My son and his girlfriend have been together for nearly 4 years; my grandson was born 1 year ago. They live 40 miles away. The girlfriend has a history of anxiety and is OCD about the baby, house, etc. This is causing them to have relationship issues. The problem we have is that we want to visit our grandson but we hardly ever see him because we have a dog that my son's girlfriend will not tolerate in the house. If we visit then he has to stay in the garden, which obviously is only possible in good weather (which is hard to predict in advance, even in summer!) I would understand her concerns if our dog was a vicious brute, hairy or a flea bag, but he is everything but. This is upsetting us a lot because her parents live close to them and see our grandson all the time. We cannot afford to pay £25 - £30 for dog care every time we visit them so I have said our dog can stay in the hall or kitchen but it makes no difference. I do understand that some people dislike pets in the house but they have pet rabbits that they let run around plus she used to be fine about our dog before our grandson was born. I've offered to muzzle our dog if that's her worry but it makes no difference. I don't know how to deal with this as I can't break down the barrier she has put up towards me (I don't think she particularly likes me despite my best efforts ). We feel totally left out. Any advice would be gratefully received.
