Dear Prudence,
Since my mother-in-law lost her partner, she has poured all her time and affection into her three dogs. The result is three little monsters that jump, snap, and tear at everything in reach. You can’t wear anything but pants around them because they will attack bare legs or eat food unless they’re locked behind the baby gate. My mother-in-law refuses to leave them behind for anything. If she comes, the monsters come, and she actually finds the discomfort of other people around them amusing.
Well, my sister and her two small children will be coming to Thanksgiving. One has just started crawling. I haven’t seen them since the birth of my youngest. I couldn’t live with myself if they got bit. My husband says we will just put the dogs in another room. We tried that before, and I have ripped leggings and scratches to testify that the dogs can and will get out.
My mother-in-law only lives an hour away, but refuses to leave the dogs behind for a goddamn afternoon meal. Her go-to threat is if her dogs aren’t welcomed, she isn’t. I usually let my husband deal with his mother and tolerate the mess and the monsters, but I am putting my foot down here. Still, I do have to live with my husband and the ire of his mother if she is excluded from Thanksgiving. Any other options?
—Dogs Be Gone