I have a DD of 18 months and a month old. We are supposed to be going to OH's aunties for a Boxing Day party. We went there on Halloween too and his other auntie brought her dog, which jumped up at me and my DD all night. I don't mind it too much, although I have been bitten by dogs in the past, but I can't let it keep jumping up at my toddler.
There were fireworks going off and the dog was barking and acting, to my mind, in an excitable/nervous way. His owners were frankly getting too pissed to worry what their dog was doing, and I was left to push their dog down and keep DD from touching him ( because she'd probably pull his tail or something.)
An hour into the party I had a little freak out and had to go calm down in the bathroom for a while. My partner completely didn't understand and told me I was overreacting and that it was because 'I'm not a dog person.' The whole family in general looked at me like an overprotective dog hater rather than someone who was genuinely afraid of something happening.
A little about me, I'm very calm and chose to let my children learn through experiences. They climb things and fall off, they eat things off the floor and we walk about at night. I'm not a control freak or a worrier. However if that dog decides to bite my child, she will be dead. You read about it nearly every month and they always say 'they never showed any sign they were like that, they've always been so docile.' Also I'm not reassured that the dog lives in a home with a child because they are pack animals and always love their own family. My DD is a stranger and probably smells and acts differently to their 8 yo.
To summarise, I've told OH's parents that I don't feel comfortable going if the dog is there and tried to explain why. They looked at me like I was mad (even though MIL was so scared of something happening to her sons that she wouldn't take them to a park for fear of a car coming off the road and hitting them on the pavement!) I told them I'm going to message the auntie and ask if the dog has to go. OH thinks this is a bad idea as she'll get offended that I don't trust dog.
Am I paranoid? Why does a dog need to come to a party? I'm especially interested to hear from dog owners.