Has anyone a problem with people not wanting to come over

sometimes my parents friends or my little sisters friends are a bit reluctant to be friendly towards the dogs. They soemtimes make comments, sly remarks, about dogs on the furniture etc. We then make it quite clear that unless they are willing to respect ALL of the family (dogs and cat included) that they are not welcome in our home.

I don't have a problem with it.  My Mom's good friend wouldn't come over anymore after my Mom's dog finished growing though (he's about 130 lbs) because she was scared.  But how many dogs do you have dackelfan?  Even I'd be intimidated by a large enough pack of them at first.  When you live with them and add them one by one it's easy to get used to, but to people just coming in, it can be a bit much.

You know what Esther, I truly think they have no clue what they are missing out on.  No, some people just dont get it and actually wonder WHY... why so many, why on the couch, why inside... or like my family (some of them) why feed them the good food.  They dont get it.  Anyone who asks you this or leaves or anything mentioned has never had a real relationship with a dog and they really dont know how wonderful it can be... they see them as animals, big ones that take up space.  Its unfortunate for them... really, I feel sorry for them that they have not or will not experience the amazingness of a dog... but its their own fault.

Yeah,  my Mom is really afraid of dogs...all dogs.  I always crate them when she comes.  My sister is also afraid of them....go figure, she used to have a gsd.  Crates then as well.  Sis won't let my Mom drive alone to my house, so they never stay long since Sis doesn't like being away from home.

in reply to swamper:..eh(lol) very very good point. I did not look at it that way. To me they are family and I am used of all of them. Did not think about what kind of first impression they make and it would be too much for some people. You are absolutely right about that. We have 5 doxies plus a temporay one right now, one toypoodle and a couple of mutts.
Of course they bark at first, especially the dachshunds, but not for long. They play for a while and most of the day they just lie around the house and it's very quiet around here.
I love going over friends' houses that have pets.  A couple dogs or more. I feel right at home there and the dogs sitting on my lap, next to me or wanting to play with me is no bother. I love it.
 
In reply to glenmar: crating them is a good idea. I do that when I have company for only a little while but don't want to do that the entire time someone stays with us. I done that one time when we had a family of four stand in front of our door one day needing a place to stay. They stayed with us for a week until I helped them find an apartment. I felt so bad for our dogs and I just don't ever want to do that again.( They were not put up the entire time, but had bathroombreaks and they I put them back up.We have an extra room. I felt horrible. They wanted so much to be with us.). They live here, this is their home and I want to keep it as normal for them as possible.

Luckily I have not really encountered anyone who made comments about my animals (at least not to my face[]), not sure that I would put too much weight on what someone like that would say anyway though. I was actually surprised by my Dad and Step-mom who came to stay with us last summer. They love animals, but they aren't dog or cat people. I offered to put them up in an Inn when they came but they wanted to stay with us. They did great with our crew, not one complaint. [] Now my SO's daughter is scared of dogs, so when she comes over we will usually put the dogs away for a bit. She normally only stays less than an hour so the dogs have been ok in the yard. However, if they were planning a longer visit she would need to get over her fear beforehand b/c I will not leave my guys outside all day for something like that. Not that we pressure her, we just don't plan holiday get togethers at our house for now...she has gotten tons better so hopefully after a while she will be ok with the dogs.

So you have nine dogs? That's a lot of dogs.

I have only one dog because that's all my tiny apartment has room for.

The only time I've been uncomfortable with other folks' pets is

a)when I am super allergic to their cat. No one's fault there. That's just life. Every once in a while I'm allergic to a dog, the wirey haired ones, generally.

b) When the house smells like pee and poop. I can't tolerate that and won't want to stay long. It's not something I think anyone *should* get used to. Dog smell, fine. Dog/cat poop and pee, no. Not healthy.

c)When the dog or dogs keep growling and snapping at me. I'm NOT comfortable with aggression, especially when the owners act as if I should tolerate it. This happens almost solely with little dog owners.

Hi Esther,
you have 9 dogs? We only have an apt. so it would probably be a little...uhh..tight?? [] But it sure would be fun...
I suppose it depends on why people don`t want or understand dogs. When they just don`t like `em, I don`t want to go there but when someone`s afraid of them?
 
I`m curious about my mother`s reaction when she sees that we have got another dog...and a big one...she`s a bit afraid of them and still doesn`t know cause they live in Spain. And in a few days we`ll go there and then...she`ll probably think that we`ve gone crazy....

in reply to jeano: love all your points and agree with them. I was allergic only once and that was to my aunt's rabbit.
I would not want to go anywhere either where is smells. Yuck! We keep everything very clean and as long as they get taken out like they are suppose to we usually have hardly any accidents anyway. We do have to cover our couches and lazyboys with sheets or blankets that we wash daily.
We have a four bedroom house and 3.5 acres of land.
We only have part of it fenced in and we have had problems with them digging out under and it has me really worried. We also have quite a few snakes. Those are two reason why I would not leave them unattended outside at any time.
 

Hi Susa,
I don't think I remember anyone in germany having more than one dog. That was just not common around there. Must have been the high taxes they have to pay there.lol.
We always had just one at a time when I lived at home.
I already have a couple of maybe homes lined up for the one temporary one we have right now.
We don't have a shelter here, just a pound and they would put her down in 3 days. Feel like she deserves a chance.
I had found a beagle once and I knew where it belonged and contacted the people. They told me to drop it off at their house. The next day it was at my house again. This time they told me that they did not want the dog back. I found it a new home after I put an ad in the paper and when I checked back with the lady to see how the dog was doing she told me it had gotten out of their fenced yard and was nowhere to be found. I cried for days.
Another dog was left behind by some people we had known for 3 years and they just moved and left the dog in the backyard. I could hardly believe it. We picked him up and he lived with us for a while. We finally found him a home out in the country with kids and a horse.
I know this isn't part of my post, but some of them came to us this way, not all thou. I get attached way too easy. Can't resist those eyes. I fall in love with a dog in a heartbeat.
 

Well, I have to say, Esther, I do feel different from almost everyone I know. So unfortunately, I do agree with you. I have three dogs and three cats and we live in the city. The majority of people that I know are "tolerant" of what they consider eccentricity, but would be the mirror image personality of most of you! Even my family thinks I'm a little crazy.

My house has deteriorated over the last four years. I used to have a yard, I used to have a garden and flowers, heck, I even had the extravangance of grass. Money that could be spent on "things" including clothing, finer furnishings, new cars has pretty much been spent on my children and my dogs. I have nothing new and I guess some can't understand that that doesn't bother me.

Mostly I feel alienated from my female friends. Most females think I'm an oddity and, unfortunately, commonalities are hard to find. I guess I'm the antithesis of traditonal femininity. I don't do jewelry, knick knacks, sewing.....or any of the lovely intricate detailed things that many of my friends do. I wish I did. I'd rather be hiking in the dirt with teh dogs! They wonder why I would take up so much of my time and energy on walking, training, being with my dogs. That, my dear I-doggers, is why I am here as much as I can be. How nice is it to "talk" to others who understand our obsession!

And, yes, Esther, sometimes I feel sad about it, but most of the time I am happy with my choices. You've always got us!

It sounds like at least 6 of your dogs are pretty small - 5 doxies and a small poodle.  That shouldn't be too intimidating for most people.  How big are the other 3? Some people just really have a hard time with dogs in the house or on the furniture or little clouds of dog hair here and there.[] Would it work to use a crate or put them in a bedroom and let them out 1 or 2 at a time?  Still, if someone knows you have that many dogs and comes over anyway, they shouldn't be surprised to see them.

Joyce & Max

I have done that and that has worked well. I am just sad when it's the people that called me about an animal and ask me to help and even bring the dog over and then don't want to come back for a visit because of the dogs. Our dogs are friendly, love people and just want to play and snuggle. I am good enough to take them in or keep them for them when it's time for a trip or hospitalstay which keeps them from having to board them somewhere but then they really don't want to have to put up with them all at once when they come by or look at me funny for having them in the first place.
That is what gets to me. Other people that are not used of animals I understand. I solve that easily by just going over their house instead of them coming over and if they do come over it's usually just for a cup of coffee or a bar-be-que and I don't mind putting them up so they won't bother anyone for a few hours. That's fine.
If someone wants to stay with us for a few days thou I have offered in the past to pay for a hotelroom so I would not have to keep my pets put up for too long. If they insist on staying they just have to put up with them.

too me if you got probs with my dogs that just too darn bad. Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!!!