Does your dog go to family get togethers?

My family gets together at least once a month for family birthdays. Dinner is held at one or another family member's house. I always take Misha with me. It's good for her socialization and I like having her there. Plus, I don't have to worry that she has torn up the house when I'm gone.

Almost everyone in the family brings their dog. Normally, there are no issues. Only two of the dogs can be trouble. They used to get along really well as pups, then as they aged they began to have conflicts. Both are 11 now and seem have mellowed some. The fights don't happen as often.

Yesterday, we celebrated three birthdays at my brother's house. Misha was already in her crate ready for the car ride a half hour before the party. She always knows! She looks forward to it so much.

She had a great time at the party. She loves the attention. She was only a problem when my nephew's two friends showed up. She barked at them for awhile. Eventually, she decided they were okay. She even sang Happy Birthday to You when it was cake time (this is her special talent). Today, she is exhausted. That's the other advantage of taking her with me. I usually have a very tired Jack Russell for 3 or 4 days afterward.

Do you take your dog to family get togethers when you can?

 

No but you sound as if you have fun taking Misha. My family lives on the other-side of Australia so the only family is my kids.
That Happy Birthday rendition sounds like a hoot. I bet you all have a great laugh together. I'm slightly envious that you have family close by. Well done Misha.

 

Argon, I think it's good for her to be around people, noise, etc., considering the issues that she has had. I get a kick out of how much she looks forward to it. My previous dog was the same way. She knew when we were having a party day. She would start following me around the house about 11 in the morning to make sure I didn't forget her.

The birthday singing is hilarious. I've never had a dog that liked to sing. I never taught her to sing. She started in at about 6 months old. Happy Birthday to You seems to be the trigger. At first, I thought maybe our singing was painful and she wanted us to stop. LOL She sings with us every time. A couple of times she's gotten so wound up in her rendition that the rest of us start laughing and the only one singing is Misha.

 

Yes and no.

For our current dog, he can't really be left at a kennel, so if we do go on a long trip to visit family, then he does come along. He doesn't necessarily participate in anything and gets mostly kept inside in his own room somewhere. But he does get to see everyone still. Otherwise, the "get togethers" happen at our place instead.

 

Well, my family is so far away with me in Maryland and them spread from Texas to Georgia to Michigan so we don't do family get-togethers often; the first visit home in 5 years was this past Thanksgiving and none of the girls went since I flew. I have taken Kotton to BBQs at her "mom-mom's" (East coast for Grandma) and she loves these! She gets to see her "Uncle Stevie" who was her best bud in the first year of her life until we moved. The other girls get to go for car rides and to PetSmart but no get togethers yet.

 

Nah. My aunt has this tiny little rat dog that wouldn't get along with the bigger dogs. My aunt always has to bring her dog wherever she goes. We just leave ours at home. She would have that little thing chewed to pieces in no time. It would also be more of a pain to have to watch her all the time as well. It is much nicer when I can just relax.

 

Absolutely, they go everywhere possible. Especially the outside get togethers. Some family members homes are small, and we're a large bunch without the doggies, so when getting together at their homes, the boys stay at home and look after things for us.

 

Usually - no. Homer is terrified of riding in a car so travelling would be a nightmare for him. Also, he considers most of my family members strangers because he doesn't see them often and for sure he would bark at them all the time.
I don't enjoy participating in family gatherings either so the two of us stay at home while my parents go to see our relatives.

 

Some family members used to come here when Christmas and Birthdays of our grandmother so, the family get together usually held here with our dog or dogs. We have not tired bringing our dog to other houses.

 

it happened only once when I was really small....and we had to go visit my grandmother as she was sick. She lived pretty far so my parents couldn't leave my dogs at home as we were staying over so they took the dogs with us to my grandmother.
Plus, my dad takes pups out for a car ride every Sunday afternoon. He loves that and sits like a boss in the car!!!!

 

Most of our family live abroad so it would not have been particularly practical. We would never have taken our dogs to anything on my mum's side of the family: they are mostly very scared of dogs. When two of my cousins on her side were very young, they even climbed up the doors of a lift to run away from a dog. The dog was not actually doing anything: it was on a leash with its owner when it came in.
Just to explain, the doors of the lift had a "zig-zag" shape for the opening so you could sort of climb on it.

 

Unfortunately no. We have relatives that believe they are allergic to dog hair even if they have never been tested. It really irritates me because when they come to our house even if they are not in contact with the dog or in an area where the dog has been they say they itch. I think that it's more their imagination but I have to be civil and consider their feelings on the matter.

 

I know that it may be annoying for you and it's quite possible that they're overreacting but, on the other hand, allergy can cause some really serious problems, I know because in my family, there are a few people who suffer from allergies They can get really sick if a dog - or whatever they're allergic to - is nearby, not necessarily in the same room. So it's better to be careful.