The dog should be crated during gatherings, or gatherings should be held at someone else's house without the dog. Obviously the dog is stressed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love dogs

This dog should not be around children

Your in laws should keep him away from family entirely when they are over especially the kids. They deserve to not be in fear during the visit. Your IL are playing Russian roulette

Do you think the dog would seriously hurt them? MIL says he wouldn’t actually hurt them-if he actually wanted to hurt them, he would have. Meaning they were just “warning” bites.

Why wait and find out or be the first.

I was bit by a dog, on the face, as a child. I have a very small scar. It came at me, "playfully" they said, with no warning. I cannot stand dogs to this very day and will avoid at all costs.

I would speak, casually, to the other parents. If they are similarly cavalier, well, this is a not-my-circus-not-my-monkeys situation.

If they are concerned but afraid of speaking up, or have spoken up and been shut down, you volunteer to back them up. Make it clear you agree with them, that this is not safe for the children, and you'll do whatever would help them. Bring it up with your mom together?

As a parent, my answer would be "the dog is locked away in a crate or another room for the entire visit or we're not coming" but as a non-parent, all you can do is help the parents however they wish.

Alternatively - you could call animal control and report past bites. I'm not sure exactly what that could trigger, but having the pattern could be helpful if he bites someone more seriously and they're injured. You might be able to have the dog forcefully euthanized at that point.

I'd maybe say something to the parents of the kids who got bit, gently planting the seed.

"Aren't you nervous taking lil Johnny over to ILs after Dog bit him?"

Ideally this would encourage them to come together and plan to host elsewhere. If the ILs are this cavalier about the dog biting children, they are not going to want to muzzle train (or do it properly) or keep him separate from the family. But a dog that has bitten a child already is a very very dangerous dog to have around chilren.

Anonymous wrote:If your in-laws aren't willing to secure the dog, the solution is to not be in their home with their unsecured, aggressive animal.

Also: There is no such thing as a "warning bite" WTAF. Dogs warn with body posture first, then by growling and showing teeth. Those are your warnings. A dog that bites is a dog that bites. Properly-trained dogs who are being properly handled don't bite, so if you're around one that does, and the owners aren't immediately addressing that situation, the only viable solution is to remove yourself from the equation before someone gets hurt.

Warning bites absolutely do happen, but in this situation, the dog has given plenty of warnings and one day he will bite to maim, because in his world, his warnings have not been heeded.

Anonymous wrote:Bring in snacks of grapes and raisins for the youngest kids. They’re sure to drop a few by accident….

Won't be enough to poison the dog, plus that's a more cruel way to go than euthanasia.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love dogs

This dog should not be around children

Your in laws should keep him away from family entirely when they are over especially the kids. They deserve to not be in fear during the visit. Your IL are playing Russian roulette

Do you think the dog would seriously hurt them? MIL says he wouldn’t actually hurt them-if he actually wanted to hurt them, he would have. Meaning they were just “warning” bites.

By definition, warning bites then escalate to actual ones. The dog has bitten several times before. One day he will seriously injure a child and then they will get hit with a lawsuit, or if it's their grandchild, the family will implode.

This is what you or your husband must tell the in-laws. Your husband can appeal specifically to his father, who seems to preserve some rationality here, and tell him that the dog needs to go. Go as in, be euthanized or sent to a rescue or shelter with a full account of his biting history. If this does not happen, warn them that you will never go to their house again.

Bring in snacks of grapes and raisins for the youngest kids. They’re sure to drop a few by accident….

If your in-laws aren't willing to secure the dog, the solution is to not be in their home with their unsecured, aggressive animal.

Also: There is no such thing as a "warning bite" WTAF. Dogs warn with body posture first, then by growling and showing teeth. Those are your warnings. A dog that bites is a dog that bites. Properly-trained dogs who are being properly handled don't bite, so if you're around one that does, and the owners aren't immediately addressing that situation, the only viable solution is to remove yourself from the equation before someone gets hurt.

Anonymous wrote:Is this a joke? My kids would never be in that house. MIL welcome to come dog-free to my house.

Oh just reread this and see OP doesn’t have kids. Personally I would raise hell if I saw the dog close to a child or behave aggressively. I would not MYOB. This would result in MIL and possibly the actual parents of the child getting mad at me, but I don’t care.

If you have advanced social skills you could also figure out who in the family you could recruit to get on your side to tell MIL she needs to crate or muzzle the dog, or to plan events at other homes.

If the dog was at all aggressive to me I would definitely not go over there again.

Is this a joke? My kids would never be in that house. MIL welcome to come dog-free to my house.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The dog needs to be rehoused. On what planet do you pick a dog over a grandchild? What happens when it bites the child on the face? It the grandparents fault that the dog was never socialized. Poor dog and poor grandkids.

No, the dog does not need to be rehoused, that's silly. The dog DOES need to be separated from any small children at all times. Or wear a muzzle. We really should normalize muzzling dogs like they have in some countries. It doesn't hurt the dog at all and keeps everyone safe. The dog can be crated, separated in a room, muzzled. Many options, all of which will keep everyone safe.

We should not normalize keeping dogs who bite children alive.

We should also not normalize allowing children to harass animals that are clearly uncomfortable with their attention. I feel like the situation that the OP describes could have been avoided by the adult humans using some common sense and situational awareness.

Did you read the OP? The dog is overly protective of MIL, and snarls and snaps even when the kids are several feet away. That's not kids harassing a dog.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The dog needs to be rehoused. On what planet do you pick a dog over a grandchild? What happens when it bites the child on the face? It the grandparents fault that the dog was never socialized. Poor dog and poor grandkids.

No, the dog does not need to be rehoused, that's silly. The dog DOES need to be separated from any small children at all times. Or wear a muzzle. We really should normalize muzzling dogs like they have in some countries. It doesn't hurt the dog at all and keeps everyone safe. The dog can be crated, separated in a room, muzzled. Many options, all of which will keep everyone safe.

We should not normalize keeping dogs who bite children alive.

We should also not normalize allowing children to harass animals that are clearly uncomfortable with their attention. I feel like the situation that the OP describes could have been avoided by the adult humans using some common sense and situational awareness.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The dog needs to be rehoused. On what planet do you pick a dog over a grandchild? What happens when it bites the child on the face? It the grandparents fault that the dog was never socialized. Poor dog and poor grandkids.

No, the dog does not need to be rehoused, that's silly. The dog DOES need to be separated from any small children at all times. Or wear a muzzle. We really should normalize muzzling dogs like they have in some countries. It doesn't hurt the dog at all and keeps everyone safe. The dog can be crated, separated in a room, muzzled. Many options, all of which will keep everyone safe.

We should not normalize keeping dogs who bite children alive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love dogs

This dog should not be around children

Your in laws should keep him away from family entirely when they are over especially the kids. They deserve to not be in fear during the visit. Your IL are playing Russian roulette

Do you think the dog would seriously hurt them? MIL says he wouldn’t actually hurt them-if he actually wanted to hurt them, he would have. Meaning they were just “warning” bites.

Most kids who are mauled or killed by dogs are by family pets who are "mostly" gentle.