Seperating dogs from toddler at Xmas

[StoppinBy]

Sorry for the long post in advance, I will make it as brief as possible

My Mum invited my family (DH, Me, DD5 & DS19Months) to hers for Xmas. She has 12 dogs, 10 small ones, 2 big ones. Before accepting I asked what she would be doing with the dogs on the day, she replied 'I will separate them if I have to'. I take that as, yep no problems, dogs wont be with the kids and accept.

Following week my Nephews visit and I invite my Mum over, she lives half an hour away but will be working in town and have one of her big dogs with her. I ask her to either crate (all her dogs are crate trained for night sleeping/when they are away at dog shows etc) the dog or put her in the yard while everyone is here so I don't have to watch DS19mnth constantly. She refused and met the boys elsewhere with their Dad (she hasn't seen them for 5 years and they live 13 hours away interstate that is why I invited her to mine to visit when they came down for a funeral and had a quick stopover at my house).

I smell a rat about her separating dogs on Xmas day so chicken out for days avoiding the conversation call her to discuss what she meant when she said when she said she would separate the dogs if she had to.

Turns out she wants to have the littlies in crates that she thinks are not ok with the kids, the rest in the kitchen and the biggies in the kitchen where we are (almost all of the littlies growl at the kids and she has said things before like 'as long as they don't run the dog's will be fine with them' as if toddlers are capable of refraining from running so dogs don't bit them)I tell her that is fine, it's her house she can do as she pleases but we also will be making a choice not to come if she is unwilling to separate the dogs from the kids as I don't want to spend the whole day making sure DS is kept away and safe from the dogs, that I would like to relax too and I can't do that with the dogs freely running the house.

Convo ends in her telling me 'well fk off then, don't f**ing come' so pretty clear we wont be there. All sorted

But now my brother gets in on the act telling me I am being a drama queen, totally ridiculous and over the top, my Mum's dogs wont hurt the kids etc etc etc. My Mum is telling him half truths and not once has he been present when the kids have been at my Mum's and seen the way the dogs behave. For context he is 23 and childless. I tell him about the way the dogs have acted and he replies 'well you need to teach kids to behave around dogs, not the other way round'...… call me stupid but in my house if my dog bit my kid just for running around the house it would seem like pretty unacceptable behaviour.

Even after telling him one of her dogs bit me for no reason - I walked on to the back porch to speak to my Mum who was in the backyard with the dogs and one of them ran in to the porch, bit me hard enough to draw blood then ran off again before I had time to react - he told me it must be my fault as she had only ever bitten me

At that point I say to him that when he has his own children and dogs he can raise them as he likes but I choose to have dogs who don't growl at and bite visitors and sarcastically thank him for his parenting advice..... then it takes a nasty turn with him replying with 'well you can get fed and don't bother talking to me again (charming family as you see).


My Mum has for a long time prioritised her real children - her dogs - over us human kids but this refusal to see her dogs as anything other than angels is too far for me and I refuse to put my children in potential harms way just to make her happy..... AIBU or is this a reasonable stance to take.

[Whereisthegin1978]

12 dogs ..wow!
Stay at home and enjoy yourselves.