Canine Etiquette

When talking canine etiquette, we’re not speaking of anything quite this formal!

In their relations with one another dogs have a keen sense of etiquette. A well known traveler makes this unexpected remark about a naked, native tribe of men living on one of the south sea islands: “In their everyday intercourse there is much that is stiff, formal and precise.” Almost the same remark might be made about dogs. Unless they are on very intimate terms they take great pains never to brush against or even to touch one another. 

For one dog to step over another is a dangerous breach of etiquette unless they are special friends. It is no uncommon thing for two dogs to belong to the same person and live in the same house and yet never take the slightest notice of each other. We have a spaniel so dignified that he will never permit another member of the dog family to pillow his head upon him; but, with the egotism of a true aristocrat, he does not hesitate to make use of the other dogs for that purpose.-Henry C. Merwin in The Atlantic, 1910

 🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor of the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Etiquette for a Jet Set Pet

When traveling by car with your dog or cat, be sure the pet carrier is seat-belted. Large dogs should be restrained with a harness. Try not to leave your dog or cat alone in the car.

  

Tips on Traveling with Fido

Today more than half the population of the United States  - 63 million households - includes a canine or feline family member. A recent survey showed that 84 percent of dog and cat owners consider their pets as their children. With the deep affection that comes with caring for a pet, animal lovers in growing numbers are loathe to travel without them. In addition to sharing a fun-filled experience, many people no longer see leaving their dog or cat home alone with a house-sitter, dog-walker, or caged in a kennel as their only option.

In response to this burgeoning new market, hotel chains, from Hiltons to Holiday Inns, and from the luxurious Ritz Carlton to the world's finest spas, are now accommodating pets. Choosing a destination, however, is only half the equation. The other concern is humane transportation: how to make sure the journey itself is worry-free and enjoyable for pets, people and fellow travelers.

The ease of traveling with pets these days is due in no small measure to one woman: Gayle Martz. Gayle revolutionized the way people travel with their pets by creating a line of soft-sided pet carriers named for her Llaso Apso, “Sherpa.”

A former flight attendant, Gayle used her travel expertise to design totes and bags that would comply with regulations and fit under the seat in airplanes. She then personally persuaded the airlines to modify their policies, allowing small pets to travel in the passenger cabins rather than to be checked as luggage.

Small pets can now fly in the cabins of Delta, American, Air Canada, America West, Continental, Northwest, TWA, Alaska, West Jet, United and US Air. Secure in their plush, well-ventilated and cozy home-away-from-home, pets enjoy the reassuring presence of their owner and vice versa.

Whether in the air, on the road, or around town on sightseeing or shopping expeditions, advance planning will ensure that taking your pet along is a delightful experience. Here are some etiquette rules for people traveling with pets:

1. Familiarize your pet with its carrier before leaving home.
2. Maintain a low profile. Do not call attention to the pet or disturb fellow passengers. Also in consideration of your fellow passengers, do not take your pet out of the carrier. Your pet must stay in the bag under the seat.
3. Carry a current health certificate from your veterinarian, dated within seven to ten days of departure.
4. Make sure your pet has a collar with a name tag listing owner’s contact information.
5. Pack a travel kit with your pet’s food and treats as well as favorite toys, any medicines and health documents.
6. When making your reservations, be sure to make one for your pet. Only a small number of pets are allowed in passenger cabins on any given trip. Check reservation and fee policies for individual airlines.
7. Airlines require that pet carriers have absorbent liners - be sure you have a spare.
8. At the security checkpoint, request that the agent use the hand-held metal detector.
9. When traveling outside the United States, contact the appropriate embassy far in advance of your trip for quarantine or health requirements.
10. Do not feed your pet within six hours of departure or provide water within two hours of takeoff, and never use tranquilizers unless advised by your veterinarian.

When traveling by car with your dog or cat, be sure the pet carrier is seat-belted. Large dogs should be restrained with a harness. Try not to leave your dog or cat alone in the car. If you must leave for a short period, be sure there is proper ventilation. As with airline travel, the pet should be made comfortable and secure with favorite toys, a blanket or other familiar items.– Chula Vista Star-News, 2001

🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Pet Etiquette, aka “Petiquette”

If you find your dog’s barking or your cat’s scratching objectionable, decide what you are going to do and do it every single time your pet misbehaves. If you are conscientious, your pet will be better behaved within about three weeks. If you waver, the process will take much longer.

Pet’s Bad Manners Are Owner’s Fault

The hustle and bustle of the holidays may bring out your cat’s or dog’s worst manners, but you can correct your pet’s etiquette. Your pet’s bad manners are partly your fault, according to an article in “Country Living,” because you didn’t nip bad behavior in the bud. Make a resolution to use behavior modification techniques to improve your pet’s manners. The key is consistency. If you find your dog’s barking or your cat’s scratching objectionable, decide what you are going to do and do it every single time your pet misbehaves. If you are conscientious, your pet will be better behaved within about three weeks. If you waver, the process will take much longer.

Here are some specific suggestions: 

• Barking – The best way to teach a dog to be quiet is to train him to bark on command. When he barks, use a command such as “Speak,” and praise him. Once he connects “Speak” with barking, introduce the command “Quiet.” If necessary, hold his muzzle shut the first few times you issue the command. Reward him for being quiet. Practice these commands at times when your pet wouldn’t ordinarily bark. Then start using them when someone is at the door. 
• Incessant Barking – When you are away, incessant barking is harder to control. A companion animal or leaving the radio on may help. If he starts barking soon after you leave, you can return and scold him or invest in a sound activated tape of a one-minute scolding whenever the dog starts to bark. 
• Jumping – If you don’t want your pet to jump on guests, you must teach him not to jump on anyone, including you, tell him “No” sharply, if he doesn’t respond, hold his front feet and bring your knee to his chest, forcefully but not brutally. An alternative is to teach him to “Sit” and “Stay” and use those commands when someone arrives at the door. 
• Cat Nipping and Scratching – If the cat attacks because it is afraid, physical discipline won't work. Instead, hold the cat while you greet strangers, have them approach it gently and tell them how it likes to be stroked. The alternative is to shut it in a room where it feels safe. If the cat attacks guests to defend its territory, the best response is a squirt of water from an atomizer. 
• Relentless Meowing – You may have inadvertently trained your cat by offering it food when it meows. To decondition it, set up a strict feeding schedule with no between meal snacks. If boredom is the cause, create a quick diversion by pulling out a Ping Pong ball, hanging a wad of crumpled tissue from a string, opening a closet or leaving an empty bag on the floor. – Associated Press, 1986

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette for Dog Owners

A reminder to the dog owner who doesn't think enough of his pet to train it properly, that he’d better keep the little chap on his own premises (or car, as the case maybe) until he can teach him sidewalk decorum.

Dog Petiquette

In Denver, Colorado, a grocer, who knows both dogs and human beings, installed hitching posts for dogs outside his store. He put leashes on the posts long enough so the dogs were comfortably tethered, but short enough so they couldn't get near enough to each other to scrap. And he put locks on the leashes, so that fine breeds, as well as mutts, would be safe while their owners shopped. That grocer must have pleased many citizens who owned dogs and a great many more who didn’t. For however much we love our dogs, they don't belong in grocery stores, nuzzling the fruits and vegetables and shedding hair indiscriminately, however unintentionally. 

In New York, and unfortunately in only a very few other cities, street signs warn strollers, “Curb Your Dog.” It is a reminder to the owner who doesn't think enough of his pet to train it properly that he’d better keep the little chap on his own premises until he can teach him sidewalk decorum. A cleaner, pleasanter community might result locally if such hints were to be taken seriously here. And if organizations in putting our best foot forward both for the benefit of local folk and for visitors among us, don’t push the idea as a good one, we'd be surprised. – Sausalito News, 1941

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Etiquette for the Birds?

Many people have often laughed at the curious etiquette noticeable in the behavior of bees toward their Queen. But the peafowl etiquette in introducing young chicks to their owner is at least as curious.

Birds of a Feather, Mind Their Manners Together

The Hen's Formal Introduction of Her Brood to the World

For bringing up their families peahens are a model to every other feathered fowl in existence. The nest is usually made of a quantity of dry sticks, and when fairly set, and on it, the difficulty is to find out where the hen is. (So beautifully does the ash gray plumage assimilate with the surroundings that it is often possible to tumble over the nest before recognizing it.) In this nest are laid from three to four, large, whitish eggs about the size of those laid by the common domestic goose.

When the chicks are hatched out, they are the most delightful little brown birds imaginable. The color is a rich deep brown, and they much resemble young pheasants both in size and in coloring. Many people have often laughed at the curious etiquette noticeable in the behavior of bees toward their Queen. But the peafowl etiquette in introducing young chicks to their owner is at least as curious. As soon as the chicks are able to walk the mother marshals them in a procession, and, leading herself, she stalks to the place where she and the others are generally fed. Having formally introduced her brood, she takes them back to the nest, and they are not seen any more for some weeks. The hen will come and be fed, but the chicks are supposed to remain in retreat until they are grown to the size of spring chickens, when they come out and join the rest of tho fowls and learn to feed for themselves.— Country Home, 1911

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Moderator and Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Gilded Age Etiquette and Society Sheep

More popular than the pug, the pampered embryo sovereigns of Ohio tariff ideas, gambol according to Fifth Avenue etiquette.  

Lambs in Society —

They Have Become Creatures of Luxury and Are Forcing Out the Pug Dog! 

The lamb has become a feature of New York society. Not that sort which frequents the misnamed club. Not the variety whose fleece is invitingly extended near the stage doors of theaters for harmless little girls with the downcast eyes to pluck. This is the real lamb, whose name has been forever linked with that of Mary by the pastoral poet, says the New York Journal.

If you come to take an early morning constitutional on Fifth Avenue any pleasant day, proof of the lamb craze can be seen. White as snow, with collars adorned with tinkling bells, led by silver chains, generally in the hands of pretty French maids, the pampered embryo sovereigns of Ohio tariff ideas, gambol according to Fifth Avenue etiquette. 

In one of Fifth Avenue's aristocratic apartment-houses is a lamb that has a maid all to itself. No pugdog was ever reared in greater luxury. The mysteries of its toilet are numerous. Nothing, in the estimation of its mistress, is too good or expensive for this lamb. The brush and comb used in the daily toilet are silver-mounted, and when the lamb takes its meals they are served in sterling silver bowls. 

The daily menu consists of milk and a preparation of cooked Indian meal, sometimes varied by oatmeal. At night the lamb sleeps in a basket lined with silk and cotton, at the foot of its mistress' bed. The mistress claims that her pet is much more intelligent than any dog, and far preferable to a cat as a pet. If this modern Bopeep should suffer the loss of her protege the whole police force of New York would be asked to rally to the rescue.— San Francisco Call, 1896

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Petiquette: Etiquette for Dining Out with Your Pet

Fido dines al fresco.

Petiquette Tips for Dining with Your Pooch

Before you consider dining al fresco with your dog, make sure your dog obeys simple commands. Is your pet well-behaved around people and other dogs?

Does your dog obey you at home?  If your pooch won't obey you at home, bringing him or her out to a restaurant could be a very bad idea!

Call ahead to make sure the establishment allows dogs at their outdoor tables. Restaurants can change owners or policies, and where you once may have dined with dogs right next to you, yours may now be unwelcome.

Feed and exercise your dog before going to the restaurant.  A well fed, relaxed dog, is a happy dog.
           

A well fed dog who has had some exercise or play time, is a relaxed dog. And no, the sofa does not constitute food!

A shady area is best for you and your pet, so ask for a spot in the shade.  Keep in mind that you may feel perfectly comfortable, but your dog is most likely wearing a lovely fur coat.

Bring a water dish along with water, for your dog.

Never leave your dog unattended.  Not even for a few moments.

How is your dog on a leash?  It will need to be attached to a table leg.

Attach your dog's leash to your chair and not to the legs of your table. If for some odd reason your dog tries to make a run for it, at the very least you will have drinks flying and broken dishes.

Does your dog get along well with other dogs at the dog park, or anywhere else you may take your pooch? Friendly dogs are usually welcome everywhere. Aggressive dogs? Not so much.

Be aware of the area you are putting your dog into. Is there food on the ground where your dog will be sitting? Bags, open purses or anything else they might be curious about?  Unusual situations can bring on unusual behavior in your pet.

Friendly, well-mannered dogs, are welcomed just about everywhere.

Never allow your dog to beg for food from other humans or the other dogs who may be there.

Remember, you are sharing the restaurant space with others. If your dog is making them unhappy, or the dining experience of others unpleasant, then it is time for you to ask for your food "to go."

Keep your dog close so he is not in the waiter’s pathway or too close to other diners.

Always tip your waitress or waiter generously, if you and your dog want to be welcomed back.

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia