Holidays are here, greeting us in all their comfort and cheer. With holidays descending on us comes the season where we glitter our social lives, many greets and meets lined up for weekdays, hot chocolates with a friend from school, or bonfire night with buddies from next lane. Some pet parents might be having a little trouble organizing a new year soiree with their pal running around being all jumpy. Once in a while, dogs get jittery at the sight of strangers at home. In such cases, having visitors can be a real game. But worry not, folks; we got your back. Following are some tips on how you can help your dogs deal cope with visitors at home.
Prep them beforehand
The wisest step towards the process would be to prepare your dog for the upcoming stream of guests visiting your home and how they can settle themselves. Take them for a quick walk to burn out all that extra energy. This will let them scoot out to tameness pretty early since they’d already be tired and are less likely to act haywire. You can also get your dog used to spending some time alone in quiet, so they don’t feel alienated when guests arrive.
Talking to visitors in advance
Prepping the dog can be backed by preparing the visitors as well. The ambience must stay comfortable for everyone present. Make a tab of your visitor’s proximity to pets if they are scared or fond of dogs. Let them unobstructedly share their concerns and priorities.
If they are scared of dogs, then keep your pup at a safe distance from your guests. If they are pet-friendly and shower them with suffocating cuddles, talk about it beforehand, depending on your pet’s preference.
Meet outside first
The sudden mix of strange smells around a familiar environment can be overwhelming for your baby. They might not take it well and act erratically. So as to familiarise yourself better, start with the greeting outside the house on neutral territory. It would help dogs to cope with visitors better if they entered and settled at home and were allowed to interact with each other. Seeing them all fixed in the familiar surrounding, the dominant factor will be canceled out.
Keep them occupied
Juggling between attending visitors and playing with your pet may get cumbersome. To avoid that, you can offer your bud heartwarming treats to munch on or brain-teasing toys that would keep them engaged.
Encourage calm
Both parties must remain calm, including you. If your dog is over-friendly and visitors even more so than 2 minutes into the arrival of your guest and the entire house will go bonkers. To avoid this chaos, you may explain about maintaining a reasonable distance and not promoting certain behaviors in dogs you disagree with.
Keep the boo at bay
The first few encounters with guests can be extra jittery with your usually decent babe going feral. Set up a barrier or gate for the first few training days to maintain distance between your dog and visitors. This doesn’t have to be permanent and can be ruled out once your dog has learned to socialize
To conclude, all new things take time. Accordingly, you need to be patient in order for your dogs to cope with visitors. Observe your pet keenly and watch their behavior in front of visitors and how it might vary. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so give them their jolly time, and things will eventually fall into place. Above all, in exceptional cases where your pet might behave excessively ballistic, you may seek professional help on Jaldee Vets to connect with expert veterinarians from the comfort of your home.