People's Prejudice Against Dogs

[Rebanne]

wash and brush the dog, then suck it up and confine him to your bedroom or somewhere. It won't kill the dog to be confined and your bro and sil can then see you are happy to meet them part way. My dogs are often confined behind a baby gate or put outside when I have visitors. Even doggy people cause otherwsie they hog the furniture and the people have nowhere to sit.

[Kirislin]

You should probably get more dogs, it takes a bit for some people to get the message.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

You should probably get more dogs, it takes a bit for some people to get the message.

LOL!

[coogie]

Maybe she is afraid and maybe she has been told all this rubbish about disease over a long period of time and genuinely believes it. I wouldn't let them dictate what happens in my home with my dogs. I would try and speak to her if they visit and get to the bottom of it, my sister inlaw did not like dogs,bad childhood experiences and having it drummed into her as a child that they were dirty caused the problem. I politely refused to put the dogs out when she was over but made sure they were not in her face - e.g. jumping up at the door,sitting on the couch near her.

Gradually through talking to her she relaxed, she will now pat the dogs,doesn't get hysterical if my niece and nephew cuddle them (they both LOVE dogs) and guess who bought Christmas presents for the dogs last year. It has been quite a transformation. She didn't want the kids to be too comfortable near dogs because they were going to live in an area with a high incidence of rabies and she was terrified.

I was willing to give it a go because I loved my brother, admittedly he did not share her opinions but felt he had to side with her - she is his wife after all. I don't think her ignorance was her fault. My brother and SIL are currently living in South Africa, the latest addition to their family is a dog - who will be returning to Australia with them in 18 months time at great expense.

I'm not suggesting this is the same as your situation, maybe she will never like dogs,maybe she is just weird, :laugh: but after my initial knee jerk reaction of "get stuffed, my house, my dogs, my rules". I thought about the impact of the relationship with my brother and niece and nephew and decided on a more gentle approach. It worked for us, I do have to say if it had not worked whilst I would have been willing to gate or crate the dogs if they wished to come over for a meal I would probably not have done it for extended stays. Our home is just not set up that way as the dogs are very much free to come and go as they wish.

I hope you can work something out so you have a good Christmas without too much stress.

[julesluvscavs]

Hope they (your brother and his wife) are clean and hygienic enough to come into your house, and have no germs on them hehe

Edited December 2, 2012 by Jules♥Cavs

[nawnim]

While it is your house and your rules your brother and his wife will be your guests. Some people really don't like dogs (I wonder how Ayen Chol's siblings feel about dogs, and some countries have rabies). I agree with Coogie and think it is better to try to meet them half way. Last Christmas my son and daughter-in-law were visiting with their twelve month old son. They did not ask me to remove my dogs from the house but I did unless I was there to supervise. My dogs spent most of their day outside happily chasing birds and lying around sleeping. At night they came in but slept in my room and I closed the door.

[redangel]

Do they have kids? Some of the best colds and illnesses I caught from kids. Hope your relatives are up with their worming!

Seriously if someone who is visiting has a genuine fear about dogs I will limit the dogs access by way of a gate to make them more comfortable, but if they simply dislike dogs...well the adage of "its my house" applies.

[raineth]

wash and brush the dog, then suck it up and confine him to your bedroom or somewhere. It won't kill the dog to be confined and your bro and sil can then see you are happy to meet them part way. My dogs are often confined behind a baby gate or put outside when I have visitors. Even doggy people cause otherwsie they hog the furniture and the people have nowhere to sit.

Maybe she is afraid and maybe she has been told all this rubbish about disease over a long period of time and genuinely believes it. I wouldn't let them dictate what happens in my home with my dogs. I would try and speak to her if they visit and get to the bottom of it, my sister inlaw did not like dogs,bad childhood experiences and having it drummed into her as a child that they were dirty caused the problem. I politely refused to put the dogs out when she was over but made sure they were not in her face - e.g. jumping up at the door,sitting on the couch near her.

Gradually through talking to her she relaxed, she will now pat the dogs,doesn't get hysterical if my niece and nephew cuddle them (they both LOVE dogs) and guess who bought Christmas presents for the dogs last year. It has been quite a transformation. She didn't want the kids to be too comfortable near dogs because they were going to live in an area with a high incidence of rabies and she was terrified.

I was willing to give it a go because I loved my brother, admittedly he did not share her opinions but felt he had to side with her - she is his wife after all. I don't think her ignorance was her fault. My brother and SIL are currently living in South Africa, the latest addition to their family is a dog - who will be returning to Australia with them in 18 months time at great expense.

I'm not suggesting this is the same as your situation, maybe she will never like dogs,maybe she is just weird, :laugh: but after my initial knee jerk reaction of "get stuffed, my house, my dogs, my rules". I thought about the impact of the relationship with my brother and niece and nephew and decided on a more gentle approach. It worked for us, I do have to say if it had not worked whilst I would have been willing to gate or crate the dogs if they wished to come over for a meal I would probably not have done it for extended stays. Our home is just not set up that way as the dogs are very much free to come and go as they wish.

I hope you can work something out so you have a good Christmas without too much stress.

I agree with coogie and rebanne :)

I definitely understand and sympathise with the way you are feeling, and being told those things would not be very nice at all. But I think a compromise is a good idea, after all these people are your family and they are important too. Having good family relations is worth it's weight in gold I think. Having said that, I'm not saying you should be pushed around; but making sure your dog is clean and that the fur around the house is at a minimum, making sure the dog is giving her space and being well behaved, and maybe outside or in another room when people are eating would all be reasonable compromises I think. Also I think these things could go a long way to changing her attitude, much more so than if you lay down the law with her. The more chance she gets to see that your dog is well behaved and that you are a responsible owner the more likely she is to change her mind :)

Edited December 2, 2012 by raineth

[OSoSwift]

While it is your house I think a little management won't go astray.

My dogs are inside but have a lovely safe yard to go into as well. Sometimes to make it easier I put them out there. I don't have to worry about one trying to steal food, or jumping up or annoying people who may not want to be annoyed. When they are inside if we have visitors they are sent to their bed anyway. I would compromise, however if there were snide or regular comments she would get told to zip it.

[oakway]

Hey, it's your house.

If they don't like it, tell them to go some where else.

[mixeduppup]

We had family come and stay ;last year, they hated how the dogs could just walk in and out as they liked and weren't too impressed, but at the end of the day I prefer the dogs over them so there was no question as to who I would have kicked out if I had the choice. :laugh:

[Guest donatella]

Send the wife the nearest motel website links.

I'd not have anyone tell me what can and cant cohabit in my own house, what a drag!

[HazyWal]

My bro hates animals inside. I haven't seen him since 2007, I can live with that :)

[gwp4me]

erinonthefarm and Jules♥Cavs your thumbnail is so cute and made me giggle, that's exactly my place. Have to post it on my facebook page. Dogs first, horses second, people come third, that's what life taught me.

[Lady Flying Furball]

Our german shepherd is 10 y o. He has always lived at home as a family member (as did all our dogs). At one stage we reported a suspicious person in our suburb (who knocked on doors and asked personal questions). When police came they said our dog was a very good watchdog (he is very vigilant and has a low loud bark). They said that it is a good idea to keep our dog inside for our safety. I am convinced of it hearing of attacks on elderly people.

My brother is visiting from interstate and will live with us this Christmas. I am already under stress. My brother didn't previously mind our dogs inside; but his wife is against it(and my brother started to agree with her) . They complain of my dog's hair and a doggy smell. I told my brother that perhaps his wife should not be visiting us. His reply was "it's her right to come to our house". He looks in disgust at our dog, asks us if we wash our hands after touching him. He said his wife told him there are numerous diseases people can catch from dogs. I am perplexed as I don't know of any, and if this is the case then nobody would have a dog.

I am so NOT looking forward to this year's Christmas in view of the above. I love my brother

and love to see him, but wish he and his family would stay away from our house.

I would be so grateful if someone could give me some information about dogs so I could argue my point that dogs are not dangerous to people's health.

It is true that this seems on the extreme edge of 'not liking dogs.' There must be something in it.

Either as others have suggested misinformation and/or a bad experience in your sister-in-law's history. If it is bad experience then it can count for some compassion even though it seems ill-informed and comes out in a critical and blaming way from them. The second reality may be that your dogs do smell and/or shed all over the house too much in other's opinions. It is worth reflecting on that in case there is some truth to be gained.

Finally, after looking at all that I err on the side of giving it one more shot this year and bathing the dog and containing the dog as has been suggested, to show that you are considerate of them. The test would then be if they are able to appreciate you for your efforts and respect your generousity by stopping their seemingly open tirade against the fur kiddies.

[julesluvscavs]

erinonthefarm and Jules♥Cavs your thumbnail is so cute and made me giggle, that's exactly my place. Have to post it on my facebook page. Dogs first, horses second, people come third, that's what life taught me.

I got it from FB, there always some goodies to be found in my news feed from my animal loving friends :D

[Rebanne]

We had family come and stay ;last year, they hated how the dogs could just walk in and out as they liked and weren't too impressed, but at the end of the day I prefer the dogs over them so there was no question as to who I would have kicked out if I had the choice. :laugh:

but it's your Mum's house so you possibly didn't have much choice anyway. Same as you couldn't take your in season bitch in the car because it wasn't your car.

[mixeduppup]

We had family come and stay ;last year, they hated how the dogs could just walk in and out as they liked and weren't too impressed, but at the end of the day I prefer the dogs over them so there was no question as to who I would have kicked out if I had the choice. :laugh:

but it's your Mum's house so you possibly didn't have much choice anyway. Same as you couldn't take your in season bitch in the car because it wasn't your car.

Exactly. Hence the reason I said "if I had the choice" :D

[sheena]

Lets just face it....houses that have indoor dogs DO smell. I am sure mine does but I am so used to it that I can't smell it myself, but for somebody not used to dogs the smell can be a little revolting. We don't get many visitors, probably because to them, our house smells, but if we are having visitors, I vacuum, clean, make sure all the dog beds are washed & I will spread a bit of deoderiser on my carpet before I clean. They are my guests & I feel it is my duty as a good host to make my house as comfortable as possible for them. If I was not prepared to do this then I wouldn't invite them in the first place. While my visitors are here, my dogs are kept away if they do not want to interact...dogs don't mind.. & probably don't care that they are kept outside or in their own rooms. I am sure my car also smells to others & my swimming pool has hairs floating all over the top, but if I invite someone to swim in my pool, then I make sure I keep the dogs out till after the humans have swum.

[Longclaw]

My dogs are often confined behind a baby gate or put outside when I have visitors. Even doggy people cause otherwsie they hog the furniture and the people have nowhere to sit.

As if that would ever happen! *cough*