Family holidays can be tricky, and can be made harder by difficult family members. One woman took to Reddit to get advice about what to do for Thanksgiving. As much as she likes her in-laws, they refused to put her sister-in-law's aggressive pet chihuahua in a separate room from their toddler even though it had almost harmed her toddler in the past.
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“My sister in law (SIL) has a chihuahua that is basically her child. He has growled at my daughter basically since birth, with my SIL saying ‘he hates babies but it good with toddlers.’ My daughter wasn’t mobile so it was easy enough to keep them separate for a while. So now my child is a toddler (16 months) and last time we were all over together was one of the scariest moments of my life. The dog lunged at her face, growling and snapping. Luckily my daughter wasn’t harmed but that was the last straw for my husband and I. We let them all know that was the last time she will be around that dog and they need to be separated from now on. My SIL wasn’t in the room when it happened but apologized and agreed and said she would get her dog training,” she explained.
“We texted saying fyi – the dog needs to be in another room away from our daughter while we are there. She didn’t answer. We call my mother in law (MIL) who was extremely defensive, saying the dog does not need to be secluded in another room if someone is holding him. To us, that is not good enough assurance. What if the dog jumps down, someone sits with him and our daughter walks up to them, etc. We talked to my father in law and he was wishy-washy with trying to smooth things over but also [would] not confirm the dog would be in another room,” she continued.
After her initial post, the OP shared an update, saying:
“So we are officially doing our first Thanksgiving as a solo family tomorrow. My husband and I are understandably pissed and heartbroken with his family but we will make the best of it. We are sure we’re going to get calls from his parents tomorrow to guilt us and make us feel like we are being unreasonable. But our mind is made and luckily we have a lot of food because we were going to bring like half the thanksgiving meal. “
“Your request wasn’t unreasonable, and it’s your job to keep your child safe. Their assurances mean nothing based on what happened last time. If they complain that you’re keeping the baby away, throw that back in their faces. Say ‘No, you’re keeping the baby away because you won’t keep a dog that has tried to bite her in a different room.’ Your in-laws are the AHs. Big time. I’m guessing they feel like the chihuahua is their grandchild, and your child comes a distant second. I’m a huge animal lover and have had dogs of all sizes, and I would never excuse my dog’s behavior like that. It’s a huge risk to take in hopes that a dog that has shown aggression won’t maim your child,” one person wrote.
“My kid was attacked by a dog. If the dog is problematic, stay the hell away from it and don’t accept excuses. Your child’s safety is the top priority,” another shared.
“Chichuahua [sic] are listed as the 4th most likely to bite a child. As this dog has already demonstrated this behavior tell them never will you ever come over again as they feel the dog is more important than their granddaughter. NTA,” another added.
“If I were you? ‘If you are going to prioritize a f–king dog over your own grandchild’s safety, then I hope you really like that dog, because you are no longer seeing your grandchild.’ NTA.”
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