Just because you think they’re friendly doesn’t mean someone can’t get anxious over them. Yeah, you wear the t-shirt. Fuck people and up with dogs. We get it. It makes you a very strange person. That’s all.
I wouldn’t put it exactly like that. I wouldn’t say that dogs have precedence over humans. As I said above, if my dog behaved like the ones in the OP I would take steps to correct it. However, in my house, my dogs are my family. They live there. Anyone else is just visiting. Nearly all of my friends have dogs, so it really isn’t much of an issue.
Well, first, no one is likely to show up at my house unexpectedly, without prior knowledge that there’s a dog here. Our friends and relatives all know we have a dog, and that our dog is well-behaved and under control at all times and would certainly alert any guest they might bring. He’d be kept in a down/stay in his “place”, which would be nowhere near the phobic person, and he’d be under strict instruction to ignore this guest at all times. We do have a crate and use it, but frankly it’s in full view of guests because that’s the most convenient place in our small house for it, so if the mere sight of a dog is enough to distress a person, then they won’t want to be in my house.
If I had a friend who was truly panicked about the mere presence of a dog, we wouldn’t be meeting at my house… just like if I had a friend who was phobic of hardwood floors or snakes in tanks. If someone was phobic of children, or had an extreme aversion to the company of mannerly, well-behaved children, I wouldn’t lock my kids in a room when this person showed up unannounced, I’d just say “hey, nice for you to stop by, let’s arrange to meet some time and place without the kids”.
The bottom line is, as PapSett is saying, it would be very bizarre for someone to show up without knowing in advance there’s a dog here and then to protest its mannerly presence.
PapSett–I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it as an argument, I only felt it necessary to differ if commentary that might be seen as “training advice” was being presented. An alpha roll is a very serious correction and should almost never be used. The scenario you described to someone handling a semi-familiar and potentially untrained guardian breed could result in a range of outcomes that run the gamut from “future training problem” to “mauling”. I’ll drop the subject if you prefer, but I do strongly urge you to reconsider this particular training tactic. It sounds like you are familiar enough with your dogs’ behavior to see a problem like this coming, anyway.
Peace 
Our cats are our family, too. But some people don’t like them. It’s a big deal for someone who’s phobic or unsettled around them.
It’s a big deal for me to be around young children. They are way more stressful than a few dogs wandering about. So here’s what I do : Avoid homes where young children reside. I certainly don’t demand that anyone change their routine/situation/living arrangements because I don’t like it.
People who are truly phobic around cats should avoid places where they might encounter cats. That doesn’t seem like rocket surgery to me.
So you’re telling me that if someone DOES say that they’re anxious around your pet…someone that normally isn’t bothered by dogs, but at this point they are uncomfortable…you’re not going to remove the pet from the room?
YOU are just being a jerk, looking for a fight.
I never said fuck people and up with dogs, not once. But yeah… I’ll take my dogs over people like you ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.
It doesn’t make me a strange person, just someone that values my own space. I don’t care to hang out with kids, but I don’t expect people to lock their kid in a crate if I come over.
I have dogs. My dogs are my family. If you don’t like it, keep the fuck away from me. I associate with people that enjoy dogs the way I do.
And Naja… I apologize, I wasn’t handing out training advice! In fact, in 49 years of dog ownership, know how many alpha rolls I’ve had to hand out? Three. Each time was for a dog that thought (mistakenly) that they could challenge me. didn’t work out too well for them either.
I think you, me & Contrapuntal would get along just fine! 
That’s such a far out hypothetical that I’m not sure what I would do. As I said, folks like that simply do not come into my house, at least not socially. I suppose if someone were to come over on a social visit and become uncomfortable I would crate the dogs, and then figure out a way to end the visit. Soon.
That’s a normal response to a person’s discomfort around your dog.
As long as our dogs did.
Yeah, we pretty much think alike about this. Most of my peeps are dog peeps. And most of the dogs are not nearly as well behaved as it seems yours are. Or NavaNijeas’s are. At least in terms of ignoring company. The dogs I know are freaking glad to see me, and I don’t mind it a bit. I encourage it.
As I said, it’s an extreme hypothetical. And hypothetical questions get hypothetical answers. In the real world I cannot foresee the situation coming up.
How is that much different than what** PapSett** is saying? I may or may not crate my dog depending on the situation, but either way the phobic person will need to come to some level of terms with the presence of a dog, or would not be in my house for very long. My dog is good-natured and well-trained and he lives here, with me. He won’t bother you, and if you don’t enjoy his company I will pay close attention to see that he minds his manners extra-carefully and keeps his distance, though as **Contrapuntal **describes, nearly all of our friends are dog people too, and most immediately on arrival want to roll around in the yard with him and have their faces slurped. That’s their choice, I don’t allow this behavior with people who don’t personally choose to interact with him. If despite him minding his manners and keeping his distance, you are irrationally afraid of my dog or the colors of my walls or the bees in my back yard, then you probably won’t want to come here or to stay long when you do, but that’s your choice.
That’s quite a bit different from “fuck that, hit the road”. You are willing to accommodate a visitor for a short period of time. PapSett isn’t. Under any circumstances.
Oops. In post #90 I blew a quote. The second response is to Kalhoun, not PapSett.
I am puzzled by some of these posts. I have kids–mostly grown now, but they were small once. If I had someone come over who didn’t like kids, I’d most likely have them play in the backyard or something. I have never believed in inflicting them on anyone who was not interested etc. (but keep in mind that my kids are very well behaved and I also frown heavily upon parents who let their kids run amok–even in their own home).
I find the lack of hospitality bizarre and the comparison of animals to children specious. I only posted to show that it does work both ways.
Then again, no 3 year old can rip your throat out or disfigure your face… I’ve seen the damage one crazy fucked up Dalmation can do. 
…but then, I don’t have a crazy fucked up Dalmatian.
If I thought for one moment that my dogs were dangerous, it would be a different story entirely.
And kalhoun, dear… All I am saying is that if you come into MY house you KNOW there are dogs there. If you are so mentally weak that you cannot deal with it, DON’T COME TO MY HOUSE.
Seems pretty simple to me.
My friends are all, 100% DOG PEOPLE. I simple choose to associate with people I have something in common with.
End of discussion. I refuse to lower myself to your standards.
There you go again.
Keep in mind that my dog is very well behaved and I also frown heavily upon dog owners who let their dogs run amok–even in their own home. I make sure my dog does not bother my guests, just like you make sure your kids did not bother yours. How, exactly, am I being inhospitable by declining to lock my dog or my kids in a room for the evening to accommodate someone with a previously unannounced irrational phobia who drops in unexpectedly?
Wow. Way to miss the point.
Why don’t you elaborate the point, then, so we can all get it?
eleanorrigby was saying that as a display of courtesy to a guest, she would send her own children out to play in the yard. She could say: “Sorry. You don’t like kids so you’re not welcome here.” But no, she is far more gracious than that.
Civilized society and a little give and take etc. The point is she was surprised by the lack of hospitality.
So her comment about vicious dogs was pointless?