To Expect a full replacement?

[AThousandSuns]

Greetings.

My DP and I have been looking after my MIL's dog while she is away on holiday for two weeks. We don't mind this at all, as we often do favours for eachother.

MIL suggested that the dog be put in the bathroom overnight, as he barks like a crazed lunatic for most of the night due to him being used to sleeping on MIL's bed. He was put in there with the door closed to drown out the noise and allow us all to sleep.

Yesterday I got up in the morning to find the bathroom flooring shredded. He had attempted to dig his way out. We have a downstairs bathroom that is joined to our kitchen, and they have a tile effect vinyl flooring going through both of them. Still on holiday, MIL was informed of the distruction and said she would replace the damaged floor.

The question is this - how much should she replace? As I said, we've always had matching flooring in the bathroom and kitchen. So replacing the bathroom only with an equivilent (though not exactly the same because we can't find the exact same one) would mean that they are no longer matching.

It would cost about £100 to replace the bathroom only, or about £250 to replace the kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen flooring does have several scuffs, rips and stains, but nothing we weren't happy to live with.

Would you want to whole thing done or would you settle for the bathroom only? Would you pay for the whole thing or just the bathroom only?

I´m not sure why OP is getting quite so flamed.

How much of the holiday is left?

Would the dog be better off at MILs and being taken for walks & having some company between walks?

cockwomble if you agree to look after an animal, you agree to look after it. so, if it's barking at 2am and distressed, you do what you need to to prevent it being distressed, not just lock it out of the way so you can't hear it or because you want to limit the damage but not actually do anything about the animal's distress.

If it were me I would do what I could, regardless of the time of day. that might be take it for a walk, it might be sleep on the sofa next to it, it might be something else, but I'd make sure the dog was OK because I would not be prepared to allow an animal to suffer.

some who think you should "get rid" of your own dog

I'd advocate anyone who can't look after their dog properly to give it to someone who can. Over feeding your dog so excessively and not training it is cruel and you shouldn't have a dog!

I see nothing wrong with expecting MIL to replace the damaged flooring.

Midori, while I'd normally suggest a crate too I think it unlikely that the OP/OP's DP would go for the idea and more to the point I think that in this particular case the poor anima would be better off in kennels or at least with an experienced, professional dog carer.

I just love making animals suffer me. To hell with practicality.

This is mad. The op doing her MIL a favour, the dog is going to be stressed wherever it is. Where are these magical kennels with people
Who stay up all night looking after dogs and letting them sleep on beds? Kennels are little concrete cells with a bed, bowls and strangers. How is that better than a bathroom in a family members home?

cockwomble, you misunderstand. Those who think that the OP should get rid of his dog are speaking of his Labrador (see up-thread), not of MILs Cavalier. I agree with you that the MIL shouldn't be allowed to keep the Cavvy as she's mistreating him by over-feeding.

Not one thing is mentioned where the OP tried to prevent or ease stress to this poor dog. The immediate solution was to shut it away so they couldn't hear it. It wouldn't kill someone to sleep on a sofa, would it?

Ah, harvey sorry for the misunderstanding!

I agree geraldine

"If it were me I would do what I could, regardless of the time of day. that might be take it for a walk, it might be sleep on the sofa next to it, it might be something else, but I'd make sure the dog was OK because I would not be prepared to allow an animal to suffer."

'Nuff said.

And fuck "practicality".

I don't agree that the OP has done anything wrong.

Geraldine, that is why I suggested a professional dogsitter/home boarder. A responsible one would sleep on the sofa/do what it takes to prevent the dog becoming as distressed as he did when locked in the bathroom so that the OP didn't have to listen to his cries.

As for where these magical people are, if you'd like to pm me I'd be delighted to give you my phone number. :)

On one hand: The dog is not at fault. He has been spoilt, and has been allowed to live like a king (charles spaniel, hehe). It's cruel not to train a dog. It's cruel to allow them to sleep on your bed. It's cruel to let them become overweight. You sound unsympathetic, and the dog sounds massively distressed.

On the other hand: I kind of know how you feel. As I have whinged on about on MN ad nauseum, I am looking after my friend's dog for 6 months. Friend told me the dog was trained. He shits and pisses in my house every single day, several times a day, however much I take him out. I am constantly cleaning up shit and it's horrible. It's not the dog's fault at all- He's just untrained- but it's hard not to get annoyed with them when you're doing your best.

She should only replace the bathroom floor.

Lots of questions here.

OK, it was actually about 4 hours that night. I got up a six to make sure both dogs were walked.

As for the renumeration of the damage, it all stems from a recent thing. My 2 year old pulled the keys off her laptop. So were payed for the damage. Plus a few other incidents were something like this has happened.

Also, we couldn't just put him in kennels. For one things, they are not open at that time of night. For another, he does not have up to date vaccinations. Should we have paid for these, to?

I know we shouldn't keep him, but we do favours for eachother all the time and refusing to would have started an arguement. I don't like arguements. I'm a bit of wimp when it comes to arguing, TBH.

It's only a dog. Why should it be allowed to sleep on anyone's bed for a start?

If it destroys everything in its path (floor, toys), get someone else to look after it temporarily and then get it back to the MiL so that it's waiting on her doorstep for her return. Dogs! Ugh.

I've just been outside, a couple of doors away, to spray yellow paint round a bucketful of dog poo on the public footpath. I don't want anyone to walk in it but I don't see why I should clear the muck up. If only I'd seen the performance!

Don't have the dog to stay with you again.

Harvey, that's very reasonable of you I have a tabby cat who won't go to a chattery OR be fed by anyone else, I think he needs a magical kennel :)

athousandsuns I agree with others who've posted saying that maybe next time MIL should consider a pet sitter who comes to her house to care for the dog.

What are you planning to do when the dog barks tonight? Is sleeping downstairs with it an option?

Are we still on topic?

YABU to expect to replace both the bathroom and kitchen floor.

And it's not cruel of someone to let a dog sleep on their bed. My dogs sleep on my bed at times, not usually. When they go back to my oldest girl's breeder they sleep on her bed, they are happy to sleep back on their own beds whent hey return. They sleep on my bed when/because I want them to and they sleep on the breeder's bed when they are there because that is where she wants them to sleep, so why shouldn't they?

I agree MIL getting a home boarder next time is likely to be the best option.

The op stated that the dog wouldn't settle on their beds and also would pee on them, so why should they allow the dog free run of the house at night? My friend allows her dogs on her furniture, but I don't allow my dogs on my furniture. When she comes to my house her dogs don't climb on my furniture.

If you don't allow your own dog on your bed then I see no reason to allow a visiting dog.

I would try a DAP plug in as it may just calm the dog enough to stop the barking. Also as I said in my previous post leaving the dog in a crate at night should stop any further destruction and a stuffed kong should stop the barkng by keeping it occupied.

"It's cruel to allow them to sleep on your bed."

Bull!

I don't think the op deserves the flaming

A. All those saying sleep on the sofa with it what if it marked its territory on there? And why should the op have to sleep with a dog if she doesn't want my dogs aren't allowed upstairs let alone in my bed and while one isn't Intrested in the sofa the othr lies on it with me in the evening as I know hevwouldnt Mark his terrootory etc.. However I would not expect anyone else to let t him sleep on their sofa .

B. The dog wouldn't come to any harm in the bathroom if the op really needed sleep and surly it as better to lose a bathroom floor than a kitchen unit, sofa , ornament etc.. If the dog is that bad!

What about going to the pet shop op there's room sprays , calming socket air fressnures , reassurance vests etc,,, that may help alternatively what about going to the vets to see if they have any ideas or mabey even stress deleting medication?

And I'd just be asking for the kitchen floor to be replaced btw

Sorry for the appalling errors my iPad is doing invisable writing and correcting itself and I can't see what it's doing much like when I was trying to hire a Micky mouse outfit and my iPad sent the business a message about mickeys hat of piss instead of top hat

"B. The dog wouldn't come to any harm in the bathroom"

So crying and barking in distress, so being so distraught that he's ripping up the flooring in an attempt to get out is not coming to any harm? Really?

Really? That's without the possibility of him ingesting some of the material he's chewed up. I'd love to see you try that with a child and then come on here to tell us all that it's okay because he won't come to any harm in the bathroom.

I think I'll leave this thread now before I say something regrettable.

BTW I'd ask MIL to foot the bill for the DAP as it's a fookin expensive item. I have the feliway for cats and it is great stuff.