# A party and a puppy...what to do.



## acleanthous (Oct 11, 2010)

My roomate and I are having a party at our house this weekend, we anticipate a large amount of people coming. I have a 4 month old American bulldog who I am a bit apprehensive about having around so many people, purely because she is going to get so excited and overwhelmed.

Any suggestions on how I can work with her on not getting overly excited and jumping on people all day. I think she and I are gonna go on a nice long hike that morning and probably spend some time at the dog park to aid in getting the energy out of her.

- Alex


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

If pup has all shots board her for the day as that way there will be no accident, open doors, etc and it also starts her on a learning program in case there is an emergency and has to be boarded sometime in the future. A party sometimes has an idiot that does or causes something stupid to happen to a pup. There have been a few pups/dogs that have managed to sneak out a door left open.


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## kimkats000 (Nov 3, 2009)

PLEASE do NOT keep the puppy where the party is. Is there another room where the puppy could stay? If not PLEASE board the puppy. There are WAY too many ways for this to go wrong. '

-door open-puppy out
-puppy upset/overwhelmed-snap/bite
-someone playing with puppy and gets "bit"/mouthed/toothscrap
-feeding puppy-upset tummy/impaction 
the list goes on!

Kim


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

I'm sort of in the same boat this weekend...having a big pumpkin carving party. Given that there will be knives and pumpkin guts all over the floor, plus people coming and going, eating and drinking items that aren't dog friendly, not to mention people who might not appreciate being licked to death, Kit will be spending the evening crated in my car. Don't worry, I've checked the weather and it won't be too hot or too cold. I can crack a window for her. The car will be right outside of my house in case of a problem, and I can check on her anytime I want. She will get plenty of exercise that day and something to chew on in the crate. I'd crate her in a different room, but I know she'll be more comfortable in the car because otherwise she'll spend the entire evening wanting to greet everyone.


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## Mizuno (Jun 9, 2010)

I would either put the puppy in an off-limits room for the party (you know... a bedroom or such that people know not to go in to) and in a locked crate or board her. When my family's dog was in the ICU, there was a puppy there that had been in an oxygen cage at the ICU for over a week because someone fell and landed on the puppy at a party. The initial x-rays of the puppy showed no lungs because they were SO bruised from the accident. 

Personally, I would much rather pay $25 tops to board my puppy than $$hundreds$$ in vet bills because someone is stupid, or even lose my puppy because some people are dumb when they get together and any substance (legal or not) is involved.


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## snowbreed (Feb 28, 2010)

i think it all depends on ur friends and the way u can handle them and the way they can handle a dog when i first got my dog i threw her a big party for her and her brother so had like 15 ppz on the roof and the rules were clear no monkey business and all went great and the pups now are great with ppl 
so if ur guests know about the puppy and no girls or guys are afraid i say lay the law and have fun


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## RedyreRottweilers (Dec 17, 2006)

One more reason to crate train dogs. If I were you, my pup would be crated in a room with the door closed most of the time except to come out and visit on lead in a controlled situation.

There are way too many things that can happen to a puppy during a party if you are not directly supervising her. Over feeding. Stepped on. Overwhelmed. Escape out the door if no one is looking, etc etc etc.

Protect your puppy.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

I agree with the general consensus here. Crate the pup in another room with an awesome stuffed kong, put on some "cover sound" to help keep her calm and check on her regularly or board the pup for the night/weekend. It is much safer for all involved and much less stressful (so YOU can enjoy yourself too). 
Putting a young dog in a position where there are multiple people, noise, drinking, coming and going is risky. She's still in a sensitive developmental position and one bad incident (getting lost, stepped on, overwhelmed by stupid humans etc) can take a LONG time to get over.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Someday you may have to board your pup during an emergency. Much easier on pup to give her a taste of this while young, doesn't that make sense.


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