Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have seen houses where the candy bowl is left out on the porch with a not that says "Take One". Sure, some will take more, but they don't ring the bell and you never have to open the door.
My dog is not very trusting of strangers in the first place. He feels it is his place to guard the house, the family, etc. so he usually wont let anyone near us if someone comes to the door. We usually have to put him out back or in another room, and then he barks, howls, and cries because he is not by us...lol If we did let him answer the door he'd probably try to eat the kids, especially with them being dressed up! LOL
Just an opinion here, but I've made it a habit to put my dogs (yes even my standard poodle boy who loves everyone) into a secure room during trick or treat hours. As much as we want to think our dogs are furry little people that understand everything about our lives, a bunch of kids, some with adults, coming to the door in large groups, dressed up strangely and sometimes yelling out TRICK OR TREAT... well I think that's a bit much for the canine mind to understand. Why risk something happening? Especially little kids wearing long and/or cumbersome costumes, masks... all it takes is a split second for something to go wrong. One kid who's scared of dogs to set off a reaction from the dog who is already a little freaked... A kid trips over a costume or a pot of mums to run away from a barking dog, and guess who gets sued.... Call me a party pooper, but I'm not willing to put my dog at risk..
I agree with that, to a point. For people that stay inside and pass out candy at the door, I don't think it's smart or safe to open the door for trick or treaters with your dog right there with you, especially if it doesn't have a leash on or at least a collar on. The dog could get out of the house, the dog could get scared and bite, etc. For people that sit outside to pass out candy, I don't think it's smart or safe to have your dog unleashed and outside with you, or even to have them leashed and right there with you. Even if the dog is friendly, well trained and well socialized, it's still a dog and you never know what could happen. Like I said, all three of our dogs have always been extremely friendly! We have never had a problem with any of them with people or other dogs. But, at the same time, we are definitely not stupid. We are responsible dog owners and though we love our dogs as if they were our children, we know that they are dogs and we treat them as such. Dogs need to be treated like dogs in order to be happy, healthy, secure and confident. We would do anything for the well being of our dogs and we would never do anything to put them at risk.
Last Halloween we just had our male, Brooklyn, and he was about 6 months old. We started out staying inside and handing out candy when people came to the door, but that only lasted a couple minutes! lol! He would bark when the door bell rang, not being aggressive or mean, just normal barking to let us know someone was at the door. We were worried he would slip out the door when we opened it to hand out candy and we were also worried that some children might get scared, so before we opened the door we put him in the office, which is two steps from the front door, then we would open the door to hand out candy. After a couple times doing that we got tired of it , so we decided to sit outside. To make sure Brooklyn didn't jump on anyone or get in the way, we put him on his run, in the grass obviously, and we sat in front and a little to the side of him, on the bench by our front door. Everyone was easily 6 feet or so away from him when they came up to get candy. Again, he was only 6 months then and he wanted to see everyone, so he was pretty bouncy for most of the time, but it wasn't anything bad at all, definitely nothing aggressive or threatening, and towards the end of the night when everything started to slow down, he calmed down a lot! We would also spend some time with Brooklyn one at a time for a little while, that way he wasn't just stuck by himself the whole night! He was definitely way happier outside than he would have been inside by himself, even though he wasn't right next to us.
This Halloween we are going to sit outside like we did last Halloween and if we decide to have our pups outside with us they will all be on their runs, away from people. We haven't really talked about how we are going to do things this Halloween yet, but we might have them all out on their runs at the same time and my husband and I will take turns sitting with the dogs for a while, we might just have them out one at a time for a little while each or we might leave them inside. I really don't want to leave them inside because our pups have horrible separation anxiety and I don't want them to be miserable all night! Obviously if they do seem to be getting scared or bothered by the costumes, we will put them up inside, but as long as they are fine with everything, they will be outside with us. It's not like people will have to walk past our dogs or even walk close to our dogs. There is also no way someone could get to them without walking up to us and then past us, unless someone comes through two very large empty lots that are full of trees and plants, and a big ditch full of water. In my opinion, it's not a problem for someone to have their dog or dogs outside with them on Halloween, as long as the dogs are friendly, well socialized and well trained, won't be right there next to them and as long as the dogs are secured.
Mine aren't scared at all by the costumes.....really, I'm not even sure if they notice the costumes .
It's more about the excitement of people at the door......these people must be sniffed, licked and jumped up on to be kissed ! They also must be "spoken to", which can often be misinterpreted as being barked at (to my dogs, they are all long-lost friends and there's a lot of 'catching up' to be done ).
If I keep the dogs away from the people by putting them in a closed bedroom, I am torturing the dogs and will be told so by them..........endlessly .
I only wish they were afraid of the trick-or-treaters, but that's not likely to happen, I'm afraid .
mine barks, but then he runs as costumes scare him. he's scared of al the scarecrows in peoples yards and hides behind me as we walk by them.
also, we have about 10 people over on halloween and they entertain or hold cody as we open the door. That way he doesn't have to be locked up, but he is on a leash the whole time so we can step on it if needed.
I think it's more cruel to lock the dog in a secure room. She can hear the noise but can't see what's going on in her territory. Plus, if I try to put her in a room, she'll just scratch at the door and damage it. She's small enough that I can hold her as I open the door.
As a side note, remember that for those of you in states that observe Daylight Saving Time, we set our clocks back the first Sunday in Novemer and not the last Sunday in October.
We like to have friends and family over. They are all people who love the dogs and that the dogs love. It helps to have lots of extra laps and hands to hold and reassure the dogs. Collars and leashes help, too. Can't be too safe!
If we have to leave the house or when we run out of candy, we turn on TVs (to decrease the chances of the dogs hearing kids outside) and turn off all lights in the front of the house, including the porch light (so the kids don't get their hopes up).
As for anyone feeling guilty about not answering the door, don't! If you have any kids that you know that you want to give candy to, you could just call their parents and make special arrangements for them to come over at a certain time. Otherwise, don't worry about it! Parents have no business letting kids go to strangers' houses anyway!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
He would bark when the door bell rang, not being aggressive or mean, just normal barking to let us know someone was at the door. We were worried he would slip out the door when we opened it to hand out candy and we were also worried that some children might get scared, so before we opened the door we put him in the office, which is two steps from the front door, then we would open the door to hand out candy. After a couple times doing that we got tired of it 
, so we decided to sit outside. To make sure Brooklyn didn't jump on anyone or get in the way, we put him on his run, in the grass obviously, and we sat in front and a little to the side of him, on the bench by our front door. Everyone was easily 6 feet or so away from him when they came up to get candy. Again, he was only 6 months then and he wanted to see everyone, so he was pretty bouncy for most of the time, but it wasn't anything bad at all, definitely nothing aggressive or threatening, and towards the end of the night when everything started to slow down, he calmed down a lot! We would also spend some time with Brooklyn one at a time for a little while, that way he wasn't just stuck by himself the whole night! 
Obviously if they do seem to be getting scared or bothered by the costumes, we will put them up inside, but as long as they are fine with everything, they will be outside with us. It's not like people will have to walk past our dogs or even walk close to our dogs. There is also no way someone could get to them without walking up to us and then past us, unless someone comes through two very large empty lots that are full of trees and plants, and a big ditch full of water. 
.
).
