Management, Exercise and More Management

I thought a lot about the game plan for my in-laws and their puppies visit to our home.  By having a plan in place, letting everyone know the plan and adjusting as needed was key to our successful visit.

First, management is a critical tool to any home with a dog or multiple dogs.  To keep dogs out of the trash don't let them have access is the easiest solution.  Sure we can train the dog not to get into the trash, but I'm all about the easiest solution and in some cases management fits the bill.  The plan to use management with the visiting pups was to not allow our 4 dogs with their 2 without supervision.  This way if things looked like they might get out of hand someone could redirect the situation.  For example, our two males liked to hump the puppy girls and it would get to be too much for the girls to tell them off.  So we would step in and limit their options or create a pause.  We also decided to management Padme's interactions with all of the dogs.  This way if she felt the need to be snarky or tell another dog off we could keep her safe.  

Second, exercise is a tool that I find with Terriers helps with their overall stress and excitement levels.  Draining their energy helps them feel more relaxed, calm and happy.  It's helpful for all dogs, but Terriers being Terriers they seem to have an extra supply handy at all times.  We made sure all of the younger dogs had opportunities to play and get out for walks.  The weather made it tricky, but we did manage to get them out on a long walk.  The puppies also spent time outside together enjoying our backyard running and gathering sticks.  It wasn't something I planned, but my in-laws did a good job of giving them their own time to burn off energy, too.

Finally, more management in interactions and greeting.  I honestly thought we'd probably have to keep Padme and Molly away from the puppies the entire visit.  It may have been based on my own anxiety of the situation, but since it was just a few days it would have been okay to not push them meeting the new puppy girl.  After I felt more confident about the interactions that had taken place after the first 24-hrs I decided to let Padme interact with the newest puppy, Annie.  Annie was brilliant at listening to Padme's "You better back up!" communication.  Annie, being a well socialized pup, knew what she was saying and also tried to push her buttons.  These brief interactions were 1-on-1 so they could move about freely and no one else would feel the need to get involved.  We let Molly meet a tiny bit, but she wasn't feeling great and I decided she didn't have to participate in puppy madness.

I had other tools at the ready like barriers (which we used when keeping dogs in different rooms), stuffed Kongs, interactive toys, chew items and a variety of treats.  During this visit we kept it simple and managed to the best of our ability.  In time we'll need to branch out since these dogs will interact from time to time, but always in a way that keeps everyone safe.