Grandson visiting for Christmas

I am the biggest softie dog person out there but recognise that there are times when dogs and large numbers of people including tinies can be fraught. Much depends on the layout of your house e.g.is there an area like a utility where dogs can be kept at a distance if necessary. For the dogs' sake too proximity to chocolates/nibbles/toys could actually be harmful to the dogs and a nuisance if Rover scoffs all the Pringles. A dog-free room seems the minimum and of course the bottom line is "my house - my rules" I don't think you can have hard and fast rules and while our labrador went most places with us that is to dog loving homes, she was an especially placid easy going dog. Since having greyhounds we have tended to use the kennels they came from where they were/are known and while perhaps not ecstatic at going in are at least used to it. Grace is far too big to take to most places and actually settles better in kennels than she would if shut away from the rest of the family.

new2me - I hope you have a wonderful christmas with your gs, no matter which way you decide to work things out.

Deedaa - I didnt know all that. Thank you for the information.
Remarkable what behaviour some humans choose to do.

If it were me, I would ask the opinion of my children on this one.

I would expect my grandson's parents to be primarily responsible for his safety and take my lead from them.

I would feel responsible for the behaviour of my own dog though.

Wow, my first ever time of asking for advice and I seem to have opened up the floodgates so to speak.

On thinking about it, of course this should be expected, there was always going to be a difference of opinion.

We shall be six adults who all will be putting the baby first, it's the cost of Kennels for my adult children that's the issue. Fortunately it is possible to separate our GS from the dogs, he is used to his own dog of course, it's ours and my daughters that I've been most anxious about. We have stair gate to put across the Lounge room door so that the dogs can see us.

I am still anxious, maybe in part because it's Christmas and we are all coming together - it doesn't happen as often as I'd like as we are spread around the country. Wish us well with this please.

Absolutely overwhelmed by people taking the time to respond to my worries and concerns, thank you all.

Pay for the kennels yourself? - might be worth it to have a peaceful time.

Might not be as simple as that; if the dogs don't go into kennels usually they will have to be kennel coughed and that's not cheap.

I have a cunning plan. How about planning the day around the dogs [and probably baby as well] going for a very long walk on Christmas morning while granny cooks the meal. Baby will probably sleep. Dogs will get back cream crackered and will crash out for the rest of the day, but baby refreshed from long nap will be wide awake. I think the daughter with the boyfriend and the dog would feel sad spending Christmas without their dog [and possibly a little bit left out]. Of course, I'm working on the assumption that it won't rain all day.

I would have said kennels and pay the cost myself but as Tegan mentioned there is the cost of Kennel Cough treatment to be sure they don't get or pass something on.
I would be unsure about three dogs who don't now each other and sleeping to-gether (or will they be separated) but I hope it works out for you new2me as I know you must be looking forward to having your DGS with you this xmas.

I think even the mildest-natured dog could be unpredictable if put into a different situation - if each dog is used to being the only dog in the household and is suddenly put into a situation with two others they could all be jockeying for position as 'leader of the pack'. If the baby is getting lots of attention then the other two dogs (perhaps not his own) could get jealous.

Are they a fair size, new2me, as my dog could have squeezed through a stairgate!

I would say don't expect everything to go wrong, but be aware of the things that could go wrong and plan accordingly. I think Tegan 's idea of a long walk for the dogs is great, with luck they'll all have fun together and you'll have a bit of peace and quiet to get everything organised for lunch.


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What breed, size and sex are they new2me?

That of course is a good suggestion, about taking the dogs for a loooong walk, but of course leaves the OP cooking the dinner wjthout any help.

If she is happy with that fair enough , I don"t think I would, there is so much to do, and many hands etc. just saying.

Well, the menfolk could take the dogs on a long walk to the pub [that's what tended to happen in our family!].

May I be so bold as to say , EVERYBODY should muck in, blow men going of to the pub, certainly would not happen in my house, for sure , I am not a slave !!

Glad to see you came back new2me, and the safety gate plan is in hand.

I'm with Tegan, a long walk with everyone, and their dogs. My experience of introducing new dogs,including a number of slightly bonkers foster dogs, has been that walking the dogs together, before the new dogs enter the existing dogs home is a real help. Start the walk on lead, with the aim of arriving at a place where the dogs can mix off lead. You can assess how they'll get on by watching them get to know each other. Our plan on Christmas day is to walk all the dogs together, put mine in their comfortable place, and allow my sisters young dog to stay with us. We don't have any infants, so we have less to worry about than you do.

Wishing you all the very best for this special day. I do hope it all goes well

Without young children- the situation is totally different though.

You seem to have made up your mind about anyway soon2be, without any advice from us. So, I wish you and, more importantly, the baby, luck with it.

I think you have me confused with the op?

Oh I'm so sorry. I meant *new2me^. (They rhyme a bit don't they?

No worries!
I had never thought of my name written in that way before!

I think I might be in password mode - where you have to include a number.

granjura, you seem determined to be a profit of doom in this situation. None of the comments from those of us offering suggestions to new2me have suggested she has an easy task ahead.
You're correct in pointing out my last post says we have no young children/babies in our family currently ( sadly ). I'm well into my 60's now, and happy to say that over the years our family has been blessed with babies and children, alongside our dogs. There has never been a dog fight or any dog behaving in a threatening way towards family members, including little ones.

The OP obviously has a dog loving family, given that both of her children have dogs and, in that case, the dogs are as much part of the family as the children. Which doesn't mean to say that the baby should be put at risk in any way and that, when crawling around should have any dogs in the same room. But this is the first Christmas of many and there will be more situations where there are babies, children and dogs all in the same house [perhpas even having holidays together]. Best to get things sorted now in a way that keeps everyone happy and safe. I'd still like to know what breed the dogs are, though; it would make the situation much easier to understand. Chances are the baby will sleep for most of Christmas anyway and even when not sleeping will spend a lot of the time being cuddled, in a high chair etc. If they're using a travel cot that could be put downstairs as a temporary playpen [I'm still not advocating having the dogs in the same room, by the way]. If her other daughter is anything like I was her dog is her baby and she'd hate to be parted from it at Christmas. I think they're going to have a wonderful family get together [especially as the OP is so thoughtful and caring] and I'm quite envious already.

Sad and unasked for comment really. A pity.

I am so glad those occasions with dogs and children passed well. But in my book, even if there is a shadow of a doubt, with a toddler- I would not take the chances. The fact the OP's OH is concerned says a lot for me.

I totally sincerely wish New2me a wonderful Christmas and find a way to make it work safely for all.

Unexpectedly, we had a visiting dog yesterday. A busy little 9 month old Norfolk Terrier, accompanied by my nephew, his wife and their grandchild, who is 18 months old. They called in because they'd heard my grandsons were here for tea. So we had a couple of noisy six year olds, two dogs and a toddler, all supervised by five adults. The kids and dogs had a great time, no-one got bit, and it all passed uneventfully.