balderdash111

Hello all

Some friends and I are trying to organize a gathering, where we would use one of the groups' parents' house (did I get those posessive apostrophes right?) while the parents are away. We have the parents' permission, of course. The parents have no pets and are very clean.

All of us are married and those of us with kids are bringing them.

One couple, however, has no kids but has a dog. We haven't seen the dog in a few months (we all live in different states - thus the gathering), but back then it was pretty hyperactive, and we think that continues today. Not so much destructive, as frantic and jump-prone.

The friend whose parents' house we're using does not want the dog to come to the house. Mostly it's an issue of hair and dog smells. We are not worried about the dog and the kids (though there will be at least 4 infants, and we're not sure if the dog has been around those before), it's apparently just a "don't want a dog in my house" issue.

The gathering is in the winter, so keeping the dog outside is not really an option.

So, the friends who own the dog were informed of this, and reacted very strongly. They said that telling them they can't bring the dog is like them telling us we can't bring our children. And when it was suggested that the dog could sleep in the garage, again the response was that it was like saying the children could stay in the garage. Final position - if the dog can't come, they won't come (or they will stay someplace in the same town where they can keep the dog - which sort of defeats the purpose of the gathering)

Now, my feeling is that this is a bit of an overreaction. A dog can stay in a kennel, and - though I like dogs personnally - I can understand someone who says he/she doesn't want a dog in his/her home.

So are our friends nuts?

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A little silliness now and then is cherished by the wisest men. -- Willy Wonka