Reasonable ways to manage dog and baby at Christmas?

[SpecduckularlyQuackers]

We are going to my PILs for Christmas lunch and we've just found out my SIL will be bringing her dog. The dog is very sweet and is a medium sized breed, not an XL bully or anything along those lines, but he is rather boisterous! Last time they visited he would race around the room, leaping up onto furniture and onto anyone sitting on it, even up onto the backs of the sofas to bark out of the window behind etc. When we went for a walk he jumped up on my 5 year old and sent him flying. I've never seen him show any signs of aggression, he's just very impulsive and high energy.

The last time they visited we had a newborn and we kept him safely in the sling. However, now the baby is 6 months and wants to be sitting on laps or kicking about on the floor and I'm worried the dog is going to hurt the baby accidentally. Given the dog's previous behaviour, is it reasonable to ask for one room to be kept dog free so the baby doesn't have to be held by a standing adult for the whole visit? Or am I being PSB?!

You can't lock a dog away in a house full of people, that's cruel. You can ensure the owners keep control of the dog even if he goes on a lead for 10 minutes to give your baby some floor time. Presumably there will be a house full of adults and you can't take your eye off a 6 month old anyway, dog or no dog.

I don't understand why your SIL doesn't keep her dog under control. Has she not trained it at all?
I wouldn't be happy in a social situation with a dog racing round the room, jumping on furniture , and knocking children over. And I certainly wouldn't be happy about taking a baby into a house where that was happening.

I agree with you that I wouldn’t be happy with young kids in a space with an untrained poorly behaved dog. I think you’re reasonable to ask for the dog to be kept elsewhere or on a lead. It’s on SIL to control her dog, not on you having to protect your baby from it.

Are you mad? The dog should be on the leash or shut away for the whole damn visit if the alternative is it goes careering round the room. That's not acceptable behaviour for any dog in any circumstances.

OP put your foot down.

I'd say it's 50/50 - she needs to stop it jumping about so much indoors and you need to keep your baby off the floor. Then you're both doing something to prevent any unfortunate accidents!

The OO says for one room to be dog free, not for the dog to be locked in one room. Very reasonable.

IMO baby trumps dog, so the dog should be kept separate or left at home.

The dog sounds like a pain in the arse. Why is it allowed to jump all over people? Sounds like even if you had your baby on your lap the entire time that wouldn't actually prevent an issue. Of course it's reasonable to ask that she stops the dog jumping on or at your children, in the same way I would stop my toddler annoying a dog.

I’m the SIL in this situation (although our dog is a puppy rather than badly trained!) and we’ll be keeping her on a long lead the entire time so we have her under control. Totally reasonable to ask that they figure out a way to keep the dog away from the baby – whether they choose to shut him away or keep him on a lead is up to them.

Went to feed the baby and came back to lots of replies! I'll try to address everything...

@Obbydoo, as @tattychicken says, I'm not asking for the dog to be locked away, just whether it's reasonable for one room to be designated dog free so I can take the baby there for him to play without worrying the dog is going to barrel in and bounce all over him. Baby is nearly crawling so while I agree it's not fair to lock the dog away, I also don't think it's fair to restrain the baby all day either.

@DarkAndTwisties is right, I'm not convinced that even having the baby on our laps solves the issue given the dog tends to leap onto laps without warning. It was fine with a tiny newborn as it was no bother to stand and hold him, but he's quite heavy now to hold standing all day.

For those who have asked about the dog's training, I know they have been trying but he's still on the young side (about 18 months I think?). He's good at tricks but his recall isn't really there yet and he's very impulsive. Also, even if he does obey 'down' once it has been said, the damage is already done if he has jumped on top of the baby prior to the command! It's a delicate situation as the dog is very important to my SIL and I don't want her to feel like we're treating them as second class due to the baby.

Thanks to all who have suggested he could be kept on a lead in the house. I like dogs but have never owned one, so that hadn't occurred to me as a possibility 🤦🏼‍♀️