Advice needed - do I pay for my dog's mistake?

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My puppy has a liking for bags, pockets and anything like socks etc. After numerous trips/calls to the vets after swallowing.chewing undesirables I now warn all guests to put things out of his reach including handbags. It is an ongoing joke with my friends about how he is and the things he has chewed - batteries, paracetamol, face cream etc so far. Anyway one friend this morning did not heed this advice...she stayed at my house last night and left her handbag within reach of the dog in her bedroom...when she went to the bathroom he picked out her glasses and chewed them to pieces. Now I am torn as what to do. As a decent person I know it is my dog's fault and therefore as a responsible owner I should foot the bill but on the other hand, this person is well aware and has been told on numerous occasions to keep things out of the reach of his mouth! Do I pay for a new pair? Do I offer a token gesture amount or do I expect her to pay for the new glasses? Any advice would be welcomed!

If I was staying at someone else's house and was told to keep my bag out of the way of the dog, I would - I'd put it in my room...

I don't think it's her fault that it didn't occur to her that the dog would go in her room.

If your dog is that badly behaved then don't have people round! Your home, your dog, your responsibility.

I have just spoken to her about the incident and she told me she encouraged the dog from his bed to hers during the night...and so he was in her room as she had asked him to come in there to sleep in her bed!

Seventh...is there need for swearing?

As a non-dog owner,I think it is your friends fault - or at least as much as it is yours.If she had been warned to keep her stuff out of the way of the puppy and forgot - and left her door open so the dog could get into her room,isn't that her fault?
If I was in that situation,I'd assume it was my error,not being careful enough.If a dog chewed up something of mine in the park,for example,I'd be livid - but in your home,(and the dog's) I think it is perfecly reasonable to tell visitors and expect them to pay attention.

Did it happen to you seventh? I should happen make you breakfast before you leave for work next time!! ha

And yes she is aware, she stays twice weekly!

Sounds like her fault if she was encouraging the dog to be in her room. Also, the fact that she stays twice a week sounds like she is fully aware of what your dog is capable of. Are you doing her a favour by letting her stay?

York...we swim twice weekly at a pool about 3 miles from mine. She lives a further 7 miles from mine and works near the pool so as I have a spare room and adult swimming is 9pm - 10pm she stays over so to not have to drive the additional journey late on.

Still think you should at least offer to pay for the glasses, if it were your friend i would probably say no, thankyou, but i think you should still make the offer.

Have you got anythin that your dog can just chew??? I actually posted on here about my naughty dog chewing up my £160 glasses and people made lots of suggestions. What worked was just making sure he has lots of chews - dogs need to chew, so i buy raw hide chews and change them regularly (because apparently the chew with the chewed up end isn't any good ) and then occasionally a big old monster of a hide chew that i let him start then upcycle it to my mums monster hound. No real casualties since, but have just got v vigilant about leaving stuff about.

If I were your friend. not it!

You need to contain or train your dog before it causes itself serious harm.

Consult an APDT registered behaviourist who will, undoubtedly suggest crate training the dog for while it cannot be supervised. For it's own safety and mental well being.

A very young dog being left to wander the house alone at night will be likely to feel very insecure. Chewing appeases anxiety feelings in dogs.

Dogs like to feel that their space is safe and secure when they are away from their family. Whippy adores her crate, she is in it now. The door is open, she doesn't have to be in it, but as far as she is concerned it is the best place in the house to be. It is secure no-one and nothing else is allowed in but her, it has lots of pillows and blankets and her favourite chew toy. It is where she eats. Sometimes it magically produces chicken or cheese. She can hide all her bones in there and the other dogs will not take them.

We've had to invest in a second crate for when we have fosters in as they always try and commandeer Whippy's crate, we don't teach them to or encourage them to. They just like it in there, for the same reasons Whippy does.

It also means when we are out we know she is safe. Although we rarely use it during the day now, but is does come in handy if she is sick or injured and needs to kept quiet and away from the other dogs.

Thanks lucyellensmum...you make positive comments that offer help not berate! He does have a lot to chew...he has many toys, chews and he currently has 3 stag bars on the go which he loves! I may go and buy a few more tho to be on the safe side!

He has a 'den' where he feels safe and secure but it is not a crate. It is a dog travel carrier thing?...not sure of the name of them! It is left open for him to sit in and play but I would not shut him in...it is up to me to make his house safe which I have and in doing so, requires I ask guests to do the same! And as for him being safe...he began opening and chewing things in quick succession (in the space of 2 weeks) and so the house was taken apart at the time making sure there was nothing he could get hold of...I am surely not going to continue to leave things around when I know this is a problem which is why I ask guests to do the same! I have covers on everything, anything which could cause harm (electrics etc are switched off when not in use) and safety catches are on other things. As previously stated, results in training do not happen overnight and are ongoing!

I would be bloody annoyed with a regular visitor who is undermining my puppy training. I would offer to pay (grudgingly). I would strongly suggest you do'nt want her messing with the puppy at night. I would consider a crate as a safe haven for the dog (ie his retreat space). If you don't have room for one (and we have never had a crate apart from one borrowed when we went on holiday with a 7month old puppy), then have a room (kitchen, utility room or similar) which is the dogs retreat space, where he can go when things get too hectic for a puppy. And make it a rule that he is not allowed out by anyone (unless an emergency) at night.

Once the dog is older and knows the rules then all that can be relaxed (depending on the dogs personality).

Sounds like you have a very clever dog, and you might well spend a lot of time and effort keeping it occupied (and if not occupied then you can expect lots of chewing and destruction).

A friend of mine has a childrens play pen for her springer - its quite a big one, sort of a double play pen - so in there is the dogs bed, toys, drink etc. I am not against crate training actually, i think its good, when done properly, but its probably very easy to misuse. When i got my rescue dog (we have had him about five months now) i did consider it, but felt it was unfair as our first dog sleeps in our room..So where does the rescue dog sleep - ON our bed, between me and DP!!! crate training is not cruel, but can be if not done properly . My friend for instance, it would be fine, but the poor dog is left ALL day :(

oh, lol, it seems you are already doing crate training just without realising! tee hee

I don't know anyting about puppies or dogs or training them, but yes, you really need to offer to pay for the glasses.

Having a pet that does not behave, or eve a child that does not behave, does not remove your responsibility for them and that means if they do something wrong, you sort it out till they are old enough/ well behaved enough to stop doing it.

You can't just excuse yourself on the grounds that they are only a puppy, only a child or anything else like that. The point is they are your puppy or child and you choose to keep them, and their unusual proclivities for dragging stuff out of people's bags or eating batteries is not disclaimed by your forewarning people to keep all their possessions out of reach - this is unreasonable. It really is.

I think you should stop having people to stay till he is trained, or else, keep stumping up for new stuff for those whose items he destroys. Just saying 'keep your things out of reach at all times' is not really fair on your guests.

I am not sure how it is unfair...all they have to do is put their bag on a unit/table. It's hardly asking them to put it in a vault! If we put it into perspective of a child as you did....should a parent not have visitors until their baby has stopped exploring with their mouths? Should a visitor to a house with a baby not be politely asked to keep things out of the reach of a baby to keep both the property and the child safe? It's hardly a big thing to ask!

Oh. I thought you meant entirely out of reach, like in a cupboard or on top of the wardrobe - did she leave it on the floor? That was admittedly a bit silly.

But in answer to your question about babies, I don't think people should stop having visitors when their children are small, even if the child might do something daft - or destructive - but what I do think is that said child or baby needs to be supervised at all times, if possible, and any damage they cause should be paid for by their parents, even if the guests are aware that there is a destructive child in the house.

For example if I left a crawling baby alone unsupervised while I slept and it went into the guest room, and proceeded to take something out of a guest's bag and eat it - I would not hold that guest responsible.

Anyone or anything that cannot be trusted to act reasonably must be supervised or contained, not just left to wander about unchecked.

Continuing that example....but if a guest took said baby out of its cot and into her own bed for a cuddle where it subsequently was left unsupervised with her property on the floor...

I think you should offer to pay for the sake of harmony but I really do think it was the guest's fault. Having been repeatedly warned not to leave stuff where the puppy could et it, she did just that. She must know in hindsight that she should have closed the door.

However. I do think that you need to be more careful with stuff generally. Batteries for eg should be locked away - you are lucky that the batteries didn't kill the puppy. Perhaps consider getting a stair gate and putting it across one room - and in that room, you could then keep dangerous/precious items.

Is that what happened with the puppy? If so then of course, it makes a difference.

I assumed the dog had wandered into her room because she left the door open. Not because it was invited.