DEAR MISS MANNERS: We attended a doggie birthday pool party with our dog, and we’d like to reciprocate. However, the hosts’ 150-pound male Newfoundland dog relentlessly tried mounting our 130-pound female, and they did nothing to intervene.
After an hour of this harassment, we decided to leave the party early, rather than risk a hip problem or other injury to our dog.
There were several other giant dogs at the party who were well mannered, and we’d like to get together with them again. The previous hosts are sure to find out if we exclude them from our gathering to protect our dog. Is there any polite way to request that the previous hosts keep their dog under control?
GENTLE READER: “We would love to include Chimera at our get-together, but I am afraid that Pixie is a bit afraid of him. I wonder if there is any way to keep them apart so that she is free to attend to her other guests.” And then Miss Manners recommends that you keep them all out of the birthday cake.