Angus, our dog

TiffanyDevor

Can we put our dog in the wedding?
Groom wants him to walk down with the flower girl or ring bearer. I dont think that will work. He would drag one of them down lol.
I LOVE the idea. Angus is like a son to us. He is a black labrador. He is well behaved, that's not an issue. The main issue is what will we do with him at the reception. I don't know who will take him back to the house because we can't take him inside. Worth the hassle?!

zitiqueen

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-party_angus-our-dog?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:37Discussion:f5adf83d-5693-4c03-ba50-042952b5b505Post:404a6a66-b6fe-48ab-92d4-f154f0bdfe29">Angus, our dog</a>:
[QUOTE]Can we put our dog in the wedding? Groom wants him to walk down with the flower girl or ring bearer. I dont think that will work. He would drag one of them down lol. I LOVE the idea. Angus is like a son to us. He is a black labrador. He is well behaved, that's not an issue. The main issue is what will we do with him at the reception. I don't know who will take him back to the house because we can't take him inside. Worth the hassle?!
Posted by TiffanyDevor[/QUOTE]

No. And assigning somebody to look after your dog at the wedding and take him back home after is a crappy thing to do to somebody you consider a friend.

Other things to consider: how does he react with large crowds? Are any of your guests severly allergic to dogs or deathly afraid of dogs? Stop at the house and take pictures with him while you're both dressed up, but leave the pooch at home. He won't care that he's missing your wedding.

banana468

I wouldn't.    Dogs can be unpredictable.   What if part of the ceremony venue is baptized by the dog?    What if the dog gets irritated and barks through the ceremony?  W hat if one of your guests is allergic?   What if the dog needs to get to a different location to move his bowels?

And then there are the issues you've discussed with what to do with the dog after the ceremony.

My advice: take photos with the dog before the wedding. 

RamonaFlowers

First off, it's nobody else's responsibility to take care of your dog if you insist on including him in your wedding. If he needs to go home for the reception, that would be on you and your FI.

That being said, reception aside, don't do this. As "cute" as the idea is in theory, a pet in the WP is an absolute nightmare in practice. There's way too many variables (Peeing, barking, allergies, the dog becoming frightened and biting somebody-yes, that can happen when a dog is out of their element) and with an otherwise perfectly behaved dog, it's still too much of a risk.

And like PP said, if you already know walking him down the aisle is going to be an issue, he's not as well-behaved as you credit him for ... so you're really just borrowing trouble.

aerinpegadrak

Way, way, way too unpredictable.  There are plenty of ways to reference him: take your engagement pictures with him, have a dog on your cake topper, use pictures of him as your table numbers, get a matted photo or a Shutterfly book of pictures of him for the guest book, etc. (though I'd pick one thing rather than doing them all).  But having him present at the ceremony itself is just begging for disaster.  

There's a reason that there's a saying in show biz "Never work with children or animals," and a wedding is nothing if not a staged production.  At least when children do the unexpected, they're much less likely to poop on the carpet, chew someone's expensive shoes to pieces, or freak out and bite someone.

kirbi8390

It's your wedding. You can do whatever you want . 

We're including our dog in our wedding ceremony and pictures afterwards. We've been to one other wedding where they included their dog. Of course, their dog was 5lbs, our dog is 55lbs! However, to include our dog on our wedding day, we have booked her regular dog sitter. Her dog sitter is going to keep her the night before, groom her that morning, take her to the ceremony and possibly walk her down the aisle for us. She'll be there to manuver her for wedding pictures, and then she'll take her before the reception begins.

zitiqueen

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-party_angus-our-dog?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:37Discussion:f5adf83d-5693-4c03-ba50-042952b5b505Post:6bd82109-79a0-46bb-a448-aa668e886ea0">Re: Angus, our dog</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>It's your wedding. You can do whatever you want :).</strong>  We're including our dog in our wedding ceremony and pictures afterwards. We've been to one other wedding where they included their dog. Of course, their dog was 5lbs, our dog is 55lbs! However, to include our dog on our wedding day, we have booked her regular dog sitter. Her dog sitter is going to keep her the night before, groom her that morning, take her to the ceremony and possibly walk her down the aisle for us. She'll be there to manuver her for wedding pictures, and then she'll take her before the reception begins.
Posted by kirbi8390[/QUOTE]

Yeah, fucck your guests and their comfort! And for that matter, fucck the comfort of your dog! It's your day, you do whatever you want.

MrsGandthebeag

Why are all your posts in red?  I'm irrationally irritated by this.  

mrskristinyc

We're having our dog. My nephew (11 years old) is walking him down the aisle as the ring bearer. There's a Petsmart with a boarding facility across the street from our venue, so we're just having someone drop him off there right after the ceremony. Not a big deal at all.

Our dog's a 9 lb pomeranian, who's very cute and well-behaved.

samantha24p

My aunt had her whippet in her ceremony. He looked so proud as if he thought he was the groom.

Viczaesar

OP, please don't write in colored font, it's difficult to read.

And ditto the other posters, leave the dog at home.

QueerFemme

Unless you have a paid dog handler to deal with your dog before the ceremony, when you are going to be busy getting ready, and after the ceremony, when will be busy with pictures and preparing for your reception, skip it. 

You should also NOT have the little kids walk the dog down the aisle, if there is ANY chance your dog will "drag them down the aisle".   That dog cannot possibly be that well behaved if that is even a concern for you.  My 125 pound rottweiler has been walked by my 3 year old nephew and 5 year old niece, and he would never pull them.  I still wouldn't have them walk him down an aisle.

If you decide you must include the dog... have a grownup walk him.

JoanE2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-party_angus-our-dog?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:37Discussion:f5adf83d-5693-4c03-ba50-042952b5b505Post:6bd82109-79a0-46bb-a448-aa668e886ea0">Re: Angus, our dog</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>It's your wedding. You can do whatever you want :).</strong>  We're including our dog in our wedding ceremony and pictures afterwards. We've been to one other wedding where they included their dog. Of course, their dog was 5lbs, our dog is 55lbs! However, to include our dog on our wedding day, we have booked her regular dog sitter. Her dog sitter is going to keep her the night before, groom her that morning, take her to the ceremony and possibly walk her down the aisle for us. She'll be there to manuver her for wedding pictures, and then she'll take her before the reception begins.
Posted by kirbi8390[/QUOTE]

As soon as you invite guests, it's no longer just about you.  Do you not like your family and friends much?

Peledreamsofrain

I think it's unfair to the dog and to the guests, not to mention that poor little flower girl that is extremely likely to suffer the embarrassment of falling on her face and flashing all the guests her underwear because a huge excited dog tugged her at the wrong time.

Unless your lab is ancient, it's an excitable dog because it's a high energy playful breed.  I have a friend who is going to force her excitable pit bull into her wedding, and I expect similar results out of the whole thing. 

And thank you zitiqueen for mentioning guests that might be frightened by a large excited dog jumping all over everyone.  I was attacked by a dog when I was small, and have always hated dog owners who let their dogs do that to people.  I don't enjoy having to flash back to that incident every time I take a walk just because people are lazy with training/leashes.

lightofashrah

I would like to just say unless your dog is trained to handle situations where there will be many people, I would not suggest it.  Yes, you have a year to do a lot of work with him if he's not but I'm not talking 15 minutes per day, I'm talking 2-3 hours per day of hard work for each of you.

I have a lab cross who is used to crowds but she's a therapy dog (in other words she goes into hospitals, schools, and other busy places to visit with people).  Yes, she's in my wedding but she's used to the large crowds and being handled by random people (i.e. - Nurses, my fiance, family friends, etc).

I'm not going to tell you your dog is high energy because I've never personally met your dog but I will suggest standing out side a busy super market and see what he does.  If he sits there and does nothing, then it might work out.  If he gets over stimulated and starts not cooperating, then I'd say it's probably not a good idea.

Remember, there is going to be lots of commotion and stimuli that your dog may or may not be able to handle.  This means new flower scents, sounds (pianos, church organs, etc), even new sights.  Just beware of this.

Another thing to keep in mind is that not all venues allow dogs inside them.  Even if your dog can do it, check to see if your ceremony venue will even allow it.  My church is allowing it only because they have worked with my dog at hospitals when doing volunteer work.  Other than that, my church does not allow dogs in the sanctuary unless it's a service dog (therapy dogs are not technically considered service dogs by the government). 

Edit: Before I also forget, we do have a plan for our dog after the ceremony and we've already spoken to a dog sitter who will taking her to their house after.  Luckily, we do not live far from our pet sitter.  This is another important thing, make sure you have a plan of action after the ceremony. 

Also, our guests (mainly the friends and family) are well aware of our dog and her training so 99% of our guests are quite comfortable around her.  Just make sure that you don't have any guests who are afraid of dogs as well or this could also be a disaster in regards to your guests.