How do I tell his Aunt that I do not like the dogs?

Question

We will be heading to my husband's grandmother hometown.As usual that would mean, me putting up with the dogs. Not that I hate dogs but I dislike how their house smell of dog's saliva. They have 3 by the way and in addition , I have a baby that started to crawl. Will they be upset if I explain that I almost throw up because of the smell or do I just use my baby as an excuse?

Answer 1

From one mom to another mom, you must pick and choose your battles. On this situation, I recommend you tell that grandmother the truth. ...that...although you like dogs, you are very sensitive to smells. ....I myself am very sensitive to smells, so I just have to tell people when a circumstance like that arises.

Another alternative is that you guys could stay in a hotel or with another ...less smelly...relative.

Answer 2

Are these the grandmother's dogs? Or the aunt's dogs? Do they live in the same house where you're visiting? If they are then they're part of that family. It's totally unfair to ask them to remove even four legged family members from the home just because you're visiting. You may cause a whole world of trouble if you even try it.

So your choices are to find another place to stay for your visit, which is perfectly within your rights to do, or suffer through the experience and keep your visit short. If you have to stay someplace else use any excuse you need to to keep the hurt feelings to a minimum but still get your way.

Answer 3

I know what you mean. A lot of people with multiple dogs don't realize that their houses smell like their pets. I really am uncomfortable with having a baby around strange dogs. When my younger daughter was just learning to crawl, we visited a relative with several dogs. One of them was a female spaniel mix that for some reason, didn't like children. My daughter did nothing to provoke the animal but it ran over and bit her on the forehead. I admit I wanted to kill that dog for doing that. The bite wasn't that serious but for the rest of the visit, I watched that animal like a hawk. Any signs of aggression and I was ready to pounce. I don't know why the owners seemed to be oblivious to the dog's behavior. They could have done more to keep it restrained.

Answer 4

cant you guys stay in a hotel? you need to tell them you have a serious problem with dog odor. otherwise, they think you are just making a fuss about nothing. dont use baby as an excuse, cos maybe that is how your husband grew up while a baby, crawling around with dogs.

Answer 5

Use your baby as an excuse, its quite reasonable I wouldnt trust 3 dogs around a baby under any circumstances.

Answer 6

I would use your baby as excuse, not that it is an excuse. Your baby should not be put in a environment like that. It can be very dangerous, in the health aspect.

Answer 7

"dog" people have no idea how disgustingly dirty and smelly their animals are. and saying the truth will hurt their feelings even if deep down they know you're right.

just say you're scared of dogs. any person that is half kind will "understand" and keep the dogs away from you.

if that doesn't work, the baby excuse is totally valid.

Answer 8

The dogs live there, you do not. You should not say anything. If you cant stand it you should stay in a hotel while you are there and keep visits to their house short. you can invite them to the hotel, which probably will not allow the dogs.

Answer 9

I'd use the baby as an excuse. That may be wrong, but wouldn't offend them and prevents you from sounding rude.

Answer 10

allergies, or bad experience as a child story