Vent: am I overreacting? My husband and I live in a small 2 bed 1.5 bath townhouse with our mother-in-law, our 6 month…

No you’re not wrong! Your baby is 6 months and I understand that your brother in law needs someone to watch his dog but he should understand his dog is a very big breed and your baby is still pretty young to be around a dog like that, especially an inside dog, I have big dogs myself but I wouldn’t want them inside with my baby until she’s at least a year or more because you never know what can happen and the mother in law is already taking care of a dog adding another and much bigger dog is going to make it harder to care for your baby even if it’s just for a week she’s going to have to make sure the dog doesn’t try jumping up on her to see the baby or try to get the baby food or bottle or get fur or just get on the toys in general a boxer is a lot more difficult to keep away and well behaved around a baby than a chihuahua, has his dog been around babies? Does he know not to jump up or knock the baby over while doing tummy time or other activities? These are just some but not all concerns I would bring up and especially since you’ll be 2 hours away if god forbid something happens it’ll take you a long time to get back to your little one

We used to live in a one bedroom

Apartment not far from where you are now with a huge chocolate lab. He was 130lbs. The only reason it worked is because our large lab was extremely well trained. Large dogs still think they’re puppies and like to act smaller as far as being on couches and in beds and all that and you have to train them not to be like that. It sounds to me like this isn’t a well trained dog and it’s your house that she lives in. Me, I’m pretty alpha at my house and I’d say no, I do not want to come home to the mess of someone else’s animal while I have to work hours from home. I would also say I don’t want to come home to a dead dog or animal control at my house because you couldn’t control the situation. I’d tell her your concerns as to why you feel this shouldn’t be happening, see what she has to say, then give out the final ruling. A fair middle ground would be to have everyone meet(dogs, baby, humans) and get a feel to see if the situation would even work before making the decision. I love animals but have low tolerance for people with spoiled untrained dogs.

The boxer is an inside dog? These poor dogs aren't going outside at all?

Do you pay her to baby sit? Is it your house or hers too? If it's her house too and you don't pay her, you're a bit out of luck

Dogs aren’t that much work lol just because it’s a bigger dog doesn’t mean it’s harder to care for. I really don’t understand where people get that idea from🤦🏻‍♀️ I have a lot of experience with small dogs and big dogs and the big dogs are usually less work then small dogs. Just make sure your brother brings a kennel and toys for his dog. So yes I think you’re wrong and have nothing to worry about!❤️ The dog may be depressed because of not having his owner so it might just lay around and not want to do anything anyway and if it’s hyper a quick 15 minute walk twice a day will help. I’ve fostered and watched a ton of dogs. Everyone is a different personality but if there’s any issue it can stay in the kennel for a portion of the day. Also make your husband take him for a long walk every night like 30 or more minutes.

No you’re not wrong! Your baby is 6 months and I understand that your brother in law needs someone to watch his dog but he should understand his dog is a very big breed and your baby is still pretty young to be around a dog like that, especially an inside dog, I have big dogs myself but I wouldn’t want them inside with my baby until she’s at least a year or more because you never know what can happen and the mother in law is already taking care of a dog adding another and much bigger dog is going to make it harder to care for your baby even if it’s just for a week she’s going to have to make sure the dog doesn’t try jumping up on her to see the baby or try to get the baby food or bottle or get fur or just get on the toys in general a boxer is a lot more difficult to keep away and well behaved around a baby than a chihuahua, has his dog been around babies? Does he know not to jump up or knock the baby over while doing tummy time or other activities? These are just some but not all concerns I would bring up and especially since you’ll be 2 hours away if god forbid something happens it’ll take you a long time to get back to your little one

I say its up to your MIl