your pet the way you do.

I agree.

I never understand how people can compare children and dogs. If my dog died, I'd be very upset. If one of my children heaven forbid passed, I genuinely don't know how I'd carry on.

It's perspective. A 2 year old dog is not a puppy and is fine to be left at home for a while. You did that with a 2yo child, you'd end up in prison. You can leave a Dog in kennels last resort if you've got to go away, you can't put a child in care for whatever reason.

From what I can see from the op, it's not a "round the corner journey".

I think the kindest thing to do is leave the dog. We have a hyper, excitable dog. He's trained but just can't help it, in certain situations.

So long car journey = lots of pent up energy. New surroundings, people, excitement, food, smells. Sensory overload. It's too much for an excitable dog. Which isn't fair on the dog, nor is it fair on anyone else.

I have to say I'm the same as another poster, when visiting family, I want to see my family, spend time with them, I also have young children to consider. I don't want to have to be chasing around the dog who has far too much excitement after being stuck in the car.

aileth

Thanks for the input everyone.

I didn't mean we'd take him anyway if they asked us not too, that's what I get for rushing a post out! I mean that if we asked them about the walk, they said no, I'd ask if they would mind us bringing him and me and OH taking them all out. If they still said no, of course we'd leave him.

Going to work on training him a bit more to relax and not be so highly strung. We've been working on it for a while and it hasn't been particularly effective so going to investigate other things.

Otherwise think we're going to have to drive the hour extra and leave him home with a Kong.

Like I've said a lot of times, it's not that I think he'll be sad because he's missing Christmas, of course he won't he's a dog, its just me being a bit emotionally over invested feeling that our (what to us) is a family member has been banished and it won't be the same.

He's having Christmas Day with my parents and us as they absolutely love him.

sassyblue

aileth wrote: »

its just me being a bit emotionally over invested feeling that our (what to us) is a family member has been banished and it won't be the same.

He is a lucky dog to have an owner love him so much but it's only a couple of hours if l may liken this situation to my little boy going to school..... he doesn't like going because he enjoys us all being together but time apart is good for us all - then we enjoy being together that bit more when we are back together.

lostinrates

tinkerbell28 wrote: »

I agree.

I never understand how people can compare children and dogs. If my dog died, I'd be very upset. If one of my children heaven forbid passed, I genuinely don't know how I'd carry on.

It's perspective. A 2 year old dog is not a puppy and is fine to be left at home for a while. You did that with a 2yo child, you'd end up in prison. You can leave a Dog in kennels last resort if you've got to go away, you can't put a child in care for whatever reason.

From what I can see from the op, it's not a "round the corner journey".

I think the kindest thing to do is leave the dog. We have a hyper, excitable dog. He's trained but just can't help it, in certain situations.

So long car journey = lots of pent up energy. New surroundings, people, excitement, food, smells. Sensory overload. It's too much for an excitable dog. Which isn't fair on the dog, nor is it fair on anyone else.

I have to say I'm the same as another poster, when visiting family, I want to see my family, spend time with them, I also have young children to consider. I don't want to have to be chasing around the dog who has far too much excitement after being stuck in the car.

I think sometimes this perspective is also unfair tbh.

You have children and a dog, I just have 'animal family' and no children. They are my pack or family. We don't mind if its not suitable for others in our extended family, we choose to be here with our pets at Christmas. ' Spiritually ' or ethically I believe life has equal worth, whatever the species, and while its a different type of life, and a different type of affection I think that whilst your perspective is perfectly normal its unfair to expect everyone to have that perspective, some people have another one. . Its not better or worse, but exactly that, different.

Now, what I do agree on is dogs are not children. My pets are my family, but in their own right, not as child replacements. They are valued as what they are. Their needs and wants are different from humans, and they are now (thankfully) all adult.

So e people's pets might indeed have different needs from upbringing issues ...separation anxiety for example, or health issues, like needing regular medication. Mine do not have separation anxiety but are almost never left a lone. For them a clue of hours with no one about probably is a bigger deal than the average dog in a working household.

I also found it interesting reading the thread for example that no one else picked up on a comment made by a poster where they talked about how their kids would behave around a dog and yet the hypothetical dog would be 'in the wrong' for being there. Shrug.


Its interesting that we can agree on the best course of action yet have tremendously different perspective.

lostinrates

sassyblue wrote: »

He is a lucky dog to have an owner love him so much but it's only a couple of hours if l may liken this situation to my little boy going to school..... he doesn't like going because he enjoys us all being together but time apart is good for us all - then we enjoy being together that bit more when we are back together.

Dogs aren't people, This is somewhat anthropomorphic. I have no problems with dogs being left alone for some time, in fact I think its probably a healthy situation for dogs in a modern lifestyle to be secure with being left alone BUT I think its a failing to to approach it from an anthropomorphic angle. That would be treating them as child replacements not doggy members of the family and it potentially does everyone a disservice if people forget dogs are dogs.

aileth

My dog definitely isn't the same as a child, but he is a strong, valued family member. My parents see me, OH and pup as a unit, but my in-laws do not.