Help! My housesitting job has gone horribly wrong!

[Jewel1984]

Hello mumsnetters, I’m a long time lurker but haven’t ever really posted (not sure I’ve ever got anything useful to add to discussions and I tend to ramble on!)
so my family (7 yo old, 4yo and baby) are housesitting at the moment, visiting my sister. The air bnb we had booked pulled out at the last minute, and my sister put a post on her local fb page and the owner of this house responded saying we could stay here and look after their dogs. The house is really lovely and the furnishings are quite high end. The owner seems nice (I haven’t met her face to face tho my sister has) but she seems very highly strung. She went through all the instructions about the dogs, including to take them out to do toilet before bed, which we’ve followed religiously. She also was very adamant we didn’t go into the front living room of the house (which was fine!! )
so yesterday I realised that a coffee cup left on the bench next to the sink (it doesn’t have a metal drained) has stained the terazzo worktop. I’ve tried a load of (gentle) cleaning and nothing has worked. I’ve ordered a specific terazzo cleaner product and will try that when it comes. Woke up this morning and one of the dogs had somehow gotten into the bin and chewed a used nappy, and done a big yellow wee and poo on the ‘good room’ white rug (there’s no door you can shut) and I’ve cleaned it with carpet cleaner I found in the cupboard but I’ll have to have another go. Finally, my son has broken one of her son’s toys. This all sounds as if we’re a family of brutes and that’s not the case! I’ve managed to source the exact toy in a local shop and have done click and collect for Monday (they are back Wednesday)
I am EXTREMELY anxious now - the absolute last thing I wanted to do was wreck her house!! Any tips on how to approach the subject with her? We’ll be gone by the time she gets back. Needless to say I’ll never be housesitting again, and I don’t want to cause her distress, I feel like she is the kind of person who will find this all upsetting.
I should add there are people in our house doing the same thing (though we have no pets) and I am very chill about it - though our house isn’t as high end as this one!
sorry for the Ted talk 🙈🙈🙈

If someone keeps dogs in their house, they are risking poo stains on the carpet. Obviously you would clean up the solid stuff, but other than that it's not your responsibility.
Show them the broken toy when they get back and offer to replace it (it may have been broken already, or might not be one their child plays with any more).

I can't imagine how difficult it would be to look after small children in someone else's house. I wouldn't do it.

This is a very good point actually. Who actually DOES this?

If you really were a vet nurse you would not be giving glib advice like this out to random people on the internet.

@Jewel1984 ive been looking at some specialist firms pages in stain removals and a few have this.. https://www.poshfloors.com/7-tips-to-clean-stains-from-terrazzo-floors/

but honestly I think I’d rather fess up to the coffee stain if you can contact her and ask her if she has something in to treat the area rather than trying anything yourself. Somethings are a massive no so I wouldn’t be trying bleach or barkeepers friend without checking first. Accidents happen and when someone has such a particular house that’s got danger signs on every surface I think they have to be prepared for accidents to occur. Luckily this is what insurance is for?

I can't believe people on here are taking a pop at the woman who was kind enough to let strangers with kids stay in her house. Yes I know they're looking after the dogs but housesitters don't usually have three young kids with them

Exactly what I was going to suggest. Neither have ever failed me.

If you see OP's latest post you will see the dogs are fine and that she also contacted the vet.

If the Vet thought the dogs needed medical attention they would have had them brought in.

Despite the knee-jerk reactions from posters that the dogs need to be immediately seen by the vet, often the most common sense approach is best. If you had a 2kg Chih who ate 1/4 of a nappy, yep you're probably going to have an issue but a dog who took a nibble of the nappy or even a larger dog who ate a chunk of the nappy... the panic is really not needed.

Your opinion of who I am or am not is not my concern but posters trying to panic OP over something that's unlikely an issue is not on.

who the hell lets someone house sit with dogs and has no way of stopping them going into certain rooms

recipe for diaster

hope the stains come out but its still on them to provide proper doors and quipment for dogs

I’m not at all taking a pop and trying to work out what’s best for the dogs, as a priority (they’ve now been examined and are fine) and for the house. The owner of the house responded to a Facebook post and offered the house - I didn’t misrepresent anything and was upfront about our kids etc - the original post literally said ‘we have 3 children and Airbnb has fallen through’ ! the woman who offered the house knew this, and of course, she is undeniably lovely to have offered her house, and I want to make sure I do the best by her, opposite of taking a pop! Also, I grew up with dogs and love them - I’d always make sure they were looked after .

Bar keepers friends or Milton for the worktop

It sounds like you are very conscientious and I think she would be unreasonable to be too upset by these accidents.
She's got house sitters with kids, and looking after her 2 dogs... a few things were bound to get a stained or damaged.

Do as you are and try to rectify as mucb as you can, but also don't stress too much as she should be expecting a few boo boos!

Not sure whether they are available where you live but google "Magic erasers". They get rid of everything on hard surfaces IME, though they have a long list of surfaces you shouldn't use them on so try underneath the overhang first.

If the front room has no door then not really sure what you could have done? I think the countertop stain will come off. Toy is unfortunate but you’ve ordered a replacement. I’d message her now about the front room and ask how to keep the dogs out. Wouldn’t admit to the other stuff just yet.

Use this to clean the natural stone.

Probably too late now, but I've often found that clothes horses or, even better, those fold out heated driers, make excellent temporary dog gates.

I'd highly recommend Dr Beckman's Pet Stain and Odour remover. It's brilliant and cheap (about £3 from Amazon) and has a brush attached, so you can scrub if needed.

This sounds like a very stressful accommodation solution!! Was it worth it?

Toothpaste or the pink stuff for the worktops.

We have white quartz which stains from tea all of the time and both of these work beautifully

I use 'The Pink Stuff' to get stains out of my benchtops – perhaps test it (or whatever you use) underneath an overhanging edge before trying it on the actual stain to make sure it doesn't cause further damage? I've used it on lots of different surfaces, from plastics and (very lightly!) on glass, to my benchtops and it's never caused any damage. Good luck!

Can you get Dr Beckmann's for carpet?
My mum swears by it for her white sofa. Which I can testify is pretty spotless.

You might like this at Waitrose: https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/dr-beckmann-carpet-stain-remover/490968-69377-69378

swear by this. Albeit the rest of the carpet looks dirty now and the treated spots clean 😂

Well done for replacing the toy. With regards to the wee patch, tbh it’s their dog and accidents happen. It’s part of the risk of dog ownership. .

My dfs dog cocked his leg up on her brand new pale grey fabric sofa. She tried to get it out with bicarb but it somehow took on the yellow colour of the pee and it stained the sofa. She did manage to get it out eventually but it took a few weeks.
I don’t know what else to use as having dogs myself I never risked light or pale carpets or furnishings and usually dealt with accidents by using soapy water and then antibacterial spray,but you’ve had a lot of good tips on here. I hope you get it sorted.

Your partner is very supportive but wants you to laugh it off and stop stressing - sounds like he’s leaving it all to you? It’s equally his responsibility to sort!
Hope the suggested solutions work. With such a delicate worktop and an open access ‘good room’ the dogs can get in to, things will go even for careful people.