So... It's Christmas tomorrow and I am a bit stressed. We are going over to my in laws place with Chewie. There will be 10 adults, 2 kids and 2 other dogs there. Chewie gets quite over excited around kids and dogs. It doesn't help that the 5 year old nephew thinks that running away from Chewie screaming, or screaming at him is great fun. Chewie tolerated this calmly for hours last time before eventually jumping on him, triggering about the 20th tantrum of the day... the other dogs are older, and the 10 year old Sheltie hates him, but is able to go hide upstairs. The other 2 dogs are also big barkers, and they set Chewie off barking, but somehow only he gets told off. On top of all this my in laws yell at Chewie when he does something undesirable, like taking food that was left at a height he can reach... really? I got so upset last time that I burst into tears after he got yelled at for being too boisterous around the 5 year old who had taunted him all day and just been a brat. Also, there's the food everywhere on Christmas. My OH thinks I'm being oversensitive, although he has had a word to his family about not yelling. But we will see if they listen. They probably think I'm crazy. We are going to take Kongs and make sure we get some alone time- no kids or other dogs. Is there anything else we can do?
Ugh, I feel for you @Chewies_mum, that sounds really stressful. I was supposed to be hosting Christmas for 9 this year, but because we have a kitchen/diner and that's the only room Luna is allowed in, I knew it would be a complete disaster because she just wouldn't be able to control herself with 6 new people sat down at the table. Her manners have come on leaps and bounds, but they're definitely not where they need to be to cope with a Christmas lunch I nominated my brother to host instead! How far away are your inlaws? Is it feasible to leave Chewie at home for a few hours in the peace and quite, and to pop home a few times in the day? Or are you travelling a distance and staying a while? If you can't do that, are you able to take his crate with you and let him stay in a quiet room when it all gets too much for him? Is there a way you can get the 5 year old to help you so that he behaves appropriately around poor Chewie? Maybe showing him how to teach Chewie how to cue a sit or a down? Or failing any of that, maybe just put the 5 year old in the crate? Good luck and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.
Unfortunately they live about an hour away. If it was an option I would rather leave Chewie at home. They have a very large house, so we might sequester ourselves somewhere when Chewie gets overtired and crazy. Unfortunately the 5 yr old is not very good at listening to anyone, so I tried to explain about behaving appropriately but he didn't care. I suspect crating him would be a great idea!
Ah I feel your pain, we took Isla to a family Christmas get together last weekend. She was so excited and although we keep her on a lead(because of their dog who's frightened of Isla) she barked and whined so much we had to leave and come home. My in-laws get cross and say she needs a good smack with a newspaper on her nose, which we completely disagree with and would never do which caused more problems. ☹️ I hope Chewie and you have a nice time and better luck than us! Merry Christmas
Oh yes, I get so heated and emotional over dog training issues! It is difficult to keep the peace sometimes. Thanks, and I hope you and Isla have a lovely Christmas too.
Is it feasible to keep Chewie in your car? A nice snuggly bed and a stuffed Kong could keep him quiet for hours, and give you an excuse to escape the mayhem every now and then to let him out and go for a little walk.
Unfortunately we are in the Australian summer and today is going to be a scorcher. We are going to take some frozen kongs to keep him busy though. And maybe a bed in a separate room, although he has serious fear of missing out and gets very cranky if he hears people having a good time without him. Fingers crossed!
LOL No the car's not a good idea then. I was thinking you were in the UK where it's quite a lot colder at the moment. Hope everything works out and you have a good day.
So... it went surprisingly well. Chewie was expectedly boisterous but played well with the 8 year old dog. The older dog did his own thing. He did steal one of the other dogs dinner, but the back door was left open so you can't really blame him. And he also tried to hump the 2 year old (human) briefly... Other than that he behaved reasonably well considering his age and all the chaos. And best of all, my mother in law seems to have taken our thoughts on dog training on board! I hope you all had a great Christmas.
Awesome! Glad it went well because your description of everything going in did not sound fun. Merry Christmas!
