# Thanksgiving/Holidays and family staying with us



## DougAndKate (Sep 16, 2011)

Hi all, 

Just curious if you could give us any tips/advice on the best way to handle introducing large amounts of people walking through the door during the holidays? 

Tomorrow, Elroy (8.5 months) will be introduced to my mom, sister, brother-in-law and 15 month old nephew who will be staying with us for 4 days while we host Thanksgiving for 15 people. We know he's well-behaved around children, we've been practicing with our friend's kids - and we have no intention of taking our eyes off of him while he and the little one are together. Luckily my sister/BIL have a dog so it's a normal part of my nephews life. 

We've been doing extensive training on when people walk through the front door - having him "wait" on his bed and then just last night we did something new as I was getting in late from work - we basically ignored the entire situation; I walked in, he came over said hello and then went back to his nylabone (have I expressed how much we love Nylabones!) that he was in the middle of chewing on. Seemed to work rather nice, just not so sure how it will work when it's MANY, NEW people all at the same time. He knows not to jump and obeys the "off" command when he forgets :-\

Any and all advice welcome! We are very thankful for our Elroy (V/AmStaff mix) this Thanksgiving - it's been a bit challenging at times but we (the humans) have learned more about ourselves than we could've ever imagined. ;D
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!


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## kellygh (Oct 25, 2010)

It sounds like you have prepared the best you can. I have learned over the years that the challenges usually come from from the unknowns. Just because others have dogs does not mean they will react to yours just the same. For us, the challenges usually come from others allowing behaviors we do not. Good Luck


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

A few suggestions I would give.

Ask people to show up in smaller groups (2 or 3) at a time. The first group should be the most familiar with your dog. Then have the other small groups come in. Have each group ignore the dog for awhile before greeting. Ask them not to look the dog in the eye but to avoid eye contact. To a dog, eye contact with strangers is uncomfortable. In nature, eye contact is reserved for confrontation.
NO PATTING ON TOP OF THE HEAD. Dogs do not enjoy this. 

If in doubt, place the pup in the crate in your room with music on or the TV so it drowns out the strange noises. 

This will be stressful for the pup. When the majority of the folks have gone, then let him out and let everyone still there feed him by hand left over turkey. Try and keep the young kids from screaming and yelling around the dog. Tell the young ones that you want them to help train the pup. 

I could go on, but that gives you a couple ideas.

Next year you can serve pheasant for Thanksgiving.

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2011/11/pheasant-hunting-for-thanksgiving.html

Good luck.

RBD
http://redbirddog.blogspot.com


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

I agree w/ RBD that the body language should be low-key. Probably no approach and patting at first, just have people come in and sit down without trying to interact. As the parent of an unusually anxious V, I can vouch for the fact that visitors just standing over her or reaching out toward her from a standing position when she does not know them does not go well--although your V sounds much better adjusted than ours, some anxiety is normal in a younger dog with new people. Have everyone casually drop treats for him when they first meet him--and repeat as needed if he seems overwhelmed or shy. This will solidify in his mind that visitors and new people in the house are a good thing.


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## Mischa (Feb 17, 2010)

For us, there is no fear of strangers issue in our home. Mischa figures anyone coming in is a friend, and she does her butt wiggle/jump all over our visitors. We find it easier to keep her back with a leash. You might wanna try that if he gets too playful.

It will be hard to get everyone to stay calm when they will be excited to see you, your dog, and your Turkey!  But it won't be the end of the world if he misbehaves a bit either. 
He is very young and will have many more thanksgivings to be calm for. If you wind yourself up worrying what will happen, it probably will happen. 

It sounds like you're doing a good job training him at "wait" so try your best to enforce that one, and enjoy your weekend whether he misbehaves or not! 
If he is anything like Mischa, the true test will be keeping him away from everyone's dinner. 

Happy Thanksgiving!


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