I am so excited that my advice on what to do with your dog during an open house was published by our Coldwell Banker corporate office.

I have two medium to large dogs. Watson, a Labradoodle, who I found running around a neighborhood on a dark and stormy night. I found him when I was looking for a home. It took me hours to catch him, hours to groom him, and as I could not find his owner, months to train him. After eight months, he is still a diamond in the rough.

Ci Ci, a thirteen year-old Rottweiler, was adopted from the breeder as she was too shy in the ring. She has been a great ambassador for the breed as she is loyal and has a perfectly even temperament.

Both of these dogs would be affected if strangers were walking through their home, so much so I could not imagine leaving them. This is why I recommend considering your open house a time to take a walk or go to a dog park.

If you live in the city, do what my grandmother did with me – window shopping! I use to love walking with her around the beautiful shops in downtown Los Angeles when I was growing up.

Perhaps none of these options are available to you but you may have a doggy day care facility nearby. Seattle has so many it would be hard to count. I would ask for references around my local dog park (I frequent Golden Gardens, Greenlake, Magnolia and Magnuson) or look on Yelp.com.