Rant! Long....and involves relatives.
I ask her to grab him and she says, "He's fine. He's not going anywhere." (He is NOT fine. He is running loose. It's illegal and dangerous and we don't allow it.) But no, she doesn't grab him. Why would she do as I asked? He bolts down the driveway. I give Rudy to my FIL (he's going nuts and is only wearing his regular collar) and say, "DO NOT LET HIM GO!" loudly. This is really hard to do as he's now trying to do the alligator death roll to wiggle out and get to Hudson. I take off after Hudson, who has stopped to sniff their truck. He's thinking about jumping into the back of the truck since it's open. I manage to grab him, and drag him (by the fur...it's all I could grab) into the house. He makes sure I know he's not happy...growling and fussing at having his hair pulled (I've moved to his collar now, but there's fur tangled as I've done it on the fly)...sorry dude. This one's a life or death non-negotiable. My MIL follows with her little dog in her arms, rolling her eyes at me. I get the door closed, and Rudy's now snarling and snapping at the dog. (He's excited, hasn't been controlled, isn't being held properly, of course this is going to be hard for him. There's no way he's going to handle this.) She starts moving toward Rudy, dog in her outstretched arms, to put it down to play. SERIOUSLY?????? I say, "Don't you dare. He'll kill her." She argues with me. Why on earth would anyone argue with a dog owner who says "Look, my dog is doing to kill yours. Don't do that." How much clearer can I be? I grab Hudson and Rudy (both my hands are now killing me as my fingers are twisted in their collars and they're flailing) and haul them into the computer room, closing them away. For the next ten minutes they throw themselves at the door, barking and crying to get out. This is NOT how we do it with company, but since no one is cooperating with me it's for my dogs' own good. I'm told (by MIL) that this is unnecessary. Thanks. They are MY dogs. This is MY house. Shouldn't I be making the decisions? Particularly the one about whether or not I allow Rudy to kill another dog or about letting Hudson loose on the street to be killed by a passing car? We finish up and I walk them out. I'm still shaking. They are nice people, but never respect what I say about MY dogs. Never. I say goodbye, and come in and let the boys out. Rudy, in the excitement, has peed all over the bottom carpeted step. It has leaked down onto an area rug. I've now scrubbed the carpeted step, washed the area rug and placed it out in the sun to dry, and washed the floor. And, the door is completely wrecked now too. All this could have easily been prevented by walking through the door in a sensible manner in the first place, and respecting the wishes of the person who actually owns the dogs in question. Grrrrr. This is why I really think I should just stop answering my door completely! (And for the record, if my FIL had dropped by on his own all would have been just fine. My MIL always knows better and it always ends badly.) |
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| Ugh, how frustrating, Tracey! I'm so sorry that you went through that... I have some relatives that are the same way. When the grandparents were over during the 4th of July weekend, I couldn't get them to stop feeding the dogs scraps from their plates. Wendel is on a diet and has a VERY sensitive stomach. I couldn't come up with a polite way of saying "when the diarrhea hits, feel free to clean up the mess!" |
| How sad that you have to go through this..and poor Rudy and Hudson!!! I think you handled it as well as you could have under the circumstances. My only suggestion would be the next time they are due to visit, take the dogs on a long walk so you will accidentally miss them....      |
I have to say you held your tongue better than I would have. My inlaws can very very imposing and have a certain way about them to put it nicely. I have spoken up to them before when I stongly disagreed with what they were doing or saying and made no bones about my opinion. I think they were dumbfounded that anyone would speak up to them like that.  needless to say they never pulled or said those things again. When things are important, dogs killing dogs, dogs hit in the road....I say don't hold back. I can only imagine what they would have said if either event occured. Can you just call your FIL and let him know that guest dogs are not welcome yet until all of Rudy's issues are sorted out and until they can learn how guests need to enter .......  |
| Do you have a storm door? Keep it locked at all times!! This reduces the chances of the fur kids escaping. When someone comes, you can open the door a crack, check who it is and then shut the door while you corral the kids and hustle them off the a room. If this offends your relatives, Tough Titties! Bringing a unknown dog into the house is just terrible. Next time tell them to stay outside. That will piss them off, but better than piss on your carpets...........sorry Ron, a bit coarse for the site. Having their truck handy you should have opened the door and let the wayward one into the truck, hopefully paws all muddy! |
To look on the "lighter" side of this...........it sounds like an "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode!  Actually, over the years, I have learned that when company is coming, my dogs go to their kennel runs in the kennel. If company shows up unexpectedly, they are asked to wait until I get my dogs into their kennels. Not that my guys would do anything but probably lick them to death, but it is for my dogs' safety. That comes first at our house. If company wants to see them later on, I bring them out one at a time so they don't overwhelm the guests...... vying for attention. |
| Uggggghhhhhh. Why wouldn't someone heed your advice about your dogs in [i]your[/i] house? |
| My inlaws ignored my wishes about care of my/our dogs. This includes feeding them leftovers (we don't do human food), putting them outback and leaving there - even in high heat, and letting them out the front door - okay, they go get the mail with me, but I always have them under control. I finally started keeping them in our bedroom when the inlaws came to visit. The inlaws were insulted, but my dogs were safe. |
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