dog bite wwyd?

[celebmum]

background - MIL's dog is old. very old.has never been brilliant with kids, used to chase DNeice around when she was a baby barking etc. DN is now 9. anyway dog got older, bit senile, didn't seem to notice/bother with additional grandaughters.. until my DS came along.. then barking resumed!

earlier this week we were at MIL's and I was playing around with my DS (8month) holding his hands and walking him round etc, said dog comes in notices, starts getting giddy, barks then goes for DS - all happened so quickly - i moved and dog got me with its teeth.. (i say 'got' as i genuinly don't think he intended to bite me) not bad, din't hurt or brake skin etc.

I really do not think that he intended to bite/hurt me but i cannot say the same for DS, i would never suggest that they put the dog to sleep (to be honest i think he's on his last legs as it is he doesn't really know what he's doing ) but AIBU to request that they keep dog shut upstairs/in kitchen when DS is around? or other children for that matter.. also if i'm not BU, how do i say this without causing upset/a fight..?

btw, inlaws have another dog too, this one although annoying has never shown any distaste to any grankids/people.

I would not go there with my child unless I knew that the dog was safely away from my child, and they he was kept away from all children.

I think you are being remarkably restrained in the circumstances.

I wouldn't want the dog in the same room as young children. They can be so unpredicatable. A dog went for ds once out of the blue. Luckliy he was able to get out of it's way quickly but your ds won't be able to.

YANBU - my grandparents had a dog, dearly loved, good with all children and people in general. Then he went blind, bit my grandad and drew blood, we knew it was the end. He was scared of everything because he couldnt see. It was sad and my grandad was heartbroken but it was a very bad bite.

They ought to suggest keeping dog away from children, Im shocked that they havent!

I'd never ever take my child there again unless the dog was secured in another room.

Near where I live, a grandparents' dog killed their grandchild, a couple of years ago :( . there had been warning signs.

Not worth the risk.

He sounds like a dog potentially in pain to me. If his barking and general unfriendliness had dissipated but he's suddenly started again, I'd politely suggest a check up at the vets. Dogs in pain will very often become aggressive/cantankerous.

He may have pretty bad arthritis/rheumatism (I can never remember which one comes with old age).

Anyway YANBU - it's a very fair request and probably for the best if there's even the slightest chance he's going to bite a young 'un - in fact I'm surprised the In-Laws aren't doing it anyway.

I think it would also be better for the dog to be kept seperately when there are children around, he doesn't sound like he is at all comfortable around children. If you explain it in this way to your PIL (eg. dog has never bitten but now felt the need to, so therefore must have been unhappy) then they may respond better to that. It's also in the dog's best interests to ensure he doesn't bite anyone else.

It might be an idea for your PIL to get the dog checked by avet to make sure he isn't in pain or ill, but it sounds like this has alway sbeena problem and something has just made it worse as the dog has got older. He may just be less tolerant/more defensive now.

thanks for your replies, i didn't want to be ott. but i do think seperate rooms is fair.

all the inlaws (inc DH)n seem to be of the opinion that he (dog) would never intentionally harm, and that he is just jealous of attention etc but i don't want my DS to be hurt just to get them to see that he could be potentially dangerous (allbeit due to senility/old age rather than nastiness)

I would put him in another room, would probably prefer to be away from noisy, smelly children who screach and poke at it

So what if he wouldn't 'intentionally' harm??!!! If he 'unintentionally' harms your DS then the harm is still there, and could mentally scar your DS for life!!!!!!

Definitely ask for the dog to be in a separate room.