“Love me, love my dog�?describes how many of us feel. Does this extend to taking your dog along on visits to the homes of friends and family? How do you feel about hosting other people’s dogs in your home? It depends, doesn’t it, on just what having that particular dog and owner in your home entails? Many friendships and family relationships suffer over conflicts about visiting dogs.

How do you determine when it’s appropriate to take your dog along, and when it’s not? How can you prepare for safe and courteous visiting accompanied by a dog? What are your responsibilities with your dog in someone else’s home?

The Invitation

When going to visit someone else’s home with your dog, first of course you need to ask if the dog is invited. When the home doesn’t have a dog, perhaps they don’t have another dog come into the home dog’s territory. If you or they have multiple dogs, that makes it more likely the dogs will fight. Local laws or landlord agreements may limit the number of dogs a person can have on the property, even as guests.

It’s better to know upfront if the dog isn’t included in the invitation. Getting turned down doesn’t feel good, but it allows you to decide how to handle the situation. You could choose to go on the visit without your dog; especially if it’s just for a few hours or it’s someone you need or want to visit. You may want to arrange boarding or home care for your dog.

You might decide to postpone the visit. Perhaps you could take the dog along to stay safely someplace other than your host’s home. Maybe a better arrangement would be to have the other person visit your home. Staying in a dog-friendly motel or a recreational vehicle could solve the problem. There might be a different location where you and your host could meet and your dog would be welcome.

If your dog is invited, there are other questions to ask and preparations to make. You’ll want to ask the host about the facilities you’ll be using to take care of your dog, so you can figure out what to bring and how to prepare your dog to be a good guest.

Packing

Packing to take a dog along for more than an afternoon is a big job. You’ll need the regular food, supplements, medications, and other day-to-day paraphernalia. Your veterinarian can provide flea and tick control appropriate for where you’re going. You don’t want to cause an infestation in your host’s home or in your own home when you return. Ticks can make dogs ill. One application of the appropriate veterinary product will likely provide a month’s control.

Grooming supplies go in the travel kit too. A bed sheet works well to catch loose hair during grooming sessions. Fold the hairy side of the sheet to the inside between uses, and launder it when you get back home. Many people find dog hair around the house highly offensive, even if they’re too polite to tell you. Best to make sure it just isn’t there.

A dog with diarrhea, a skin problem, respiratory symptoms, or any other signs of a condition that could possibly be contagious isn’t in shape for visiting. Your veterinarian can advise you after examining the dog.

The Perfect Guest

With your help, a dog can be a better guest than most humans! Be prepared for control at all times. Depending on what is happening at any given time and how you’ve trained, you can keep the dog on leash at your side, in a crate, behind a baby gate or closed door, or in a portable exercise pen.

A dog loose in someone else’s house tends to be highly stimulated to mark the territory by eliminating. Even inside what appears to be a secure fence, many dogs get lost outside the house.

Whether indoors or out, by keeping your dog under control you can prevent damage to your host’s property. You can also prevent trouble with the neighbors by keeping your dog quiet. Clean up if your dog has any accidents in the house, and pick up feces after your dog uses the outdoors—even if the host doesn’t ask you to. You’re much more likely to be invited to bring your dog again by doing these things, and to preserve a good relationship with your host.

If there is a resident dog or cat, go prepared and with the needed equipment to keep your dog separated from the resident animal. If it turns out the animals get along well and all the humans agree to give them some playtime, it’s still best to separate them when adults are not supervising them.

Children under school age need adult supervision with any dog at all times. Tragic things can happen when people forget to supervise kids with dogs. If the parents are not supervising the kids and you can’t keep them from harassing your dog, get the dog out of the situation immediately. One bad encounter with a child has ruined many dogs.

Happily Ever After

Disagreements over people taking their dogs to other people’s homes to visit have dissolved friendships and started family conflicts. Of course people can fight over anything, but this fight can be avoided.

Train with your dog so that the two of you can go anywhere together and behave well. Set a high standard for care of your dog when visiting anyone else’s home, and you may find that people who love you also love your dog!