On my last nerve AIBU??

[Extradotcom]

Okay so I know i’m not really BU.
MIL has a dog (terrier breed) that me and DH know she doesn’t look after to her full ability. The dog doesn’t get walked, no one has bothered to properly house train it. MIL has told me herself that every morning when she comes downstairs the dog has weed and pooed on her kitchen floor.
Rewind to a week ago, MIL books a holiday abroad over the Christmas period for two weeks (including actual Christmas) but doesn’t make arrangements for the dog, just assumes me and DH will have him. We have a two year old and I’m 20 weeks with our second plus we know the dog is dirty so we said no. MIL INSISTED that he only does one little wee on the floor every now and again if he’s excited but we still said no. MIL then throws a strop saying “well I can’t go on holiday now and I’ve paid for it” and really pressures us into having the dog so eventually we said yes. Less than 12 hours after the dog being here we went out for two hours (dog was let out just as we were leaving) came back and the dog had pooed 5 times on the kitchen floor then trod it all through the house. My DD came back and also trod in it in her new boots while we were trying to clean it up. I have washed them and they’re fine but that’s not the point. He’s pooed on the floor every day he’s been here (6 days).
The last straw is that I’ve come down this morning and he’s ripped my brand new £1200 sofa. It looks like he’s been sat there all night clawing at it and all the threads have come out. I know MIL can’t afford to replace it so I won’t even bother asking. There’s also a very strong smell of wee in my living room.
I just feel like MIL knew her dog was like this and still pushed him onto us and it’s all very selfish as she’s able to go off and enjoy her holiday but I’ve got to spend my Christmas cleaning up dog poo and having my furniture damaged. DH has said he will contact her today and tell her she has to make different arrangements as he still has another 8 days until she’s back. Is there anything else I can do that anyone can suggest? I have tried locking him in the kitchen but we have those push open double doors and he just lets himself out

You are describing typical separation anxiety, when the dog poos and wees to relieve stress. It usually happens in the first half hour of separation. The dog is terrified alone at night and day.
You knew this but still agreed to look after him for mil. You didn't restrict the dog to the kitchen hence the sofa damage. And you left him alone for an extremely long day when you know he doesn't even hold his toilet over night.
You are just as bad as your MIL! And you all seem completely unaware.

Is your MIL back yet OP?

If so, what was her response?

I'm sorry if I sound harsh but while the dog is with you, you and the your husband are responsible for it. You know the dog can't cope with a few hours alone and you've already seen the damage he caused after just a couple of hours alone and you still left him all day alone and get annoyed when he does what you does in these situations?

I get it's Christmas and that going out as a family is part of that, but once you agree to be responsible for an animal you need to alter and adapts plans to meet the animals needs and last minute whole days out become tricky. Even a perfectly housetrained dog could struggle with a whole day alone. It's probably the main thing I struggled with dog ownership, just yesterday we had a last minute invite to spend the day with my sibling and his family but sadly no one was available to have our dog and while she's well trained, after three/four hours she gets distressed so unless i can get someone to care for her while we're out for the day, we all don't go out For more than three/four hours max. I'd not be able to enjoy myself anyway knowing my dog is very likely to be distressed at home. It limits what we can do and means we have to make sure we have ask someone to agree to look after the dog before accepting invites but it's part of being responsible for a dog.

@Extradotcom what happened when MIL came back?

To be honest you knew the dog had extreme behavioural problems but you still agreed to have it, so why are you crying "Unfair" now?

All you had to do was say no and mean it......

Why did you agree? You haven't really answered that.