Annoyed

It would be helpful if the other granny was here on GN listening in!

So daughter is taking all the blame. Sil is a fully grown adult (presumably) and it was his decision to leave just as much as your dd and I shouldn’t think gc would have wanted to stay either. Other grandparents were totally irresponsible. They should never have permitted the dog anywhere near the children. They could have taken a cage to keep everyone safe including the dog and walked the dog on its own.

I am assuming its a young dog as its bouncy. It clearly needs training and though I accept that they might have had to bring him if they do not use kennels like I don't. I think that they were irresponsible why could they not put him on a long lead away from the children or even a pen so he would be out but safe for everyone else

JenniferEccles

The poor mother shouldn’t have had to shut herself away with her baby in a bedroom, the dammed dog should have been the one locked up.

I don’t like dogs at all and tales like this just confirm why.

Hurray! I cant stand them either.

I think any dog that has bitten cannot be trusted and should be put down.

Your daughter has a voice, speak up

Not an apology. Instead, accused of over reacting.
Clear to me where the fault lies.

I know someone whose dog regularly ‘goes for’ peoples legs - licking, scratching and jumping up. They think it cute and ‘saying hello’. They have no idea about it being painful to get a leg scratched by a dog or how nervous it makes people to be around it. It’s all ‘It won’t bite’ .

The poor mother shouldn’t have had to shut herself away with her baby in a bedroom, the dammed dog should have been the one locked up.

I don’t like dogs at all and tales like this just confirm why.

Another one here who finds it ridiculous that a mother should be blamed for over-reacting when a dog has bitten her child! Ask your SIL to deal with his parents, Shimmer.

I am a dog owner. Family dogs have actually killed small children and babies. You daughter is quite right to leave if the dog is not controlled.

Out of order!!
My FiL got himself a rescue dog which he claimed was harmless.

It was a Staffordshire terrier cross or something like that. We were all nervous around it and it snapped, bit family and friends, jumped up or lifted it's leg against ours.

We stopped visiting which was sad for grandma until the dog turned on his owner and bit him. He was taken to the vet at last.

You can't have a dog that's not safe around children. You just can't.

Shimmer, no, your daughter is not overreacting, children should be kept safe at all times. perhaps the dog couldn't deal with too many children around, or the heat was a bit much for him. It's a pity that they had to cut the holiday short, but the children come first.

The whole thing sounds poorly thought out.
On all sides.
Not much of a happy holiday for anyone, including the dog.

Jojo1950

I would have the dog put down. Biting is not allowed ever!

Disgraceful reply.
Children are never to blame then? Well, they are.

Have the children been trained how to behave around dogs?
The owners should make sure their dog is always protected against children and know how to behave calmly around animals.
'Bite' is always used when often, and with some breeds especially herding or working dogs, they are simply doing their job with the tools they have ie, nipping ankles of what looks to them excitable children.
That's not the same as biting / aggression.
But the dog's owners should have made sure their dog was safe.

It's possible that the dog being old and in an unfamiliar place, it was stressed. Not that I'm condoning the behaviour. Im a dog owner. If my dog behaved like that, especially hurting someone, it would be me going home early.

He's just "mouthing" you was my nans explanation.
"But nan, it hurts!! I don't want to be mouthed!"

I really dislike people say " Oh he won't bite you "..The the dog does ...

....because it takes into account.....your sil needs....... 🫣

Lathyrus3

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.

I think this is one of the best replies becausevitvtskez into account that the dog may be feeling upset/threatened by small children and unknown adults and that the fault lies squarely with the adults in this situation. My 2 digs lived around my own kids and sometimes 3 or 4 visiting kids/playmates. The children were taught to respect thr dogs space and the dogs were sent to their crates if things were getting noisy/excitable. Sometimes the dogs would take themselves off to their crates and the kids knew to leave them well alone. If there were any adults %children visiting who were worried about dogs then the dogs were sent to their crates or another room and a child gate across the doorway to keep them away. The dog owners need to be more responsible and the parents needed to have "rules" in place before the holiday. As a dog owner there is nothing worse than an unruly untrained dog (especially those with zero recall!!!) they are a menace to humans and other dogs. It's not the dogs fault that its owner have not trained it and it should not have to be "put down" because the owners are lazy. Your silly needs to speak to his parents about getting the dog trained or putting things in place whereby the dog is kept away from those that don't want it jumping up/biting etc and that there will be no family group anything until an agreement is made.

I think that all of the adults were at fault. The in-laws because they said that they would keep the dog away from the children, and the parents because when they found the dog wasn't being kept away, should have insisted, and if the in-laws then failed to do so, they should have left. There is no way that as an adult I would have allowed someone's dog to jump up me more than once without kicking off, why on earth didn't your daughter, make more of a fuss, or leave before her child was actually bitten? I can understand your daughter not speaking up about touchy subjects in order to keep the peace if necessary, but to not speak up when it was a matter of safety, was not acceptable in my opinion, and her husband should have backed her up too.

I'm not a dog person, and am always very alert when small children are aound dogs. I don't like it when owners ask the children if they'd like to pet them, even well-behaved older dogs can be startled by small people doing something unexpected - and it sounds as though this dog was totally unprovoked.
It's really dreadful that your daughter in law and grandchildren were treated like this Shimmer. If I were them I don't think I'd even be visiting again unless the dog was kept in another room.

I would have the dog put down. Biting is not allowed ever!

I have a 10 month old pup ,have him around 2 months and he is untrained and difficult to stop him chasing the grandchildren to play with, they tend to laugh and scream and wave their hands around when he jumps up making it more difficult to control him, I have purchased a crate and as he starts to get too excited into the crate he goes, its situated in a bedroom and there he stays till they go home, other than that he is taken upstairs and stays with my son.
I would not take him on holiday with my grandchildren till he is older and properly trained, my older dog is trained and is great with the grandchildren