How Do You Greet Your Doodle?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Recently, Jane (Jane, Guinness & Murphy) wrote a discussion about "Our Energy."  She talked about how her DH would get her dogs so excited before taking them for a walk that they did not listen. All through her discussion, I was thinking about when I return home and saying to myself, "I do that...yep, that too...uh oh, I do that." My husband has long said that I contribute to the "excitement" level in our house.  Several times he has said that he thinks loud noises are contributing to the dog's energy levels.  The last time he said it, I had to stop singing long enough to ask him what were the loud noises he kept mentioning and all he said was, "I wonder."  Now, I have read tons of dog training books and I know what I am not supposed to be doing, but I just can't help myself.

 

We are homebodies, my DH and I, and most of the time when I travel, I start wishing I had Dorothy's red shoes that I could click together and get back home faster. One of the first things you see when you walk in my house is a large sign that reads It is good to be home.  My dogs are a big part of this feeling and here is the way I see it. My DH and I are in our 50's. Fudge and Vern might be the last dogs we have....our kids are grown and I don't have to set any examples. When I walk through the door, I am happy to see my dogs and I guess sometimes I do sing loudly or dance a bit, but Fudge and Vern are really the only audience I have that appreciates my dance moves and my renditions of Play that Funky Music White Dog or Sugar, Sugar, Fudgie Wudgie.

 

Truthfully, is there anyone else in your life that greets you as warmly as your dog does? When you come home, how do you greet your dog??

 

Waiting and Watching for Visitors:

 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Awwww...that is so sweet. My Vern kisses Fudge every morning (whether she wants it or not).

[Bonnie and Kona]

Sweet Butter. I'm glad Charlie is willing to have Butter get the lovin' first without a fuss.

[Linda and Murphy]

Murphy knows the sound of my car so he his always STANDING at the door watching for me. Once my presence is confirmed, he grabs a frisbee and greets me as I walk in. Its lots of wigglebutt moves and getting wacked by his tail.

ThenI bend down and hug his neck with "Hi BIG. How was your day?" Then we head out to throw the frisbee.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I like this. Fudge always grabs a toy too!

[Leigh & Allie]

My big problem is Allie jumping up on people when they come in. She WILL not jump on me because I simply don't allow it. My DH and son are another story. She jumps on them and anyone new that comes in the front door. We have started to insist that she go to a chair in the den. If she gets on the chair then she gets to be greeted by DH and my son. It has helped a lot with the jumping on people. I understand what you mean though. There is no better greeting than my Allie's. In fact when we come home from a night out, as soon as she sees our car lights she bends down to look out the window. Then she runs to the front door. If we are not coming in as soon as she expects us to, then she will run back to the window. You can actually see her excitement. We have been known to stay in the driveway to see her come to the door and then to the back door and back again. It is too cute!!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

That does sound cute!! The pet sitter gets the wildest greeting and I have started making them sit for a treat. They sit, but you can just see the energy moving in their bodies.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Kona (4 yrs)... "Hi big boy, how are you sweet buddy?"

Owen (8 mos)... "Off, off, off, off..."

 

The dogs greet us with lots of wiggles and body slams and then run to find a toy to bring us. It's just to show us, not to give to us. It's really cute though.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

LOL to the off, off, off, off......

[Kyoko]

LOL!!

 

[Linda and Murphy]

LOL

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

My two start barking as soon as the garage door goes up so I hear that before I even get into the house. Then comes the scratching on the door and the rattling of the door handle, ( luckily this is one door they can't open) then I brace myself for the charge of Bella!

She squeezes between the door and me, runs out to the car and then back inside to me where I am waiting for Murphy to decide which toy he needs to bring to me to greet me. As I try to not trip over Bella as she runs between my legs and tries to eat whatever I am carrying in, I try to stop the inevitable fight between Bella and Murphy that will ensue because Murphy is pissed off that Bella is stealing his thunder by distracting me from the chosen treasure he is bestowing upon me.

We finally make it into through the laundry room, down the hall, bumping into eachother as we all go in one big wave of fluff and tail wagging. It's very exciting to come home and I take my life into my own hands everytime;

Not really, that's how it is sometimes, but only when I don't tell them to 'Sit, Wait" and ignore them till I get in. Then they just let me in and calmly follow me into the house. But they are so irresistable I can;t wait too long before petting and hugging them.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Fudge is so slick. She goes gets a toy to distract Vern, because Vern always wants what she has and then once he moves for the toy, she moves in for her hugs. It works every time :)