Preparing a new dog for Trick-or-Treaters (tacran)

Oops, I should've included the crate as option 4!  We definitely could do that; she's crate trained.  The reason we'd hesitate is because she'll have been in it a lot already that day since we'll have been at work.  2 or 3 more hours in it at night may be too much.  Her energy level is such that too much time in her crate creates some misbehavior (like high-pitched demand barking or 100 mph zoomies around the house, leaping over furniture)!  It's like releasing the Tazmanian Devil when she's been in it too long! 

tacran

Is it as simple as the three of us going to the door everytime, DH holding her a couple feet back trying to keep her in a sit, and me passing out the candy?

This is what I've done with new dogs who aren't used to a lot of door activity and excited kids. I start out about ten feet away. I'd also have your DH feed her lots of treats if he can capture her sitting calmly for a nanosecond.  lol  He may be able to gradually get closer and closer to the door if she's doing well. 

 Of course, if you think she's getting too worked up, you could crate her for a bit and try again in a few minutes.  Lots of physical exercise before the kids start arriving might help and some obed training refreshers beforehand.  It took Twister a few Halloweens before he learned the drill.  He used to get super excited because he loves kids and loves company over. lol  I plan on doing the above with Gabby if we have any trick or treaters. 

tacran

The reason we'd hesitate is because she'll have been in it a lot already that day since we'll have been at work.  2 or 3 more hours in it at night may be too much.

Understandable.  I think Jackie's advice is good.  (I don't hand out candy any longer, so it's not been an issue for many years).

 I confess that I dread Halloween.  We have worked with Bugsy since he was a wee baby to not be so excited about the doorbell but it is one of those things that gets really good for a while and then it becomes 'ding-dong' = insanely excited oversized mutt.  I thought we were going to be fine this year as he's been better about the door but the other day someone rang the bell and it turned him into a nut. Sigh.

So we will keep him on a leash on Halloween, inside, and keep him (attempt to) in a down away from the door while one of us hands out candy.  With kids we know it is REALLY difficult to keep him calm but we usually let him go out and visit those kids (the kids insist).  At some point when it is 'enough' for all of us he'll go upstairs to the TV room with DH and either be blocked in that room or crated (his crate is in there)

We get a lot of activity over a few hours, then once it dies down we just turn out the lights and that is that.

Jackie as always has given you great training advice - I'm mostly here to say I understand LOL (especially the zoomie part and flying over furniture)

JackieG

He may be able to gradually get closer and closer to the door if she's doing well. 

JackieG

Lots of physical exercise before the kids start arriving might help

An aside -- I understand why some folks want to be out early with the really young kids, but once we had a group arrive just as we were walking in from work!  I do enjoy seeing some of the little kids in costumes, but I admit that it's tempting to just boycott it.  The number of older kids (i.e., teens) who come really bugs me (especially if they don't wear a costume) and the expense of so much candy is crazy!

Karen, I missed your reply while writing my last post.  There are many things you describe about Bugsy's energy level (like zoomies) that remind me of Ruby, so we are on the same wave-length here!  It's quite likely we'll get to where we dread Halloween, too.  With Tonka, it was a joy -- he loved kids and was so mellow -- most kids would see him at the door and say, "Hey it's Tonka!" because everyone knew him from our walks.  Some kids nearly forgot to get their candy because they were so busy petting and hugging him.  It was a love-fest, but he did have a limit, because after about 2 hours, he stopped following me to the door!

Unfortunately, our floor plan is such that the main floor is kind of one big room, in sight of the front door.  And that main space is where her crate and the TV is where DH will be.  To keep her away from the activity would mean moving her crate into a bedroom and shutting the door, which we may do for "mini" time-outs like Jackie mentioned. 

I hear you on the excitement being because they don't come inside and on the two hour run needed to tire out a dog that age and energy level.   We've had the same problem with people coming super early and the teens too.  :( 

Halloween is a difficult time when you're training a young dog like Ruby and me with Gabby.  I'm sort of hoping we don't get too many and last year we had none, but that would be the lazy way out. lol  Gabby does seem to take her cues from the older dogs with this sort of thing and they are good at the door.  Twister does go out on the porch but he's just trying to round the kids up and bring them inside. lol

ETA, if I had been smart I'd have gotten some neighborhood kids to ring the door and be all excited and loud so I could do the training before Halloween.  Maybe I'll try and do a little of that this weekend.

JackieG

Twister does go out on the porch but he's just trying to round the kids up and bring them inside.

I imagine the majority of dogs probably don't deal well with Halloween.  Let's face it -- it's not exactly normal activity for the average household.  I bet our doorbell rings once every couple weeks on average.  To have it ring a gazillion times in one night is enough to make most dogs behave differently, no matter how mature or trained they are!  I think the idea of "practice runs" is a good one.  Maybe we can try to do that with the kids next door this weekend. 

We would be concerned about how best to handle this no matter what new dog we had, but we're extra-sensitive to this kind of activity (i.e., involving lots of people, especially kids) because Ruby is a pit-bull mix, and we're trying to do the best we can to make her a good ambassador for her breed.  Her size and overall "look" puts some people off right away (even though some of the "cute, little dogs" in our neighborhood are far more likely to nip or snap).  Since there's some prejudice out there, we're trying to be pro-active, and we know she's got a long way to go after only being with us 6 months!

I've been sick this weekend and at this point just do not feel like dealing with 3 large dogs and how they *might* react to trick 'r treaters so I'll just be keeping them all away from the front door.  I can either baby gate them in the basement, put them out in the yard (they don't normally bark at people walking by), or crate them in the kennel-van.  It will likely be option 2 or 3, since they will probably whine if they are gated in the basement and can hear the doorbell.  I'm going to meet friends for tracking, obedience, and protection in a little bit and will pick up some raw marrow bones on the way home so they have something nice to do.

Both Nikon and Pan were only about 3 months old at Halloween (different years, 2008 and 2010) and I have a cute little pumpkin shirt for puppies.  I would keep them on the front step with me to socialize while handing out candy.  This year I don't have a puppy and I respect that a lot of kids (and parents) are wary of German Shepherds so I don't feel the need to include them.

I couldn't find a single kid handy this weekend to practice halloween doorbell ringing.  I think Gabby will do ok. 

Leslie, I agree that Halloween has to be one of the most stressful times for pets.  Kudos to you for making sure Ruby is a great ambassador of her breed.  :)

Well, we decided to take the lazy way out . . . my husband is taking Ruby to his friend's house, which is in a very remote area and completely trick-or-treater free!  His friend is bringing their dog, Max, who loves Ruby, so they will spend the night wrestling with a tug-toy while DH and his friend watch a movie -- "Sleepy Hollow" (the one with Johnny Depp).

So, no training opportunities tonight, but no stress either.  Now my dilemma is whether to hand out candy at all.  I haven't bought any yet.  I'd like to see a few of our neighborhood's young ones in costume, but other than those 8 or 10 kids, I don't feel like dealing with the dozens of others who will be knocking.  As people have posted on other threads -- we get groups of kids that are dropped off from mini-vans coming from nowhere near our neighborhood.  It bugs me to have to buy so much candy for so many kids I don't even know! 

Well I can speak to the power of marrow bones!  I put all three dogs in my van in the driveway, each with their marrow bone.  A few times I'd see these crazy costumes coming down the street and think surely Nikon will bark at this one....nope!  Our property is tiny, so the trick 'r treaters were walking within 10 feet of the dogs who can easily see out the windows (plus they were open).  No one made a peep other than slurping on their bones.

Liesje

No one made a peep other than slurping on their bones.

Well, we've got a year before we have to deal with Halloween again, so hopefully we'll have had more opportunities to prepare her by then!