Carolyn, Is this newly adopted dog crate trained?

Do your dogs spend time in their crate now?

I foster, and have family members & friends with their dogs here all the time. My dogs have been used to this since pups so really are not phased by it.

If you crate/separate/rotate, do you think your dogs will wig out with another dog in the house?

I completely understand you wanting to reciprocate - you visited with your dogs, it would be a nice thing to do, to be able to return the hospitality, all I will add is having had the devastating, heart breaking and terrifying full on fighting within my own pack, my personal nightmare scenario, was that another innocent dog, (or person) would be subjected to a dog that went from standing still, apparently calm, to full blown ferocity and deadly intent, in a second.

Once the attack has begun, it is extremely difficult to pull the powerful dog full of intent, off the weaker dog, who never saw it coming, if you are in any way unsure of your dog's reaction to a 'stranger' on his territory, I would consider the ramifications of trying to even rotate and separate.

I hope you don't mind me making this point Carolyn, a house full of happy and friendly dogs is an absolute joy, the opposite is something that can traumatize and haunt you for a long time.

I just wanted to follow up for anyone faced with similar questions:

Visit went very well. I set up my dogs' crates a few days prior to family arriving. When they arrived, a family member took their dog across the street on leash, and I took mine out one at a time so that they'd catch the scent and see where it was coming from (several feet between us, no greeting). We both made the dogs sit and wait calmly for a few moments before going inside one at a time.

Following that, either I had mine in the crates, or they had theirs closed in the guest room. Overall things were pretty calm, we just played musical dogs all weekend. One interesting thing was that if one started barking (at the neighbor's cat, for instance), they all barked, even though they aren't a 'pack'.

I have to admit I was surprised that Jake took it so calmly. They did catch sight of each other through the screen door to the back yard once, creating some agitated barking, but closing the solid door quickly stopped that; we limited sight completely for the rest of the weekend and had no further problems.

Not saying this same scenario would turn out the same way for anyone else, just that it ended well for me despite some of my apprehension.

Thanks as always-

eta: should have also mentioned that I kept my dogs' crates in my bedroom, out of the way of most of the house circulation.

That is awesome. As awkward as musical dogs can be, you were well-prepared and handled everything appropriately. Your family members seemed understanding, and there were no hurt feelings.

What a terrific outcome, and I bet y'all had a wonderful visit.

LB forum rules!

You did good, Carolyn! I'm so glad you posted back about it.

Excellent. Nice.