IL's Dog
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Anonymous
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My MIL and FIL have an old, obnoxious dog whom they foist off on the children during their many trips and vacations. This dog is a straight up menace to society - a little yapper who barks at everything and pisses all over my house. He has LITERALLY pissed on every carpet in my house, on an expensive upholstered chair, and on my curtains. Every minute of the day is punctuated by his incessant whining or barking. He refuses to shit anywhere but my deck, unless I personally walk him down to go out of our walkout basement every time he needs to go out (which is frequent). When he does go out into the yard, he barks nonstop and refuses to come inside. I am at my wits end. We have told them before that his behavior at our house is atrocious and that he is notorious amongst our neighbors for his constant barking. We are now entering week of three of six watching this little fucker while they snowbird in Florida. DH's other siblings have refused to take him - he bit a kid in one family and the other just flat out refused. (I did tell MIL unequivocally that if he bites my kid he will go straight to the pound.) DH feels beholden b/c we stayed with his parents for six weeks after we moved back home. During that time we bought food, cooked, cleaned and contributed to the household. This dog has stayed at my house 5 or 6 times since then and I think we've paid our debt.
I told DH that I will never again watch this dog and that if his parents cannot take him with them than they can pay to board him. As it is I have to have every carpet in my house shampooed, my chair cleaned, etc. He thinks I am being ridiculous but I think he is being a doormat and dragging us along with him. If the dog were trained and well behaved that would be one thing. I am all for helping family. But IMO this is fucking ridiculous and we are being taken advantage of. Am I even remotely in the wrong here? |
Anonymous
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It needs to work for both of you for it to work. It does not work for both of you.
They can take the dog with them or board. It is part of being a pet owner to make proper arrangements for your pet when you travel. Asking friends for family to take a pet that frequently for that long means you probably shouldnt have the pet. |
Anonymous
| I love dogs and I would take it straight to my vet for boarding. Go get it back the morning that they are supposed to return. I always ask our vet to bathe our dog before she comes home so you could make sure the dog comes home nice and clean. And then I would refuse to take the dog the next time. |
Anonymous
| Have your DH take care of all the cleanup! |
Anonymous
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I'm a dog person and think your husband is wrong. This is an ill-trained dog who is now old and can't really be expected to change its ways. It's sad for the dog that people are angry at it for doing all it knows to do.
The inlaws need to find other arrangements. The only other alternative is that DH must deal with the dog and all its messes for all six weeks of the dog sitting. I do not think he grasps how disgusting it is. |
Anonymous
I'm sure as hell not paying to board THEIR dog. And yes, I did tell DH he has to clean up after the little menace. I'm not going to spray dog shit off my deck. If DH leaves it there to dry on I swear I will threaten divorce. SO disgusting. |
Anonymous
| The fact that he bit a kid at any point in time would be an absolute no for me. Why on Earth would you wait for him to bite yours! I had a dog when I was very young that caused my sister to have plastic surgery and for me to have 7 stitches on my eye. My mother was sick that she let it get to a second time. That alone would make it VERY easy to say NOOOOO! |
Anonymous
It's not even how disgusting, it's how annoying too. Imagine every time someone walks by or some kid goes by riding a bike the dog starting to bark at the top of its lungs. My neighborhood is full of kids, amd runners, and other dogs. There is ALWAYS someone going by outside or playing in an adjacent yard. My nerves are shot from the constant din. We have a dog who is well trained and sweet. I love dogs. But I cannot even begin to tell you how much I loathe this animal. |
Anonymous
I know. To be honest, I could not BELIEVE my IL's did not have the dog put down at that point. And I further couldn't believe they kept asking people to take him. I actually really love my IL's but this situation is making me resent the hell out of them, to be honest. |
Anonymous
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No way would I allow that dog to piss all over my house and poop on my deck. And then yap nonstop. A nuisance to everyone inside the house and all the neighbors too.
No wonder the ILs keep shoving this dog off onto other people. Little dogs can be really cute. I've seen adorable little dogs that are a pleasure to be around. But those dogs had/have owners that cared enough about them to raise them with rules and loving attention. I would tell the ILs to board that dog. What a nightmare. |
Anonymous
I can. Maybe they're hoping he bites you next. If you didn't want to take care of the dog, you should have said you would not take care of the dog. If your husband said it while you were not present, then your issue is with him. Either way, it doesn't have anything to do with your ILs (no apostrophe needed- you're welcome). |
Anonymous
Thanks, grammar police. 
It has a lot to do with them, and their guilt trips. I will tell them that this is the last time, but I guarantee you my MIL will get all passive aggressive about it, which is why DH doesn't want to tell her no or confront her. I just need her to understand that the dog makes our household extremely unpleasant and that the stress of him ruining my things and leaving us without a moment's peace is too much to bear. |
Anonymous
I am PP, and I do understand what you're saying, and it sucks, but you're blame-shifting. Your MIL can pull every whiny, guilt-inducing, passive aggressive tactic she wants- if your husband gives in, that's his fault. It doesn't sound like trying to tell her how much having the dog negatively affects your household will work because of your husband, but maybe you can follow that with an "... and I'm sorry to say it, but if I find the dog in my house again [assuming this is after they return home in three weeks], I am going to make other arrangements for it and let you know where you can pick it up." |
Anonymous
My former IL's had a poodle that they "inherited" from another son after the damn thing bit their child (red flag anyone?). After they got him, he bit the mailman, the groomer, my SIL AND my son who was about 2 at the time. Saw it happen, my son walked by him through the kitchen on his way to the yard and it jumped out and bit him on the arm. I was LIVID and they knew it. Yet a few months later they brought the GD dog to our house for a birthday party. I said absolutely no way was it coming into my home. It was August and hotter than hell and I said they'd better crack the windows on the car or leave it running for the AC b/c it was not coming near ANYONE. |
Anonymous
Shoving that dog onto you is very passive aggressive. A dog that is pissing all over your house and destroying your stuff is not housebroken. Yapping nonstop and menacing the neighbors is not cute. And for your ILs to actually EXPECT you to have this dog over to your house is absolutely appalling. This is their dog and that means it is their problem and their responsibility. Honestly they should rehome that poor animal. The lack of consistent training, the shoving the dog off onto resentful people who don't like it, the tossing it outside because no one can stand to be around it is just so sad. That dog would be so much better off boarded. There are so many good, clean boarding facilities where at least the dog would get regular attention from people who like animals. |