M-I-L says the dog has to go!?

Question

You may have read my other question about a name for our unborn daughted - due in April. We have a teacup poodle in the house. My mother in law says the dog has to go when the baby comes because it's unsanitary or might hurt the baby.

After I became pregnant she has tried to run my life! Thank God she doesn't live with me.

What are your thoughts on this?

Yeah, he is current on all his worming & shots and is housebroken. For some reason, I can't get her to understand that simply having a pet in your home doesn't make your house dirty. The thought of a goldfish even bothers her!

Answer 1

If it's your house, I say the dog stays, and the mother in law goes. She is probably more unsanitary than the dog is.
I am thankful my mother in law isn't like that.

Answer 2

Having just seen a report on tonight's news about a 9 week old baby girl who was mauled to death today by the family dog, and many other reports of children injured or killed by dogs, I have to agree with your mother-in-law. Even though a poodle might seem harmless, even the best behaved and well trained dogs can turn on a child. If you want to keep your dog it is better that it stays outside. I also think it is unsanitary having dogs in the house. I know poodles don't drop hair but all dogs are smelly and just not clean enough to be inside with a little baby, especially when baby starts crawling around on the floor.

Not that I agree with her telling you what to do, that can be annoying, but I side with her on the dog thing.

Answer 3

Don't bother trying to explain it to her. She doesn't want to understand, so she never will.

Just tell her that you and her son, the PARENTS, will make the decision and thanks for her concern. Say it nicely, but firmly. When she brings it up again (and she will) repeat what you said, "Thank you for your concern, but your son and I have decided to keep our dog AND our baby."

My husband and I have a 2 year old lab/doberman mix AND a cat and our house is cleaner than the majority of our non-pet owning friends houses. We're having a baby in March. The only things we've done are make sure our pets are up on all their shots and start training them even more strictly.

As long as you read up on training dogs AND babies to live together there shouldn't be any problem. Obviously you can't leave your child unattended with the dog... but it's not like you would actually do that... sheesh.

If the dog is overly aggressive to your baby or a threat you'll have to do something about that, but it's unlikely.

I love all these people who think that as soon as you have a child you should throw your pets out. What happens when you have a second child? Do you throw the first child out because they "might" hurt the baby?

Answer 4

Dogs are far from unsanitary, especially a non-shedding one like a poodle, would she want you to get rid of an older sibling just because they are so messy, and they might get rough. Goodness.

I have always had dogs around me, from birth to now when I am preparing to have my own little one, I currently have a Great Dane. Obviously, your poodle will need some monitoring just to be sure he/she doesn't try to play and get rough, or even laying on the baby. Also, just as if you were to have an older child you want to ensure she doesn't get left out and feel neglected but that just takes a little extra attention.

If someone in my family, including my own mother (which she wouldn't), EVER said I needed to get rid of my dog I would throw a fit. I don't tolerate anyone running my life ever, I will respect opinions but any amount of forcefulness gets halted immediately. I just hope your husband tries to side with your MIL, mine won't even try to get in the middle of quarrels, he will give an opinion and guidance though if asked.

Good luck and get a handle on her before the birth, I can only imagine what she'll have to say during labor, and after delivery, lay down some rules, NOW.

Answer 5

My mother said our two cats had to go. You know what they are still there. It is your house and your decision. She complains whenever she comes over all i do is reassure her that we keep it clean and we put baby gates up and that the baby is fine.
I will say this though poodle are known biters and they are jelous so keep the dog away from the baby for a few months and never really leave them alone untill the baby is older and can learn how to treat the dog nicely

Answer 6

Don't worry, your little pooch won't hurt your darling little girl at all! As long as you keep the dogs vaccinations up to date then there shouldn't be any problems with germs. I mean what does your MIL think you're going to do? Make the baby and dog eat out of the same bowl or something! Also the dog is only small, I am not saying you should leave your daughter unnattended with the dog but it's not like the dog could maul her to death either. With just a little caution you can have both a happy pup and bub, good luck to you!

Answer 7

I have a teacup poodle as well, and I don't have children but I babysit my neice and little cousins all the time. Harley loves the babies! If anything he's really protective over them. I would say it would depend on how the dog reacted to the new baby but in my opinion you should be fine. If my mother in law told me to get rid of my dog I would tell her where to go because her views on pets seem unreal. It's your body, your house, your dog, and your baby! I think as long as you and your husband agree on keeping the dog everything is fine. Hopefully he sides with you and not her on this issue.

Answer 8

OH MY GOSH-some people are just totally BEYOND paranoid! That's stupid that you would have to get rid of your animal! My hub & I have 6 cats & have NO intetnion of getting rid of them. Possibly find a home for one but that's what we do; bring in strays sometimes & fix them up & then find homes or keep them. But I won't give him to a shelter so we'll just have to keep him. I'm a little nervous abt it to tell you the truth. They all have their claws. Declawing not an option; some are too old & the $ would be too much. But I think we'll be able to handle it. Don't get rid of your little pup!

And yes, thank GOD she doesn't live with you. That would drive me INSANE! My parents bring my cats & what to do abt them when she is born to my attention sometimes. It royally pisses me off! Tell her if she keeps bugging you that you cannot take much more of it. Tell her that she said what she wanted to say and you do NOT want to hear more about this! Gosh, I'm so happy to find someone going thru basically the same thing.

Good luck!

Answer 9

The dog should be fine as long as he doesn't jump up on stuff all the time. I would set up the baby gear (crib, swing, pack n play, boucy, etc) before hand and get the doc used to the stuff being around and also work on teaching him to stay away from that stuff as well. As long as he doesn't start acting like some cats do and start peeing on all the baby stuff she comes then you should be fine.

Answer 10

Dogs can be very jealous of babies. My parents had a poodle when my sister was born but the dog took an instant dislike to her. One of the nastier tricks it played was to drop a bone within her reach and then snap at her when she tried to get it. One time it actually bit her hard enough to draw blood. My parents then decided having the dog around wasn't worth the risk and found a new home for it. Then several years later, they got a dachshund. This was several months before I was born. This animal never liked me. I couldn't walk into a room without having it growl at me. If I got too close, it would try to bite me. It really wasn't fun having to live in a home where I had to avoid the family dog. I thought dogs were supposed to love everybody who lived with them but in this particular case, it didn't happen. I think this dog is a major reason why I've never been fond of dogs and don't have any.