Today we had Den’s birthday party here at the house. It was a very busy day. Zeeke and Zoe went in their crates before the first people arrived, and stayed there for the most part. Zeeke spent most of the day barking and whining. He really hates hearing people in the house and not being able to do anything about it.

Zoe was really very funny. Every time I poked my head in the bedroom, expecting to see her flattened at the back of her crate, and she was sitting there at the front of her crate, wagging her tail eagerly. So after a few times of seeing that I laughed at her and let her out of her crate and said to her, “Trust me, you don’t want to come out.” I opened the bedroom door a crack, and she stuck her head out. She looked down the hall and did a very visible double-take, then pulled her head back in, looked at me in shock, and ran back into her crate. It was like she said, “Holy crap! What the hell is that?!” So she happily stayed in her crate!

Two of our guests really wanted to see her - they’d seen a few pictures that I have hanging on the wall, but really wanted to meet Zoe. So I did end up taking them both into the bedroom to see her - though not at the same time. I opened Zoe’s crate and she actually did come out (I didn’t force her to do anything, I just crouched down on the floor and let her come to me). Zoe spent most of the time scooted away down the side of the bed, but she did approach me (staying on the opposite side of me as the strange person), and even approached the guest (though didn’t get close enough to be touched). Then I put her back in her crate (all I did was say, “Zoe, crate,” and she ran in), and we left. And the two visits weren’t one immediately after another, she had time in between to chill.

But then about a half-hour later she started whining loudly. Now I’m positive she would not want to come out with all those people here, so I knew she had to go pee. Problem is, the bedroom is down the hallway, and the front door - the only door out - is across the living room. I’d have to take her through the entire crowd of people to get her out, no two ways about it. I believe that carrying her (and thus making her powerless) would be the worse option, so I clipped her leash on, got my boots on, and walked her through the living room. She slunk rather than walked, but she did come willingly, and she wasn’t shaking. Thank you, obedience lessons!!

When we came back in I sat with her in the hallway, leaving the bedroom door open. She’d circle around behind my back, go in and out of the bedroom. She was very nervous, but she wasn’t hiding in the back of the bedroom either. Now I should have stopped there, but I wanted to give her more time to acclimate. I left the office door open and shut the bedroom door (because it’s a veritable pig sty and my husband didn’t want people looking in!). Unfortunately a few minutes later some guests went down the hallway to get their coats from the office, and Zoe panicked, flattening herself to the floor. I reacted no better to be honest, jumping up to open the bedroom door to let her get out of the hallway. I should have done a better job there. Next time. I hope it won’t set her back. Gah, this training thing is such a learning experience… each of my dogs have had such different personalities, they need to be managed in very different ways!

Now Zeeke… he’s another matter entirely. He frustrates me. One of the guests who came in to see Zoe wanted to see Zeeke too, so I let him out of his crate. His behavior was HORRIBLE. Thankfully he was just very excited-happy, because if he had done his barking/aggressive-posturing bit I would have thrown him back in his crate. However, his behavior was still completely obnoxious. He was whining/whimpering the entire time, circling, licking, pawing, and a couple times he jumped on her. I immediately corrected him for the jumping, but I didn’t have his prong collar on him so it barely made an impact. After the second time I put him back in his crate - there’s just no way he can be allowed to greet guests if he behaves that badly. The ONLY reason I even attempted it was because this particular guest has a great dane and is totally unphased by it, but that is still not acceptable behavior. So, next time we even attempt it he will have his prong and leash on.

So, mistakes were made, yes indeed. Let’s try to learn from them.