Annoyed

No domestic animal should be allowed to bite people.

If the owner chooses not to have the animal put down, then it is his responsiblity to keep it away from people, especially children.

Dogs and cats, too, if not brought up in a household with small children can very well be scared of them and therefore bite, but this in no way excuses the owner not controlling the animal or preventing it from doing harm.

These days, it seems a lot of people cannot be bothered to train their dogs properly and expect the rest of us to be happy to be jumped up at, have our crotch sniffed or whatever else a dog naturally does, that does not meet with our expectations of a well-trained pet's behaviour.

I was so glad to read that OP's SIL agreed with his wife, rather than with his parents!

If the dog bites children it should be reported before an awful accident happens - and it will. I agree with Franbern

Shocking. I think the explanation that GParents said the dog would be kept separate is why they were prepared to go, but well - end of.

Yes SiL should say, "dog in kennels next time or there won't be one".

If they have to take the dog, book two separate places not far from each other so the dog can be left separate as appropriate.

Surely, if this dog has actually bitten a child, then this action should be reported to the police, and they would take the necessary action.

My girls dog could be rather over excitable.
So, she was kept away, in the kitchen, with a stair gate, if anyone new came to visit. (Where she'd lick the floor until it was swimming in saliva!)
Babies, she was fascinated by, I've no idea why.
She was never given the chance to get near them, just in case.

Leads!! Off their leads

We have an elderly cocker spaniel who is old and grumpy. We have taken her and my daughter’s mini sausages on holiday together with the rest of our family including our 11 year old GS.

We NEVER left any of the dogs unattended and the minute any of started to misbehave they were shunted tout de suite into one of the owners bedrooms!

ALL dogs can bite hard, big or small, young or old, and it’s 100% the owners responsibility to keep their dogs under control at all times.

If we have guests to our home who don’t like dogs, for whatever reason, we give our dog/s a good long walk, off their leafs if possible, then contain them in a room, with water, toy and chews, when our guests arrive and only let out for wee breaks or when the guests leave.

These PiL are totally irresponsible, I’d be livid!

It's a bit rich to accuse her of over-reacting!
It's her duty as well as her instinct to keep her children safe, and in the circumstances, she couldn't continue to stay in the holiday home.
Especially has she'd emphasized she wanted the dog kept seperate from the children & no-one took any notice.

The issue here is entirely the owners, NOT the dog!

I’m a dog lover BUT jumping up and biting/nipping are behaviours which should have stopped in puppyhood.

Perhaps this dog should have left at home with a very good dog sitter.

Sorry, for me the other grandparents attitude and behaviour are completely acceptable!

Good advice, very sensitively put, wellbeck

Fuck em.
Who cares what they think or say.
But why didn't the husband step up to protect his family.

I have a very gentle rescue dog but a couple of weeks ago we took her to my son’s new house. She became anxious in the strange environment and pawed me leaving a big deep scratch. I have skin that is like tissue paper as have many seniors of advanced years. I am now having twice weekly surgery visits to keep the wound uninflected and to heal. The dog has been trained not to paw people , a habit she arrived with but when stressed no dog can be relied not to react. The PIL dog was out of its comfort zone and they should have taken action to keep the dog away. Don’t blame the dog.

did she know the dog would be there yes she did but was assured that due to the size of the holiday home it would be possible to keep the dog separate.

The fact that she needed assurance before the holiday implies that the dog was a known potential problem so it beggars belief that she would be accused of over-reacting.

Some people here attempting to blame the dtr. The issue is the dog and its irresponsible owners.
If it bit a child it should be reported to the police. No one in their right mind puts a child at risk.

I would have hit the roof.
And I dont hit the roof at much.

I appreciate all your concerns My daughter has just come back from the out of hours gp with a prescription for antibiotics as the areas are inflamed. As regards to comments regarding did she know the dog would be there yes she did but was assured that due to the size of the holiday home it would be possible to keep the dog separate. Unfortunately this was not adhered to hence having to spend time upstairs. I can assure you this will not be allowed to happen ever again. We all know how precious our children/ grandchildren are.Unfortunately in this case this wasn't so

I’m no dog lovers ver. In fact Im quite frightened of them and don’t want to be close to them.

But I think it’s a bit unfair on the dog to say it is dangerous and should be put down.

It’s an older dog that’s unused to small children. It was probably very stressed and reacted to what it saw as a threat. It’s a dog. That’s what any dog will do. That’s why I’m nervous of them. It should never have been put in that situation.

That doesn’t excuse the the PIL who I think are bad dog owners.

And the parents should have given the situation more thought too. I speak as someone whose child was bitten on a visit to a relative whose elderly dog was frightened by a small inquisitive human. As adults we were both at fault for not thinking it through.

Who is accusing her of overreacting? The other GPS? SIL should step in here. No further visits/holidays until dog is muzzled...or put down.
In fact if I were DD I wouldnt be that upset not to see them ever again if they could let me have scratched legs and bitten child and not think that must never happen again and be so apologetic.

That dog just had to jump up once and I would have left immediately!
People, family included, who cannot control their pets are not welcome in my home - fortunately only one AC has a dog that is well behaved - and I am appalled at the attitude of the dog owner’s criticism of the OP daughter saying she has overreacted!

Your DD is mist definitely not over reacting! The dog has bitten a child- !!!!!!
Only one solution there .

Years ago my niece politely explained to a set of grandparents that they would only visit with the children if their dog was muzzled.
The dog had a history of biting its owners and occasionally, a visitor.
The grandparents were happy to muzzle the dog in order to have the family visits.

I agree with all the above comments. I’d probably want the dog put to sleep before it could harm anybody else.

Shimmer you are right to feel angry, your daughter and one of your grandchildren were injured by this untrained, unsupervised, dangerous dog.
Her in-laws are totally irresponsible. Her husband needs to have strong words with his parents.

My parents had a dog that bit my daughter on the face when she was a toddler. I was fuming but Mum excused it, saying it was because she was eating a piece of meat and the dog wanted it. No apology.
I decided we weren't going to their house again while the dog was still alive, and we didn't.
You "overreact" all you want when your child's safety is at stake 😳

Shimmer

I just cannot understand their thinking. The warning signs were there and they obviously ignored them.As a grandparent why would anyone do this.
I just dont get it.Im so annoyed that my grandchildren were put at risk

Why did your daughter agree to do? Did she not know the dog would be present?