Radical Canines

It’s not often I have visitors at my house. Not nearly as often as I had them when I was in grad school, the downside and the perk of living in rural NH I suppose. Anyway, Ryder and Rumor are pretty well versed with visitors. They get excited but know the expectations and settle rather quickly. Rugby has had limited guests so he still needs to be managed and needs reminders of the expectations.

My brilliant boy Ryder has always loved having visitors, more people to adore him. Rumor as a puppy would grab the nearest toy (or shoe) and parade around with it, whining. You could look but if you tried to touch him he would pee everywhere without stopping his parade. He has thankfully outgrown the peeing entirely and the whining for the most part, the toy/shoe parade is something he will probably always do, but it’s adorable, so it’s okay!

Rugby on the other hand can be inappropriate, barking and jumping so he gets crated when visitors arrive. Once he has settled and the visitor has settled in, Rugby is allowed out with his muzzle on. I don’t think he would actually do anything but it gives me peace of mind and helps me relax. Depending on his reaction, sometimes he goes back into his crate after the initial greeting and sometimes he gets to hang out and eventually loose the muzzle.

This weekend, I was fortunate enough to get to see my sister (who I haven’t seen in person since June). She’s met Rugby on numerous occasions and there’s never been an issue but we still went through my normal routine for introductions since this was the first time she’s been to my house. Rugby was a bit obsessed and a smidge inappropriate. He wanted to be in her face being pet, sitting next to her, and was constantly sniffing her. Overall I have to say he handled his first overnight visitor quite well and after his initial alarm barking when she first arrived, he was quite good. It’s nice when dogs mature and grow out of/work through some of their weirdness.