Real life MMD: Our dog ruined the neighbour's curtains - should we pay?

toadhall

They offered because they wanted to have a trial run , well this is what a scared dog can do. I would offer a token donation but really? £1000 for curtains!

mr-tom_2

Are you any good at sewing? Making the curtains (provided you can do a good job of it) may be a far cheaper option.

GinG_2

nickj wrote: »

i would pay up - see how far£1000 gets you if you put your dog in kennels ,

At £10 - £15 per night...I would have a guess at quite a few nights!

fathertedsfavenun

if you want to look at this from a legal perspective, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (as seen on Defra website and RSPCA website) states that if you leave a pet in the care of someone else whilst you are away then they become legally responsible for them. So technically your neighbours bear the responsibility for the cost themselves as they were responsible for his care and behaviour whilst he was with them. Now whether you value the relationship between yourselves enough to offer any compensation is a matter for you to decide.........

diberry

Well, my initial thought was that's it's your dog and therefore your responsibility, the same as if it was your child who had damaged their home while they were babysitting him or her. On the other hand, if they left a child alone in expensive surroundings and damage was done, they should take their share of the responsibility for not properly looking after him or her and this would also apply to looking after a pet. I would, as suggested above, offer to go halves on replacement curtains rather than just giving them the money, with a suitable reduction for the length of time they'd already had the curtains.

Saoirse

I actually think the fact they were doing this as a trial run is the key point. If it was just a favour, I might feel I should may for it. But as they were doing this for their own sake I feel a lot more responsibility should be on their shoulders. Had they even looked into or considered what caring for a dog is like? And if they'd got a dog and the dog had ruined something, who would they be asking to pay for it? The kennel they got the dog from?

I think whether/how much depends on how much you want to keep them as friends, how much you can afford and how much the replacement curtains will actually cost. Maybe you could pay however much it would have cost to put the dog in kennels.

VfM4meplse

dobbiesloan wrote: »

What idiot would pay £1000 for a pair of curtains, where do they live, Buckingham Palace?

My curtains are the single most expensive purchase in my home, and cost several thousand in total. Decent professionally made curtains cost a fortune but last for life.

davedogs

a dog is not a child. it will not behave in its normal manner in different surroundings. any person who wants to look after/own a dog a dog must accept that they are responsible for the dog in their care and that if they leave the dog an opportunity it will seize it.

dogs usually chew when stressed, it's called abandonment anxiety. the dog was left in strange surroundings during a stressful period.

i say the responsibility lies with both of you for the damage to the curtains because the neighbour wasn't warned but also because they wanted an easy option to trial dog ownership without apparently doing any research prior to the trial.

as for the cost of the curtains bully for you that you live in a neighbourhood that has houses that require £1000 curtains. if that dog had gotten hold of a child during it's distressed state what would you be thinking then?

Usually the tabloids decide for you.

owning a dog is a lifetime responsibility - grow some!

birtles1010

Put it the other way round - if you had offered to look after the dog and it had ruined your curtains how would you feel? Ok maybe you shouldn't have left the cage near enough to the curtains - but as a 'beginner' you would probably think that the owner would have asked you where you were going to put the cage? - advised you on a sensible place to put it? advised you that there might be problems with the fireworks?
Of course the owner of the dog should offer to pay - then you would offer to split the cost

welshgeorge

Hang on, let's just get this right - you are being asked to stump up for their learning experience and this was at their request. If they decide to go ahead and get a dog they will presumably have learned from their mistake, will not repeat the error and will have brand new curtains to boot. Even if you follow other posters' advice and go halves their learning will have only cost them £500. If they decide not to get a dog you will have subsidised their lessons. (Look elsewhere on this site for the cost of an education these days!) Your so-called friends want to have their cake and eat it. BTW, what is your hourly charge for renting out your dog and how do they plan to compensate you for the avoidable trauma caused to it?