My family is dog orientated. Everyone but my oldest sister has a dog. There are 7 dogs between me and my three other siblings.
Because of this, we have always brought our dogs to family get-togethers. We celebrate a birthday almost every month with a small party at one family member's house. Usually some of the dogs are there as well.
On Thanksgiving, I took Misha to my sister's house as that was where we were having dinner. She had a blast smelling all the smells, playing with everyone, and trying to get the cat's food.
It works for me because after a day of partying she was completely exhausted. She slept 11 hours Thursday night and pretty much napped most of Friday.
I got a day off from doggy duties.
Do you take your dog on family outings? Do you like to include you dog in these events?
Your family sounds very much like ours! At the moment we have seven dogs between four houses but at the most we had 13! Generally speaking we don't take the dogs with us for family gatherings because having several dogs which aren't "done" means that they have a tendency to squabble when they think their territories are being encroached upon but they do get walked together quite regularly and spend their summer holidays together! It's interested finding caravan sites which allow a large number of dogs at the same time but they do have a fantastic time together running on the beaches and playing in the sea! I can't understand anyone who sends their dogs into kennels whilst the rest of the family go on holiday ... I like to keep my family together!
Louise, we have been fortunate. We do have two family dogs that have problems. But, it's over food. As long as we are aware and don't let them around the food together we are fine.
My Jack Russell can be a little protective. But, it's been good for her to be around the other dogs in the family. Today, I had my sister's dog for the day. She outweighs Misha by 60 lbs. I've seen their interactions and know that Misha has learned boundaries by being around this dog regularly. They get along really well. In fact, they spent Thanksgiving together at my sister's and I did not have to worry about either. My sister's dog is one of the ones that has problems when food is out, however, she doesn't seem to be bothered by Misha in the same situations.
She does, however, play with her a little too hard. Because Misha doesn't have any doggy siblings, sometimes she is scared by it. My sister's dog thinks she's like their cat and will run around. Misha just stands in place and panics. LOL Other than that, they get along fine.
My parents live in an apartment, so I can bring my dogs with me when I visit them on holidays when the office is closed. They are well behaved and don't bark much. My parents know they won't do any damage to their apartment. But since they don't have any pets and didn't sign a pet application, I don't want to get them into trouble with the apartment management.
The rest of my family lives too far away and so, I don't want to take my dogs on long trips.
My parents live near a park with lots of pathways. We always schedule our holiday time around going for walks, as my parents enjoy going for walks as they are trying to stay healthy. So, it seems whenever I visit during the holidays, I am always going for a walk- as both my parents and my dogs are eager for a walk in the park!
Every time there is a family event, we try to. Most of my family enjoy the company of a smaller dog that they can carry. They find smaller dogs cuter than bigger dogs; even less 'gross'. My dog is a large Pitbull/Black Lab mix. So every time we bring him, he may have fun with us and with the nature around him, but no one would pay attention to him. So we've stopped bringing him to family events. Plus, he's slightly dog aggressive, so I can understand when they don't want him by their dogs, but still. It doesn't mean you make him an outcast. *shrugs*
However, dog-friendly outings, we for sure bring him to. When we feel like taking a walk on the hills or beach, we'll bring him along. Or even if we are going out to eat and there's an outside patio, he's there. We dislike leaving him at home and he dislikes being at home, so it's a win-win situation!
I cannot take Choco to meet my family as my siblings live in other cities. Long road journeys make her sick. We have to leave her at a pet hostel whenever we go out of town, we avoid this as much as possible. This is so sad as they children are very attached to her.
However, we do take her on short trips and picnics wherever pets are allowed. She loves going to parks, but where I live there are very few places that permit pets.