Not really sure how we're going to handle this

[gooeydog]

My mom has decided that she's going to invite a bunch of people from a chat room she "visits" to our house for a get-together. She hasn't told me much about it, but from what she's said, some of them are going to be staying in hotels, and some here ( :o ). She actually mentioned something about letting some of them stay in my room, but there is no way that people I've never even met are going anywhere near my room. Anyway, I'm a little worried about what I'm going to do with Goo while they're here... last summer a couple (husband and wife) of the people came here to visit with her, and I just kept Goo on-leash in a tight heel when they were around, but we also spent a lot of time going places with my dad (who was not thrilled by the people staying with us) and out in the yard, then when I couldn't pay close attention to her I put her in my room and locked the door. The thing is though, that there were only two people here then, and there's going to be a lot more this time, so there probably won't be too many chances for her to be with me in the house (so many people, I won't be able to watch her, and them :roll: ). I'm also a little "disturbed" that there's going to be a bunch of strange people staying in my house (my mom met a bunch of them someplace last year, but still), and my aunt offered to let me stay at her house (across the street from us), but I doubt if I can take Goo there, and I don't think it's fair to Goo to leave her here to be stuck in the room while I go someplace else. I'm not even sure how she'd act if my aunt did allow her to come with me (she likes my aunt and her BF, and takes traveling well, so maybe...), so that might not be the best option. I'm still not even sure when they're coming (she said they're not really sure, but that they're going to have a picnic ( :roll: ), so I'd imagine it will be in spring/summer, but I just want to plan ahead so I don't have to make plans at the last minute.

[Horsefeathers!]

I don't know what kinds of folks your mom chats with, but maybe you can relay to her my ONE experience of meeting a chat buddy.


I met an older lady once in a chat room and we struck up a friendship. Chatted every night on IM for hours on end. We talked about everything and I truly considered her a friend. Keep in mind I am a VERY private, guarded person who does not give out a lot of personal info (paranoid would be a good word), but I told her things I'd never told anyone before.

So the day comes when this broad decides to hop a place and head down here (from Chicago to close to Tallahassee, FL). I was a little freaked out, but then decided that, hey, this could be fun. After all, I know alllllll about her and she is just so cool. Again, I can't stress enough how typically anti social I really am, so this was a really big deal for me.

To get to the frickin' point, this lady was NOTHING like I had imagined and NOTHING like the chat buddy I was used to. She was a raging drunk, overbearing and demanding. Did I mention drunk and obnoxious? Oh, and a DRUNK. The friendship was shattered. The chat friendship was nothing like reality. To this day, this lady and I do not speak and I thoroughly despise her. That had to have been the longest five days I have ever seen. I actually ended up physically ill from having to deal with her (oh Lordy, the stories I could tell... me screaming from the back seat of a car as she is driving us to Tallahassee, "OH MY GOD... WE'RE GONNA DIE... AAAAAAACCCCCCKKK!!!"... I'm also not a good passenger :-? ).

Sometimes, it's best to leave well enough alone. Chatting is great, but I don't think I'll EVER get that involved in a chat friendship again and then try to meet them. Why ruin the illusion? I do not even use my IM at all now except to go straight into my hotmail account without having to manually sign in. She ruined that for me. Yech!

Goo, I shudder at the position you are being put in. With my 20/20 hindsight, I think I would have to beg and plead with Mom to rethink this thing. Have them stay in a motel at least, but it's really not fair to you to do this when your home should be your sanctuary. You should be able to feel secure and safe in your own home and that should take precedence over anyone else's fun.

Good luck with this. I feel for ya.

[courtnek]

Goo, this NOT a good idea....these people may not like dogs, may be afraid of dogs, may be stressed....

I'm sure there is nothing you can do about your moms decision...

can yu go away for a while? Maybe tell your mom that you're afraid of
LEGAL issues if your dog bites? SHE is the adult, if something happened
SHE would be held responsible.....

See if she will put you up somewhere, a hotel, or a friends, ANYWHERE

Stress the problem that if your dog bites, SHE's liable...

[Carolk9s]

I agree with trying really hard to convince your mom how dangerous this could be, to you, to her, to Goo, etc. If you cannot change her mind, see if you can stay with the aunt. Also see if you can start bringing Goo over to visit with the aunt now, short visits to introduce Goo to the aunts place. Also, I'd see about finding someway to secure your room or at minimum your belongings in your room in case you cannot control access.
I feel for you Goo, you are in a tough position.

[gooeydog]

As soon as I know when the people are coming/how long they're going to stay, I'm going to ask my aunt about Goo (my aunt doesn't really like Goo, so I know she won't want her there for longer than a couple days). If she says it's ok, then I'll try to take her to visit a few times before we actually stay there. We (me, my dad, sister, aunt, and a few others) have talked to my mom dozens of times about getting in too deep with this chat stuff, but she just brushes us off, and says the people are fine. She is determined to have them come here (when I asked her about what my dad had said when she told him, she told me she didn't care what he said :o and they were coming anyway) :roll: . My mom is careful about Goo, and won't let her out around the people, so the chances of her biting anyone are slim to none, but I don't like the idea of shutting her up in my room for longer than usual (although I'm not real excited about socializing with the people :roll: , so I'll probably be in the room with her quite a bit). I have a lock on my door, so if I keep the key with me, everything should be pretty safe in there.
This whole thing is a little over the edge for me though, my mom gets sorta bent out of shape when we have family coming to visit, and we rarely have cookouts/parties because "she doesn't want to deal with it". Now she's going to have a bunch of people coming to stay, and they're having a "picnic" :o :roll: . And it doesn't help that the people who visited last summer were a little scary themselves; the husband was an alcoholic (his wife told him that he couldn't have any beer before 11am, and he drank nonstop after that), and was just plain creepy, and the wife was sorta strange. Not to mention that my dad, my friend, and I planned to take Goo and go out fishing, but at the last minute the husband asked to go out with us and my mom insisted that he be allowed to go, so poor Goo had to stay home, and we had to listen to him complain the entire time because he wasn't catching anything/was tired of being out there :x . They also spouted some of the typical anti-pit bull propoganda, which I (barely) ignored... so I guess I am carrying a bit of a grudge against the "computer people" :roll: :lol:

[sixjollydogs]

:cry: This idea has to top the list of amazinly bad and potentially dangerous ideas. There are far too many stories of the predators on-line that disguise themselves behind a normal facade.

Ask you mom to please not let these folks stay in your house. You might want her to post here.

[Luka-pop]

I wouldn't blame you for holding agrudge against them. This is prolly none of my business, but do you know what kind of chat people thay are? Unless they're like people on dogo, who love dogs and have a good amount of knowledge about them, it prolly wouldn't be a good idea to have them at a house with Goo. They might not know how to act towards a dog, they might misinterperet the dog's behaviors, and it just wouldn't be safe, for Goo, for the guests, and for your family. I agree with sixjollydogs about chat "friends" being unsafe, disguised, and dishonest. I'm especially unsure about the alcoholic cuz we think that Luka's previous owner may have been an alcoholic abuser or something. You never know how the guy would react. If your mom insists on having the guests over, your aunt's house would prolly be the best resort, but Goo may act strangely in an unfimilar surrounding/situation. Think this over with your mom and your family. If Goo gets uncomfortable and hurts somebody, you can't blame Goo. It's not his fault that he can't complain and convince your mother otherwise. He has his bark and his teeth to let the people know how he feels.