Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 18:18     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Thank you all. Back to update. DH told his parents that they should keep the dog at their house. They reluctantly agreed. Kids were OK with it, but I'm still shaken that they even tried.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 17:52     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Ask where the puppy came from. Then return it to the shelter or breeder. Be sure they know what the grandparents did. That way they will not let them get that one back or any other dog.

Grands will be out the money they spent, and the dog will be (eventually) properly homed.

Then I would put some firm boundaries with the husband about when and how his parents visit.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 16:42     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kids who grow up with dogs are better off overall.

Our little dog is everything. We have dog sitters when we go away, we take him with us a lot because he only weighs 7 lbs. There are so many carriers now, even for bigger dogs. I can’t say enough about the positive addition he is to our family.

I know it wasn’t a good idea for grandparents to do that but their hearts were in the right place. And playing sports won’t be going on for much longer anyway. Grandparents can take the dog on weekends!

Here’s a good article on the benefits of having a family dog.

https://total.vet/24-benefits-for-kids-growing-up-with-dogs/?srsltid=AfmBOopoEaMSZK8IF_64V84DMjY2SfbYXLxkdG7Q0FMx5LjlHTNEnVyC



I absolutely love dogs, I am the one asking people to pet their dogs all the time. Our dog is a member of our family.

She’s also a LOT of work and a lot of money and it causes us stress when we travel because we find a good dog sitter but then they move away or stop doing Rover.

I would never impose a dog on someone who didn’t want one, even if research says it’s good for kids and even if *I* think it’s good for kids. It may not be right for that family and everybody needs to respect that.



I understand that no one should buy another family a dog. It’s a shame that they can’t make it work. Did OP say they bought a purebred dog or a rescue?
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 13:53     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Making the kids responsible for it doesn't work.

Kids can be diligent for a while, and that's long enough that nobody will feel right giving away the pet when the kids start slacking off.

I was the kid in that scenario.

Now I realize my dad was kind of a jerk to my mom and we never should have gotten kittens she didn't want.

She ended up caring for the cats after we went to college.


They’re not kids they’re teens. And step one is quitting sports and after school clubs to come home to the dog. That’s the hardest step. They won’t do it. So it will be problem solved for OP.


Kids are teens and even though i think kids are too busy, they wouldn't necessarily need to quit everything. Even if they just came home after school, so what?
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 13:47     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Let them keep it, they're old enough to help out.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 13:22     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Y'all got trolled.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 12:48     Subject: Re:My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Anonymous wrote:OP hasn't been back, which might just be because all hell broke loose when she demanded the in laws take the dog home or the dog is going to a shelter. Or she and her DH are going at it over him not backing her up or telling his parents Oh Hell No.

Also it would take a lot of work with the kids to try to minimize the heartbreak they are going through. Those in laws are evil and the whole family should go to family therapy to process this toxic action. Seriously, they should have a professional do a few sessions with them to explore the dynamics that led ot this situation. That way teh kids will have other voices helping them understand why mom and dad refused the cute puppy they've always wanted.

But if OP is a troll, well that's sad and pathetic OP, but maybe someone reading the responses got validation for saying no in an equally unacceptable in law situation and something good came of all this.


Maybe OP is a teen co-conspiring with grandma. Lol.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 12:42     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Husband should have immediately stepped forward and said no to the dog. His job and he will be less of a bad guy to parents when putting the hammer down vs op. It’s odd that husband knew op was upset yet didn’t say anything. This is also a marital problem now.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 11:14     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I wish I knew if OP is WOH or whatever.
If she is SAHM then she is just selfish. Sorry.


She could be sitting on her ass all day long doing jack shit and her in laws still wouldn’t have any right to make this decision for her. GTFOH



+1


The in laws did a crummy, awful thing. But OP gets to decide what to do about it, and those choices could potentially include keeping the puppy.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 11:11     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I wish I knew if OP is WOH or whatever.
If she is SAHM then she is just selfish. Sorry.


She could be sitting on her ass all day long doing jack shit and her in laws still wouldn’t have any right to make this decision for her. GTFOH


I’m not saying the in laws have that right. But that doesn’t mean OP couldn’t make the choice to make it work.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 10:27     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

That's a really crummy thing for your in-laws to do to you and your family. I hope for all involved that things worked out in your favor.

I love dogs (have two at home currently) and would be really bent if my in-laws did something like that to us.

My wife went through that with her uncle that bought her a bunny without any parental ok - that bunny ended up at the game preserve after a few months.

Only funny thing that I can share is with my parents, my sister and I really wanted a dog growing up. Parents always said no, which always irked my sister and I, since parents both had dogs when they were kids.

First thing my parents did when both my sister and I moved out permanently was you bet - they got a dog! We still laugh about it today.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 09:49     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

The second I saw the dog I would have said "absolutely not" and shown them the door. This is so manipulative and awful. I would 100% tell my kids IMMEDIATLY that this is not our dog, we are not keeping the dog and that grandma and grandpa are being really unkind by not respecting our decisions about animals in our house.

I wouldn't let my kids think for even one minute this animal was staying in our house. No way.

Since you already ran away, I would have texted my DH to handle this situation with his parents and kids and then I would have LEFT THE HOUSE and told him I will come back when it's handled.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 09:37     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

Anonymous wrote:“Wow, you got a dog for your house! Our kids will love to come over and visit it!”
+1
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 09:37     Subject: Re:My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

OP hasn't been back, which might just be because all hell broke loose when she demanded the in laws take the dog home or the dog is going to a shelter. Or she and her DH are going at it over him not backing her up or telling his parents Oh Hell No.

Also it would take a lot of work with the kids to try to minimize the heartbreak they are going through. Those in laws are evil and the whole family should go to family therapy to process this toxic action. Seriously, they should have a professional do a few sessions with them to explore the dynamics that led ot this situation. That way teh kids will have other voices helping them understand why mom and dad refused the cute puppy they've always wanted.

But if OP is a troll, well that's sad and pathetic OP, but maybe someone reading the responses got validation for saying no in an equally unacceptable in law situation and something good came of all this.
Anonymous
Post 11/10/2025 09:30     Subject: My in-laws gave my teens a puppy. WTF?

People that hate dogs have a sickness.