I have a question. The holidays are coming and family will be coming over. the kids will want to play with our puppy "Cody". Of course since COdy is only 14 weeks old, and we have only had him a couple of weeks, all we have taught him so far is come and sit. We want him to be social with our family, but realize he doesn't really understand yet when we will correct him for jumping and getting carried away with play. He is just really grasping the word no. Do you think it would be better to keep him away from family until he is older, or use this as a training/socialization experience. We could also bring him out to meet the family and then put him away. What do you seasoned dog trainers think? He is a well rounded pup, a jack russel mix and is very friendly. We just don't want to develop bad habits like jumping etc. Thank you for your input.
God bless you
Sharon Empson

Little kids?

Yes connie: They are little, the youngest is 5, 7 and 12. THey are good kids and the five year old is a natural dog trainer, I would never leave them alone with the pup. But just the confusion of the kids and playing I know will get everyone all excited, and corrections for behaviors I do not want Cody to do may get missed. I do not want Cody to jump up or mouth the kids, (or whatever else little unmannerly pups do at that age) and have these behaviors go uncorrected. At the same time he is just a little guy and hasn't learned his manners yet, I would probably be correcting him alot before he has even had a chance to understand what he is doing wrong. I don't feel good about that. Basically is it better to have the little guy miss most of the action and interaction at this age or should I use this as an apportunity for socialization with big humans, little humans too? I am sorry I am having a hard time describing what I mean.
thanks for your advise
Sharon Empson

Sharon,

To be honest, with the Holidays being busy and somewhat disorganized, I would keep the dog crated. It will difficult to monitor what is going on with the puppy.
If there are just one or two visitors and you can take the time to properly instruct them on how to "act" around your pup then I would say go for it and make sure you tell them what you want them to do when the pup first comes out.

If they are really little kids then I would not.

When we have visitors, my dogs are crated or in their outside kennels. If they want to "meet" the dog then I tell them that I will bring the dog out (or into the house) and I tell them to ignore the dog at first, then, once the dog finishes their initial "sniff, sniff" they can give the dog a treat. My dogs are all older now and pretty much stick to me when in the house even when there are "new" people visiting, or they go to their crates.

When they were out of control puppies, it would have been chaos to have them out with a bunch of visitors. I can just see them jumping up and trying to snag something off of a plate of snacks, or just in general, picking out the one person that does not really like dogs, and bugging them to death.

They do not mind a pat or two, but if they want to be petted they come to me (or Doug).
When we are out training they are absolutely fine and love to be rewarded by their "victim" but things change a bit at home. Home is pretty much there "relaxing" mode and they like to be in their crates, at my feet or outside.

My dogs are also TOO high drive to have in the house with a bunch of visitors AND/OR Christmas decorations, I had to move my tree and also pick it up off the floor twice since the Mal and Dutch thought the round decorations were toys to jump up and try to grab. (and that was a week before Christmas)

Dear Carol: thank you for your advise. THis will be their first Christmas, I will be watching the tree.
I didn't want to not socialize the pups properly, but the word is properly. I just don't think in the busy activity all around that I could monitor every thing as I should, and I didn't want the pups to begin bad behavior. I want them to start out right.
Bindi I am not worried about, she sticks with me most of the time and she is older, almost 1-1/2. But Cody is only 14 weeks old and has no manners yet. Thank you for your input, I agree and think it is the best course of action.
May God bless you
Sharon Empson

Sharon, what I would do is have the puppy put away when your guest arrive. After people have all come in and are settled down, you should explain that you would like to bring the new puppy out to visit them and how they are to behave around the puppy. Explain that you are training him and they should not pet him or give any eye contact if he jumps up, only if he is sitting nicely (for example).

Then, once everyone has been briefed, bring the puppy out on his drag leash and allow him to visit with the guests. Have the kids throw a ball or toy for him and praise when he brings it back.

After a while put him back in his crate in another room (cover it if you have to so he doesn't cry too much). Give him a stuffed Kong or a bone so he has something to do, if he is fussy. He might just be worn out and sleep. After the meal, bring the puppy out again to play.

By only bringing him out at certain times, you can avoid getting him overwhelmed by all the activity but still not lose out on an important socializing time for the puppy.

Hope this helps.

Debating over what to do for the holidays as well with our 7 month old. We had guests over last week and he was being annoying and I put him in his crate and he whined and barked so much that we couldn't hear ourselves talk. Our friends have 7 dogs so they preferred our dog be out and quiet. But there will be more people and kids around for the holidays. I'm going to try the crate in the garage with music and a frozen steak, but I'm not sure how long that is going to last as the smokers hang near the garage. I thought about putting a lead on him, but I'll never be able to hold him and cook. Outside isn't an option as he'll bark and annoy the neighbors and I don't think they want to hear that on Christmas Eve. Houses are close in our neighborhood and there isn't a lot of space inside or outside.
Maybe when we get tired of listening to him whine in the garage I can bring him in and put him in the family room with my much older kids 14-28 since it has a door and that's where they'll hang out. Toddlers will only be upstairs.

Leslie,

Try crating him before your company arrives.

Angela,

The only issue I have with this is that everyone will be in an "excited" mode due to the Holiday festivities. My "grandkids" are all wound up when they first get out of the car.
Excited kids and higher drive dogs really do not mix.

Presents, food, family that has not seen each other in a while. Everyone hugging, talking over others so that they can hear their own conversation, presents being out under the tree....ect.
In my personal experience, it is too much excitability for the pup.

I personally do not think it would be fair to make everyone be quiet while the "rules" were explained and then asking them not to pay attention to the dog. "Grandma" and "Young Joe" are going to talk to the dog and want to pet it, not matter what you say to them.
If it were just a Wednesday night dinner that was a normal thing for a family, I would do it since the excitement levels would be rather low.

Oh good idea, crate him before people get there, didn't think of that. Although with our older kids home, they'll be a full house all the time. My thought was he wouldn't notice one or two people coming at a time, hopeful but not too realistic. We don't have a doorbell anymore(had to eliminate that for our old crazy terrier). My big issue is the two toddlers. I wouldn't worry at all, with the 5-6 people who will come over on top of our 5-6, but the toddlers he'll just knock over. My 85 year old mom can fend for herself!(only kidding). If I could just get him out for a long walk or get my daughter to run him a bit, that would help and then crate him while the toddlers are there, that might work. I just know he's going to bark a lot in the crate, no matter when I put him in.