By this time tomorrow my dog may be dead (Help me!)

Force your husband to put your mother to sleep. It's the kindest thing you can do for all concerned.

It was given to both of us as a puppy.

But there could be a problem if the dog is dengerous to others.

He's not--he did bite my mother-in-law on the foot a while back, but she was kicking him.

Anyway, talking to a vet about the situation would be the best option, and tell your mother that is what you are going to do, I guess.

I've tried telling her that that's what we're going to do, but she refuses to wait that long. She's going to come down here tomorrow and have the dog put to sleep, come hell or high water.

tell her to buzz off.

You do not know this woman--she has a history of coming in and taking control of situations when no one is looking.

Talk to your vet; I'm sure he/she will agree that a minor biting incident is no reason to euthanize a pet, and maybe your mother will listen to an authority figure in this case. Get your vet on the phone with your mom if you have to.

Barring that, you can say you lied and your husband was actually the one that bit you.

i work at my local Humane Society and i suggest you bring your dog down to yours. they will have the integrity to give your dog the care it needs that you apparently lack or you would tell your mom to go and take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.

sorry, that was really nasty, but i see these kind of cases every week, when animals are argued over between households and/or families as if this innocent living being was simply a piece of furniture.

please, please make a stand here against your meglomaniacal mother, if not for your pet that is a member of your family and I assume (or you wouldn't have started this thread) you love a lot, do it for yourself. you are an adult and deserve the respect to make your own decisions on how to run your household.

Sorry I kind of hate it when ILX turns into Dr. Phil because no-one here ever knows the full extent of the situation, BUT, this sounds like a bigger problem than just the dog.

My mother-in-law, not my mother.

Yes, I do. We're going to tell her to go away, of course, but I'm worried about the consiquences to me and my husband.

i work at my local Humane Society and i suggest you bring your dog down to yours. they will have the integrity to give your dog the care it needs that you apparently lack or you would tell your mom to go and take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.

sorry, that was really nasty, but i see these kind of cases every week, when animals are argued over between households and/or families as if this innocent living being was simply a piece of furniture.

please, please make a stand here against your meglomaniacal mother, if not for your pet that is a member of your family and I assume (or you wouldn't have started this thread) you love a lot, do it for yourself. you are an adult and deserve the respect to make your own decisions on how to run your household.

-- j.m. lockery (jlocker...), November 15th, 2004.

I have to agree with Lockery up yonder on his comments as well. If you "let" this dog get euthanized without making some effort to prevent it or stand up to your apparently evil mother, well...

You're just going to have to put your foot down. What is she going to do, physically attack you? Probably what she's going to do is pitch a fit and try to make you feel bad. But you know, I'd rather be stressed out over an upset relative than feeling bad about my pet being dead, when it's my fault because I could have stopped it and didn't. That woman has no business messing with your pet.

If I were you I'd treat it as a joke in the sense that you laugh at her to her face if she turns up. The phrase 'I'll get you and your little dog Toto' might come in handy. The more serious she becomes the more you make fun of her 'concerns' and then, while you're at it, you tell her she's a mentalist and everyone's been saying so. If she asks you to qualify 'everyone' you just shrug your shoulders and say 'it's a trust thing, go call all your friends and ask them yourself if you don't mind being thought paranoid'.

Sounds like she's got more to lose in not being allowed to come round and tell you how to live than you do for telling her to take a flyer.

I second the idea of removing your dog to a safe place for a few days, so that your mother cannot force him to be harmed in any way.

Have you ever taken your dog to obedience training? It might be an idea to try that, so that he can learn to respond to your commands and unlearn any antisocial behaviour he might have so that any future potential incidents could be avoided.

My dog - a real sweetie of a teddy bear most of the time - suddenly became hostile towards men (growling at my SO, for instance) for no reason (other than cantankerous middle age, I think). Our vet suggested having the dog neutered which seemed a very drastic way to remedy the testosterone levels, but we did it and it's worked very well - he doesn't challenge for 'leadership' any more, but he does give me filthy looks from time to time, and who can blame him.

It's probably none of my business, but I do have to say that if my mother ever tried to order me around the way yours obviously does, I wouldn't allow her in my house until she learned to behave herself.

Christine, I agree you should put your poor dog somewhere safe for now. Then you might think about how you can deal with your mother. She needs to be shrunk down to size for you.

-- Alex in SF (clobberthesauru...), November 15th, 2004.

OTM

Get the dog safe, and then go see a therapist about your mother issues.

She is the kind of woman that you don't say no to.
You had better start.

If my mum turned up trying to 'force' myself or Kev to do anything I think I would wet myself laughing.

You say she's the kind of woman you don't say no to? Well I think this is the time. Has she ever ordered one of you pets be put to sleep before? Can someone other than the owner actually do this?

Nah, tell her to butt out now or you've no chance once you have children.

If my husband allowed anyone to come around the house and kill my dog, he would be the next one put down. Of course he would never do that.

-- Big Baby Bingo (formerlypoopsmcge...), November 15th, 2004 12:57 PM.

OTM.

phrase it how you like.

Well, a similar thing happened to me. Only a part of my lip was dangling and had to be reattached. It was a crazy day/night because we weren't sure it would *grow back* to my lip. But it did. I remember sitting with Basiel patting him while myparents were freaking out right after the incident. Then the paramedics saying:"So you are going to put him to sleep? Right? Right?" Uh no effing way. Although it was her dog, she let me decide what to do. It was my fault and I had given the dog to her as a present. So no, I didn't do it.
It's YOUR dog, it's YOUR choice. Do what you feel is right. Are you comfortable with your dog? Yes? Well, then. It's not her dog. If she doesn't like your dog, you can put him in another room when she comes over.

Basiel died last year. Damn, I miss that dog. He was a self-centered, stubborn, egotistcial bastard but damn did we love him. My dad still dreams about him. I still have Lucy, the pampered sweetie.

Tell her when she's really old, you'll have her put down.

Update, please.

One thing that seems to have been glossed over by a lot of posters - the dog did bite her without provocation ('getting in the way' ain't provocation). That doesn't mean it needs to be put down, but it does need to go into obedience classes or get neutered or something.

Seems clear to me (though I misremembered the last part as her getting in the way of whatever it was barking at/chasing rather than just yelling). If the dog's so agitated by outdoor animals that the owner gets bitten for yelling (not getting physical), something needs to be done, whether it's obedience classes, new ownership or Puppy Prozac. There's no excuse for that.

I've just got off of work, that's why I haven't responded yet.
Yep, Rascal's still alive. I'll give you all a further update tomorrow.

Regarding your dog, dogs that bite people are dangerous. It depends on the dog and what was going on at the time but biting people out of agression or frustration is really bad behaviour. If he's biting you, who (i) is familiar and (ii) is supposed to have authority, then he'd be much more likely to bite a stranger. Which is not fair. In general, people who cannot control their dogs so they are safe to be around (within reason) shouldn't have dogs.

OTM

this is true BUT the bitey dog is only really a danger to strangers if you let it access strangers. If you keep it away from small children and don't mind being bitten yourself then no problem.

when I was in America recently I was having loads of fun with a bitey scratchy cat. He liked it rough. As do I, evidently.

http://photos.friendster.com/photos/15/45/555451/709505549847l.jpg

the missus is as perfect as ever...

"RAGGETT'S FUCKING WITH ME AGAIN!"

"*PURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*"

Will tell all, just one more day....