More Party Time Considerations

Continued from yesterday's post!

Addressing 4: Over-stimulation
Imagine how you feel when you are over-caffeinated. Fidgety, jittery, possibly irritable, chatty, short attention span. Having new people and encountering all their smells and all their voices and all their words can feel like over-caffeination to your dog. You may be jittery yourself. You may have ignored, or simply not noticed or observed, your dog's cues about being over-stimulated and stressed, or having to go outside or being hungry.

A party can be a chaotic experience for you as you try to meet each of your guest's needs. Plan ahead to meet your dog's needs too. A long, structured walk before the party is a great choice, and when someone asks if he can do anything to help you during the party, say, "Why Yes! Could you sit by the fire with Foster?" You could give your guest a few treats, and both your guest and your dog feel useful and taken care of.

Addressing 5: Lint Brushes
I never use lint brushes. The layer of dog hair in which I am continually ensconced never registers in my brain. If you have a dog that sheds, you have dog hair on your clothes. You have dog hair in your socks poking at the bottoms of your feet. Not everyone enjoys this. I work to keep all dog hair out of the food at a party, and I keep lint brushes in every bathroom. My guests can attempt to remove the layer of hair throughout the evening.

Addressing 6: Dressing up
I think it's fun to give my dogs a bandana to wear for a party that goes along with the theme. For my Tour de France themed birthday party, my dogs wore yellow bandanas. It just gives me a smile every time I look at them, and I hope others realize that with this small accessory I am showing how much my dogs are included in every bit of planning for an event.


Luna in a festive Christmas bandana

My dogs are members of my family and I like my Whole Family to be included in special events. I help my dogs enjoy parties and by preparing them with training and planning I help everyone see that dogs can be present in anything you want to do.