I am livid right now

[Lisa]

Some of you may think i overreacted. But this is a problem I've been keeping quiet about for a while now and it finally boiled over.

I've had the same sitter for the kids for almost 5 years now. This semester we went down to one day a week because with Patricks school schedule, he was home everyday except tuesdays.

ANyways. They recently got a new dog. It's a pup. Now like most pups it gets excited when people come over. I took the kids over this morning and it was the sitters DH in the room. The sitter was in the other room. I'm getting the kids coats and shoes off while fighting off their puppy who likes to climb on people and jump on them. Now Robert gets scarred when the puppy jumps up on him. I don't blame him. I can be the same way. So instead of the sitters DH grabbing the pup and holding her till she calmed down. He says nothing. Then when Robert starts getting scared because the puppy is jumping on him, He says "Robert, stop being afraid of the dog". He also had the tone of voice I hate in that he was talking down to my son like he was doing something wrong. SO I shot back that Robert wasn't doing anything wrong and that he was just a little afraid. I also said that he should have been disciplining the dog, not my son. So i left.

I get to work and the sitter calls for the second time. She proceeds to ask what the he ll is wrong and why am I upset. SO i tell her that he should have been disciplining the dog not Robert. I know the dog is a pup and it's going to do stuff like that. But it's their job to teach it not to do that. And sitting there telling my son to stop being afraid is not the right way to teach the dam dog how to not jump on people. We aregued some more and now i"m home. I had to take the day off of work and get my kids and bring them home. We were having to find new sitter in 2 weeks anyways due to her not being able to watch them on fridays when Patrick's clinical started.

This is also not the first time I've had a problem with Ted and how he treats/talks to Robert.

I'm still PO'd

[Jennee]

if you arent comfortable with your sitter then you absolutly should find someone else.
i hope you can find someone better

[Beka]

i'd be p'd off too- as it's her profession she should have considered her mindees first before buying a dog if she intended to keep the clients she has.

good luck finding a new one- i doubt she'll find it as easy to get new clients with an over active, untrained dog in the house

[Christine]

I don't think you overreacted at all! If he were talking to your son like that while you were there, how was he acting when you left? I think you have every reason to be concerned and I'm glad you're looking for a new sitter anyway.

My inlaws do that with my kids too - telling them they need to not be afraid of their dogs. They also tell us that it's OUR fault because we don't have a pet. Whatever. My kids have all gone through this and they all grow out of it. It's enough to make me not want to go over there very often.

[Kristi]

I don't think you overreacted. I would be upset to hear someone talking to my kids in that tone too. Especially when he did not do anything wrong. Kids are afraid of things and it is not wrong. I agree with you that the dog should be disciplined for jumping. If she has had the kids for 5 yrs then she should have considered that when they got the dog. If you have had problems with the husband before too I don't blame you at all. :squeeze Good luck finding a new babysitter.

[Lori]

I'd be furious, too! It's totally normal for kids to be afraid of dogs, and if someone does childcare, they need to consider that. I'm not saying that they need to not get a pet, but they need to figure out how to have the dog behave around the children, not vice versa.

I was terrified of dogs as a child, and when people let their dogs run wild around me and just had a "get over it" attitude, it was horrible. I only learned to like dogs from being around some very nice, calm, well-behaved dogs, not by having crazy dogs jumping all over me until I finally "got over it." I would be furious if somebody put my child in that situation.

[Maleah]

I think you did the right thing. How can anyone expect a child to just stop being afraid?! What a moron.

[Lisa]

thanks ladies. I'm still upset but was wondering if I did overreact. They do have 2 dogs but dafodil, their lab, is a good dog and doesn't jump or bother them. This one does. If they would have done something like take the dog to the other room till it settled down it would have been fine. But Ted bothers me. He talks like that to his kids too. They are older but I don't talk that way to mine and I'll be damned if he will.

[Christine]

I was terrified of dogs as a child, and when people let their dogs run wild around me and just had a "get over it" attitude, it was horrible. I only learned to like dogs from being around some very nice, calm, well-behaved dogs, not by having crazy dogs jumping all over me until I finally "got over it." I would be furious if somebody put my child in that situation.

Same here! It was torture to be around new dogs, because they were totally unpredictable to me. I always wanted the adults to protect me and if someone didn't, it was very difficult.

[Jo]

I have 2 very territorial dogs. Actually 1 dog that acts territorial but is fine once people are inside and 1 that I put in a room most of the time when people are over. It is the dog owner that is 100% responsible for knowing their dogs and making sure other people are comfortable. It would not be my job to tell people who come over, especially children, to get over it! You are absolutely right to be angry!

[Heather]

I have 2 very territorial dogs. Actually 1 dog that acts territorial but is fine once people are inside and 1 that I put in a room most of the time when people are over. It is the dog owner that is 100% responsible for knowing their dogs and making sure other people are comfortable. It would not be my job to tell people who come over, especially children, to get over it! You are absolutely right to be angry!
Ditto!!! I was the same way with mine when we still had Sable. She was a pretty good dog in the beginning, but would get waaay too excited when people came over and I always put her outside so no one would be bothered by her.

I remember a few times, when I was younger, being with my parents at their friends houses and the people's dogs getting up in my face and scaring me. It's not the person that is afraid that needs to 'get over it'. It's the animals owner that needs to recognize that that person is not comfortable around the animal or afraid and they need to take proper action with it. Just because it's your dog and they've never harmed a fly.. doesn't mean that every person is just going to warm up to them. If a person doesn't like, or is afraid of dogs, I think that needs to be respected, no matter where you're at.. your house, their house.. whatever.

Yes, it's My house, My dog, and technically, as far as my dog see's it, it's HER house too, but I'll put her happy ass outside in a heartbeat if someone comes over and is not comfortable with her around. No problem! I'm not going to INvite someone in and then let them sit and be afraid because of Holly(she's a good sized german shephard). Most everyone we know is ok with Holly though, she's reeeeeally laid back and she doesn't jump or get in peoples faces, so everyones fine with her usually. Sable though... Sable wasn't allowed to be around visitors(we unfortunately had to find a new home for her last year after the baby was around because she was getting nuts around the baby and I was NOT going to wait it out and "see what happened". I have family members that really looked down on us for 'getting rid of her', but I really don't give a shit. We were concerned for our baby's safety and we'd had multiple problems with her that we'd been working through since we got her. In the end she was growling at the baby, jumping our 6 foot privacy fence and her and I had been having an ongoing battle for the dominant female role for a long long time. No matter how hard we tried with her, her behavior just got worse, and worse and when she wasn't tolerating the baby it was my final straw. THAT, was a risk I was Not willing to take and I didn't-and still don't-care who has a problem with it. *ahem Mother in law. Funny though.. so many people were quick to judge us on that decision, yet none of them knew the dog the way we did and NOT ONE person saw how she acted around the baby. If they had, I know a loooot of people would've changed their tunes- but this is off topic! Sorry)


Long story longer.. I don't think you over reacted at ALL. Best of luck finding someone else to watch the kiddo's. I know that can be a fete in itself! Hugs lady!

[Lisa]

thanks sooo much. I'm glad that some of you are dog owners and are supporting me. My Dh is too. I don't mind dogs myself. I'm not a lover but her other dog dafoldil I liked. She barks but that is all. I think I have a friend who might be able to help out temporarily till she gets a job. I'll have to ask her. I'll pay her what I paid my babysitter. In the summer we won't need one. Patrick will be home most the time since all his classes are online. Next fall though we may have to find a solution to the problem. But I have time.

:)

[Desirae]

I'd be just as mas as you were Lisa! :squeeze i hope you find a suitable sitter soon.