Puppy At Wedding

[flux]

Hi all,

I'm going to be getting married in December, and we both would love Jazz our (will then be) 5 month old rough collie to join us. She won't be a ring bearer (the temptation to run after ducks once off the lead would be too much!) but it would be really nice to have her there. So, I wondered if anyone else has attempted such folly with such a young dog? We are still 50/50 if it goes ahead, as we are sure she would be pretty well-behaved sitting with my father, but after we say I do and everyone is excited I'm pretty certain she is going to be REALLY excited and I don't think guests would appreciate a hyper-active puppy, and i don't think my father would enjoy standing aside with the dog! Suggestions and ideas most welcome

[Gretel]

My first thought was to have a crate handy but getting married in December it may be pretty hot?

[D & D]

and I don't think guests would appreciate a hyper-active puppy, Suggestions and ideas most welcome

My thoughts are

-it's your wedding, not your guests

-if they won't like it, they don't have to be there

-can you add something to the invitations (probably a bit late) to let people know she will be there?

-if you're really worried, have someone organised to take her home after photos

-Congrats, hope it all goes well.

I once got sent home (100metres away) from a friend's wedding to get my dog. When I said "What if people don't want her here?" His reply was along the lines of "It's my wedding, if they don't like it, they can leave." ;)

[Scarlet]

I'd just have a back up plan.

Is it possible for someone to take her home, or to a safe place if she does get "out of hand" or she doesn't like the crowds.

[Starkehre]

Hi Flux, firstly congratulation on your imminent wedding.

We did include our dog in our wedding ceremony, but she is an adult and well trained and behaved. Even so, I arranged for one of my friends to be her handler. It was her job (as all the other delegatd wedding jobs we give to our friends) to pick my dog up from my house, take her to the grounds, ensure she was where we wanted her to be and ensure she was watered, included in photo sessions and kept cool at all times. I gave ger a gift for doing this for us and she was happy to. My friend also dropped my dog back home after the ceremony and returned for the reception. My friend is a doggy person and knew my dog very well, so it was wonderful.

It was organised well in advance and my friend even came to the rehearsals so she knew where we wanted our dog dyzney to be, but dyzney was our ring bearer.

I suggest that doing something similar regarding having a handler do everything for you would take the hassle worry and stress out of your wedding day. You can still pat your pup and have photos taken with her, but your handler will make sure your pup does not jump all over you and the other guests with excitement and ruin your dress. Perhaps not immediate family, like your dad, as he will want to be watching his baby girl on her big day rather than babysitting the dog, if you know what I mean.

I hope you have a great day.

[macka]

Personally I think you will have enough to worry about on the day...honestly the day just flies by and you will barely have a chance to talk to all of your guests let alone fuss over the dog. I'd only do it if one of your guests is prepared to take care of your pup the entire time. Which may not really be fair to them as they'd probably like to relax and enjoy your wedding too!

Why not ask your photographer to do a wedding pre-shoot to get some nice photos of the 3 of you before the big day?

[persephone]

I wouldn't - BUT I would have someone fetch her for photos , if possible, and deposit her safely home again...

[flux]

Hi all,

Thanks for the comments, feedback and congratulations! I forgot to mention that we would only have her for the ceremony and for photos, then we would get someone to take her back home for us. I'm going to have a good think about who might be happy to hold the pooch (and be prepared to hang back a bit when people swarm) I think some really good points have been raised though, so many thanks. I'm thinking if she's not there for at least the photos we will be dissapointed and miss her, so I'm not sure if we could exclude her entirely. If it were cooler I'd leave her in a car with the windows down for the 20mins of the ceremony, but yeah, I'm worried and predict it will be really hot, ha, or hailing - go Canberra. I'll let you know more updates as we figure them out, but would still love to hear everyone's 2 cents on the subject!! I'm not entirely sure why I'm making it much more complicated, I was the one who wanted to elope!

[flux]

Wedding pre-shoot is an awesome idea too, but alas I have to keep my dress a surprise!

[LizT]

Your puppy could get destressed by the crowd and absolutely long for peace and quiet. IMI NOT a good idea as much as you love your pet.

Try and make it a stress free day for yourself and everyone else especially your dog.

PS. I had my 3 dogs in my wedding photos taken before we left the house. They sat beside me in my dress. It was lovely.

Congratulations and have a wonderful special day.

[alanglen]

Recently family had two dogs (adults but one with very high excitability and the other quite clumsy) at wedding photo's and it was lovely. They got a friend of mine as a paid dog handler and she assisted in keeping the dogs about but happy and comfortable during pre drinks, assisted in getting them in group shots for poses and in general the dogs had a lovely time and they were a great distraction for us as guests! The handler then took them home and settled them at home with a bone whilst we went to reception. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again and it would have been sad without them.

[goldenboymax]

My daughter went to her teachers wedding and her dog was there, she was 8 months old. she was the ring bearer which was hilarious as she would not give the rings back!

[Dogsfevr]

What will be your plan if the dog barks non stop??

If people are allergic ??

The dog wants to toilet???

Hair will be covered over who ever has to hold(black suit collie hair )

What if the dog freaks out & the handler cant cope or the dog doesnt like the handler you pick??

Are you expecting children at the service???

I guess as already said it comes down to how prepared you are to deal with all the things that could go wrong & how much involvement you & your partner wish to take if the dog plays up.

I think having a dog there can be a great thing but it can also be a nightmare & you are hoping to only get married once .

Have you started training her to deal with the occasion?/ & how is she going.Remember her being overwhelmed could also ruin her for life if she gets frightened .She is only 5 months so a very crucial age

[Ashanali]

As a wedding photographer and having been to too many weddings to count, some with dogs and some without, ONLY include the dogs if you have someone willing to be responsible for them the entire time. You, your bridal party and family will have alot on your hands and won't be able to do all that much with the dogs - as much as you think you will, you won't. I can guarantee this with absolute certainty.

Also if you can find someone who is happy to take responsibility for them, you will only need them for a few photos. The photographers isn't going to have the dogs in every single photo they take so include the dogs in some photos for about the first 15 minutes, then have the person who is responsible take them home (just be sure to inform your photographer that they are only there for a few minutes for photos so they know to take the shots first up). It means that they don't have to be there as long, they are included in your day, you will have nice photos and you know that they are going to be more comfortable at home rather than following you around for your entire photoshoot in the middle of December.

[carrie]

So Im really keen to hear if you ended up including your collie in the wedding? How did it go?

[flux]

Hi Carrie,

Wedding went really well.

We ended up asking a friend to basically be responsible for her the whole time. Groom happily came early to the location with the pup, and handed her over to this friend who then looked after her and made sure people and puppy were respectful of one another. She also took Jazz home for us, gave her her dinner I had made up the night before and made sure she peed. Fortunately Jazz has a wonder-bladder, and lasted well back at home while the friend went to our reception.

Wedding went beautifully, unfortunately I don't have any photos back yet, but I will post some puppy-related ones when I do.

Sure enough Jazz was bored and did her chatty howly-bark-whinge right after we said "I do" but for us personally this just made us and the guests laugh. A corella actually swooped over the gathering squarking away during the ceremony too, but it wouldn't of been my wedding without the animal input lol.

Slight problem in that my OH got attacked by plovers/lapwings walking her to the grounds lol but fortunately they weren't around the ceremony area. Thanks so much for the advice, I would reccomend 100% having someone (who is willing) to be totally in charge. At one point I had to just call my friend over (who was brilliant) for a quick snap with the dog, then ask her to leave again as we went to a non-dog friendly location. No-way could we of had any family or bridal party looking after her it would of been too demanding of them with photos, other guests etc.

Thanks again all, will post photos when I can