What does your family think of your dogs?

[meepitsmeagan]

Just like the title says.

My FIL offended me pretty bad yesterday. We were on the subject of dogs and non-dog people accepting advice that they ask for and DH said something along the lines of "Yeah, people always want to know how our dogs are so well behaved". FIL basically told us he thought our dogs were awful and out of control. Mainly because they get bouncy when people come over. He tried to recover with, "Well, you guys let them jump on you so I get it; but, most people really don't like that." Which I then said, "Well that's why we don't have people over. Because really I don't like most people anyways."

Oops. Maybe went a little harsh on that one.

So, yeah. I guess he doesn't really care for our "unruly" creatures too much. MIL doesn't seem to mind. She loves when we bring the dogs down to hang out with her.

My mom and stepdad seem to be fine with our dogs. Mom loves how snuggly Rider is. I got Harlow when I still lived with her, so she's got a soft spot for her. She thinks Tuls is a little intense, for good reason, but loves to come watch us at shows.

So what about your family?

 

[k9krazee]

My mom thinks the dogs are crazed, but she always wants us to bring them with us when we visit. Dad loves them. Neither volunteers to dog sit though.

My in-laws always had outdoor dogs, but have happily accepted out dogs and allow them in the house and encourage them to be on the furniture. They also volunteer to watch them overnight sometimes when we're in town.

 

[Flybynight]

Funny, FIL is the less enthusiastic party in my life as well. My mother has three dogs of her own that she brings everywhere, so loves our two. MIL also loves watching the dogs - I think if it were up to her they would have one of their own (and they used to when SO and his siblings were young).

But FIL, though he claims to "like" dogs, doesn't like inconvenience or responsibility and does not volunteer to watch ours often, and has outright stated that if we get a third he won't watch it. Now that my SIL has acquired a second dog as well, I have a feeling dog bans will be going into effect for family gatherings. While not thrilled, as the host that's his decision to make, and I will figure something out.

The only time he really crossed a line though was at a family party when he backed up and nearly tripped over my 12/13 year old mutt, then decided it meant she was too big to be out and tried to take her and put her away. To me that was not his decision to make (he was not the host in this case), nor was it her fault (it could have just as easily been a grandkid), so I intervened and kept her beside me the rest of the night.

I will say that as this is becoming more of an issue, any future dog will be deliberately acclimated to being "put up" even when people are around, whether that's on a tether outside or in a room somewhere. It's not something I ever needed to think about before, but can see where it would be useful now.

 

[GoingNowhere]

Well Boo is a family dog and is living with my parents, so it is kind of odd to gauge their reactions to her, but I'll add in the extended family as well.

My parents (who Boo lives with) love her, but recognize that she's an odd one. Boo stresses my mom out when she barks at the door and gets reactive when certain people come inside. That said, my mom appreciates the sense of security that Boo gives her and I think enjoys the company. My dad loves her too and doesn't have to deal with her oddities as much so I don't think they bother him as much.

My grandparents are 100% not dog people (allergic, never have had dogs, and just don't like them), but I think if you asked, they would tell you that Boo is a good dog. Heck, they even offered to let us leave her on their screened in balcony when we went out to lunch (a big deal). Boo has never been anything short of an angel around them - she likes them well enough, so no reactivity and otherwise, she really is close to the "perfect" dog to non-dog people.

My aunts and uncles would generally tell you that she's a good dog, though some have seen her reactivity emerge and that's usually when she goes from being a "good dog" to being a "bad dog" in people's minds. Other friends tend to like her or not based on whether she likes them. To people she likes she seems like a pretty good dog (possibly even a bit boring). To people that she doesn't, she seems like she has a screw loose (but fortunately she can be easily locked away without a peep on her part).

 

[Southpaw]

They're pretty adored. My parents love when I bring Juno over, since of course they lived with her for 6 years and now they don't... and my siblings like seeing her too since they just don't see her much anymore either. She's sweet and mellow, not much reason to dislike her.

I'm kind of surprised at how well-liked Sawyer is, too. My mom especially was I think a little horrified that I got him (just because the timing of it), and he's totally not her type of dog, but she LOVES him. I think she's mostly just excited to see what he does as a disc dog. She just thinks he barks too much But yeah everyone else likes to give him attention when he's around too. No complaints from anyone about either of them.

 

[Julee]

My dad and brother love all of my dogs.

 

[Slick]

My mom hates dogs, and is completely terrified of them...and she likes Leo. It's a huge huge compliment.

She doesn't actually interact with him. Doesn't pet him, doesn't want him sniffing her. But the fact that she can comfortably hang out while he is loose in the room or go into a room where he is the only one in there, is a huge thing. None of my relatives dogs get that honor.

For a super friendly high energy dog who likes to jump up if he thinks he can get away with it, Leo is amazingly respectful of her signals. He will slowly walk up for a quick sniff every once in a while, but otherwise completely ignores her and lets her be.

 

[StillandSilent]

Gambit is the Golden Coyote who can do no wrong. I think she feels bad for him and all of his problems, so she spoils him rotten. That's fine with me.

She thinks Gimmick is useless (which he is, sorry Dude), but they snuggle on the couch together and she certainly doesn't mind him being around.

Glitch she goes both ways on. He is naughty and hormonal right now, but she loves to see him do his tricks, and she likes that he puts up with the kids. She's probably like him more when his brains crawl back out of his scrotum.

All in all, they are good housepets and well mannered, so she likes that a lot. She is horrified by the balls on the whippets, but she mostly has accepted that they aren't going anywhere.

My father is convinced that Gambit's kisses are secret tastings so he can determine which one of us he's taking out first.

 

[straw]

My parents love Venice. LOVE her. When I'm crashing at their place, they almost argue over who gets to hang out with her. My mom loves taking her for loooong walks and my dad likes taking her to the cottage and feeding her ice cream.

My aunts/uncles/grandparents/cousins who I see a lot all like her for the most part. None of them are 'dog people' but a good number of them are dog lovers and like to cuddle her and have her on the couch with them. A few don't interact with her but also don't complain.

MIL makes my blood boil with how she reacts to Venice so unfortunately she spends a lot of time closed in another room when I visit them. She has always had dogs and isn't afraid of them in general but "these dogs" can snap at any time, apparently.

 

[SpaceMutt]

My dad loves loves LOVES Astro. The funny thing is that Astro isn't that enamored with men and I wouldn't be surprised if Astro would pick my mom over him, and my dad's way of interacting with dogs is too roughhousy for Astro's taste. My dad has a tough time with Polly because she is definitely the queen of the house and he is protective of Astro, which is pretty sweet actually...he admits she's cute as a button though. I think when Polly is older and less likely to jump all over Astro and overwhelm him, Dad will actually wind up preferring her because she really loves human attention in a way that Astro just doesn't.

My mom loves Astro deeply now, she "babysits" him whenever she's able (kinda tough now that she's living abroad of course, but when she's in the States she's always down to watch him). But she fell for Polly too a lot faster than my Dad. I don't think she was sold on Astro when I first got him, since to her a 50 pound dog is BIG. Polly is more her size. But, Astro is really just a cat in a dog's body, which is kinda exactly what my mom likes

One thing that came up early though is that my parents are both very strict about dogs jumping on them, my parents would totally make a comment like that about the bouncing. My mom gets scratched and overwhelmed easily by it, and overall they just don't like it. Which in a way I now almost consider a blessing, because I don't mind them jumping near as much, but because my parents love the dogs otherwise and want to interact with them I'm motivated to work on it.

My other family members...well, I probably wouldn't let them interact with either dog, to be brutally honest. I love them but with a guardy, reactive dog and an impressionable puppy, I do have to watch their interactions with people very carefully and I have certain expectations that I know the rest of my family would find pointless/overly paranoid and wouldn't abide by. So they don't get to interact and that's that.

 

[StompinT]

My Dad doesn't like dogs. Period. Though he has grown a bit affectionate towards our 12 year old shih tzu, as they've looked after her a number of times and he would play fetch with her endlessly.

Needless to say, he could do without our huge, young, wet faced, Bouvier. LOL!

My Mom likes dogs. Likes our two.

I'm not offended in the least by my Dad's dislike of our dogs. He's constantly making grumpy remarks about the Bouvier. I really don't care, and often encourage the Bouv to "go see Grandpa" right after he takes a big drink and has water streaming from his beard. Heh heh. My house, my dogs, my rules. My Dad knows that.

 

[Moth]

My mom loves our dogs. She thinks Watson and Menchi can do no wrong. My sister is fond of them, but she has always been more of a cat person. One of my cousins would like to steal Menchi.... So overall my family thinks the dogs are pretty awesome.

My in Laws had dogs when my husband was growing up, but when their aged beagle mix passed a few years ago they decided they did not want the responsibility of another. They also look at dog ownership somewhat differently from me so that has created a bit of tension between my father in law and I. He sometimes tries to correct the dogs when we are visiting and does not know how to do so in a manner I find appropriate. He doesn't dislike them, but I think he would rather not have them around (especially Watson). My mother in law likes them okay, but is unsure how to deal with Watson at times.
One of my brother in laws is a dog person and he will spend hours with them when we visit.
The rest of the family likes them okay.

 

[SpaceMutt]

I really don't care, and often encourage the Bouv to "go see Grandpa" right after he takes a big drink and has water streaming from his beard. Heh heh. My house, my dogs, my rules. My Dad knows that.

Oh you're a special kind of evil I'm always tempted to do the same thing with a friend who hates drool but comes over to my house and wants to love on Astro constantly...don't go into the droolface-den if you can't handle some slobber!

Scared of the retaliation though, I absolutely loathe barking and he has a high-pitched herding dog he could sic on me for revenge if he wanted to.

 

[xpaeanx]

I come from an animal loving family, so they like my dogs. Though the ideas of how to handle/care for them differ individually.

As far as in-laws, FIL LOVES dogs and loves playing with them, MIL is a total neat-freak so hates them bc of that.

 

[straw]

I really don't care, and often encourage the Bouv to "go see Grandpa" right after he takes a big drink and has water streaming from his beard.

Oh lord I could not handle this. I hate dog beards with a passion and am totally repulsed when they're wet. And I consider myself a person who genuinely likes dogs. I am 100% on your dad's side for this one!

(Feckin' security question was 'is water wet?' EW STOP IT FORUM)

 

[amberdyan]

My mom, brother, step-father and step- mom all adore Hugo. They buy him Christmas presents, have treats at their house for him and love when I bring him on visits. My dad likes him okay but he doesn't really like touching dogs. He doesn't pet him or cuddle him. My extended family (grandparents, aunts & uncles) on my mom's side adore him.

My FIL and MIL are ambivalent but they DO NOT allow dogs in the house. Once when we needed to be over for a bit and had Hugo and a crate they said we could bring him inside and crate him (no way to crate him outside, they have an outdoor dog that would eat him in a heartbeat) and I assumed that meant we would crate him in a bedroom or something. Nope. The unfinished, unlit, dark closet in the basement was the only place they'd let him be. I was irritated but now I just don't ever bring up dogs around them. It's actually kind of sad because I think it's mostly my MIL. My FIL loves dogs and he loves their outdoor dog.

My SIL is the one that pisses me off the most. She frequently makes comments like "I can't imagine having a dog in my house, much less my bed" pretty much any time he is ever brought up by anyone. They have 2 outdoor dogs that are kenneled most of the time. They ran over one of their previous dogs on accident. Neither are spayed/OSS but are allowed to run free without supervision (and I'm pretty sure they have no idea what being in heat even is) . One of their dogs disappeared for three days and it turned out she was trapped and had been without food and water the whole time. They were lucky they found her.

 

[Slick]

My FIL and MIL are ambivalent but they DO NOT allow dogs in the house. Once when we needed to be over for a bit and had Hugo and a crate they said we could bring him inside and crate him (no way to crate him outside, they have an outdoor dog that would eat him in a heartbeat) and I assumed that meant we would crate him in a bedroom or something. Nope. The unfinished, unlit, dark closet in the basement was the only place they'd let him be. I was irritated but now I just don't ever bring up dogs around them. It's actually kind of sad because I think it's mostly my MIL. My FIL loves dogs and he loves their outdoor dog.

That's really tricky, especially when its your in-laws rather than your blood relatives.

I had a similar situation with my parents, but "won" because their desire for me to visit was greater than than their desire to keep the dog out of the house.

Conversation went something like this:
Parents: "Backyard only"

Me: "I can't do that especially when it gets freezing. Here's a compromise: Backyard, plus loose in my room with the door closed.

Parents: "Absolutely not. Backyard only!"

Me: "Bummer. Guess I can't come visit as often then cause I'll have to find someone to watch the dog."

Parents: "No wait! Fine! Backyard and your room!"

Since then, I've even won a bit more, since there is now a mat in the dining room that Leo is allowed to lay on, as long as he stays on it, which he does a great job of. He learned very quickly that leaving the mat usually meant banishment into the backyard.

But yeah, way harder to do when it's your inlaws unless your SO really fights for you.

 

[Jadex]

My family only really likes Panzer. My mom hates how loud the other 2 are and Ryker tweaks when anyone comes over. My in-laws love them all.

 

[Elrohwen]

My parents love the dogs. Those dogs are their grandchildren. lol They are big dog people, but decided not to get another when the last one passed away about 10 years ago. My dogs give them their dog fix, but they can still travel do what they want without worrying about having dogs of their own. They even love the dogs when they're buttheads. They can't wait for us to move closer so they can dog sit more often. Like, they would want to dog sit while we go to a bar with friends for 3 hours every once in a while. Haha. I guess you get your dog fix how you can when you don't have one of your own any more.

Not sure about my MIL. She does love dogs, and she loves our dogs, but she isn't crazy over the moon about them. I guess she's the same way about her own dog though. She's just a less intense dog lover that my parents I guess, but she does love them and doesn't have any negative feelings about them or anything.

 

[BostonBanker]

My dogs and I live with my parents, and they love the dogs. I don't think they would ever have had a dog if it weren't for me, but they are dog lovers.

My extended family ranges from casually liking them to tolerating them. I'm really the only dog person in the family, and a few family members I think don't really like dogs. But they are pleasant about it and ask after them and tolerate them when they are around, and I do my part by making sure the dogs don't bother them, and if need be I'll close the dogs up in my room (although we rarely host family events). I don't bring the dogs to anyone's house. If I leave a family dinner early because I want to get home to let the dogs out, nobody is upset or nasty about it.

My brother, who is really not an animal person has been caught telling people what a good dog Meg is (he is not such a fan of Gusto). He and his family are the only people we really have at our house for any extended period of time, and we find a nice balance between the dogs being out and about with all of us, and them being tolerant about it, and having some time where the dogs are upstairs hanging out. I make an effort to keep the dogs from bothering them and touching their stuff, and they make an effort to be okay about dogs hanging around the table or laying around while we watch TV. It's family. We don't try to provoke each other.