[meme]

I am a new member so I am not sure if I am posting in right section, any help would be so greatly appreciated. My daughter has a very out of control mini schnauzer, he is a nuetered male a little over a year old. He runs through house like a maniac, jumps on furniture and people, the dog never settles down, he is mouthy, he has jumped off back of sofa hitting living room window, has no respect for boundaries of any kind, only time he semi settles down is when he is crated. My daughter and her husband treat him like a baby accepting and allowing this behavior always saying thats just Bob being Bob, he sleeps with them as well. Daughter and husband are expecting first baby any day now. They thought putting him in new car seat was adorable I was mortified. I have been worried and terrified about what will happen when baby arrives, when i voice my concerns it either falls on deaf ears, we know this or he will just have to learn. Baby will be sleeping in daughter and husbands room in a bassinet for first few weeks, with dog. I myself have a mini schnauzer and have never seen this kind of behavior. Am i just being an over protective first time Grandma or are my cause for deep concern legit. Any help or advice would be so greatly appreciated

 

[momtolabs]

I would HIGHLY recommend them taking the dog to Obedience classes. Teach the dog some boundaries. Do you know how much exercise the dog gets? Some of the behavior seems like there is too much energy built up. how I see it right now the dog should not be near the baby unless on a leash until he learns boundaries and gets some training.

 

[meme]

Running through the house, potty trip, I have told them til i am blue in the face walk him several times a day. At first they would bring him over to run in our huge fenced backyard he escaped 3 times but more importantly he tortured our schnauzer. Our mini would want to be left alone and our dog would warn several times to back off but Bob wouldnt more our dog warned more persistant snd worse Bob would become. Our mini finally pinned him down on his back mouth on throat whuch is completely unheard of eith out dog. Didnt phase Bob at all, he started right in again. I know he is very under exercised.

 

[momtolabs]

While exercising won't fix ALL the problems I think it will help. You need to sit them down and make them act like adults. Tell them what they need to do. More exercising and train there dog. If not that will cause problems when the baby comes. the dog more than likely will nip/bite the child jump all over him/her. When the bite is serious enough to go to the hospital the hospital has to report bites. Then the dog will have to go through a lot of things.(that is what my aunt told me when she worked at a hospital anyway, I am not 100% sure if it is right or now) Either that or they need to find a home where the owners will have time to exercise the dog and work with him. It is not far for the dog to not get exercise have not training and in the end gets in trouble for something that is not his fault.

 

[+two]

A tired dog can't do the types of things Bob is doing. My advice, to start, is get this dog some exercise. Run him into the ground so the only thing he does is eat and sleep. I know you said he didn't do well with your personal dog, but what about other dogs? Maybe he would be a candidate for daycare? This would also give the new parents some time to get acclimated to a newborn in the house. If he is not a good fit for daycare, hire a dog walker. Teach the dog how to run alongside a bicycle, or swim. I would start now with teaching him manners around a stroller so that he and baby can be walked together.

Best of luck and congratulations on becoming a grandmother.

 

[Cotonlove]

First of all congratulations. Secondly I will bet that whatever you say to your "kids' will either make them mad or fall on deaf ears. Sadly, that is what seems to happen. I don't blame you at all for worrying about the baby. Maybe when the baby comes the dog will prove to be too much work for them and they (or you) can re-home it. That would probably be best for all concerned....they don't seem to want to put in the time and effort with the dog. Good luck and a hug from one grandma to another.

 

[Eva C]

Congratulations on your new baby!! When Timothy was on his way I used a book called Tell Your Dog You're Pregnant: An essential guide for dog owners who are expecting a baby. It was really helpful and came with a CD of sounds. Olive (my out of control Mastiff!!) took some time to get used to the sounds but the book helped on how to do it. Maybe that will help!

 

[HollowHeaven]

Am i just being an over protective first time Grandma or are my cause for deep concern legit.

I feel like your concerns are right on the nose.

Quite frankly, these two seem like a pair of lazy, irresponsible dog owners and have no business having a baby in the same house as Bob. In my opinion, this child will be in harms way as long as they continue to ignore you. With all that running and jumping and mouthing, it's not too out there to think the baby may end up getting hurt, and it will be a total accident on Bob's part, then there'll be a huge chaos, and Bob will be the one who suffers from it. It's amazing the list of dogs who end up in shelters, or being PTS or dumped out, or even cruelly confined (i.e, locked in a crate all the time, or in a room, or kept outside somehow, being ignored) because of incidents with babies that were completely avoidable.

Best advice I can offer is to try and make them realize what will most likely happen if they do not get this dog to straighten up, if THEY don't straighten up. They need to start exercising this dog, training this dog, getting this dog into classes, anything and everything to keep him tired and educated.
Let them know the danger of having a dog that never settles down around a baby. He could mouth the baby, or jump on hir or run hir over on one of his spells. He could even end up getting jealous of the baby. He may not MEAN to hurt the child, but if it happens it happens. This is the reality that needs to be presented to them.

Is there any way you could help them with training or exercising? Not that it's your responsibility to take care of their dog, but any little bit could help.

 

[Amaryllis]

I doubt they'll listen to you now any more than in the past. I think you're right, but there are none so blind as those who have no wish to see.

Just make sure that when Bob gets rehomed for hurting the baby (likely a minor nip or scratch, not an attack. Bob doesn't sound in any way aggressive to humans.) that they go through a rescue and contact the rescue yourself and tell them what happened. A lot of dogs are labeled as "bad with kids" or "aggressive", even put down for it, when the only thing wrong with them is the need for exercise and training.