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

tibbar

This is a bit tricky, depending on whether you want to remain on good terms with them. I do have dogs & have minded other people's dogs so I see both side of the coin, so to speak. I have had damage done by other people's dogs but have never expected them to pay as I think it is part & parcel of what you are letting yourself in for.They were responsible for leaving the dogs cage too near the curtains. They should have acted responsibly & took this into consideration, after all he not caged for nothing is he? I think I might offer them a token but only if you feel you must ,but don't expect to be on as good terms as before whether you pay up or not. Personally I wouldn't.

Augustus_the_Strong

It's bad luck but hardly your fault. I suggest you offer to pay half the cost of a much cheaper pair of replacement curtains - if they're getting a dog themselves, they won't want expensive ones!

Joto_2

You need to pay for the replacement curtains. You left your dog with your neigbours, your dog damaged their curtains, your responsible.

If they hadn't taken the dog then they would still have their curtains. This could have happened with whoever you left your dog with. If you'd booked your dog into kennels and paid the fees ,the kennels would have been insured for any accidents.

I don't think any household insurance covers damage by animals, pet insurance might though

kerri_dfw

How about making them a new pair of curtains yourself? You can get some gorgeous fabric and they're not too hard to make yourself. Will definitely cost nowhere near £1000 (who pays that for curtains?!?!?).
Don't ever leave your dog with them again, they can't look after it obviously. Fireworks are scary for animals and they shouldn't be left alone on Nov 5th. You wouldn't leave a baby alone in a war zone, it's effectively the same feeling for a dog.

Cookiepops

okay,

1. what about pet insurance? Mine has a clause in it for damage and liability (though the neighbours would need to be able to prove the curtains cost £1k as insurance will only pay out the standard cost and £1k for a pair of curtains is ridiculous)

2. Did you approach the neighbour to look after your dog or was the offer entirely on their part? If I was in their shoes and I had approached you to look after the dog, I wouldn't even ask for the money. However, if you had asked me to look after your dog, then I would ask you to pay a portion of the cost. But that too would depend on if I had gone out and left the dog alone when there was fireworks, that would have been my own stupidity.

HTH

pennypinchUK

It all depends whether your friends took sensible precautions to keep the cage away from the curtains/window. If they did, pay up. If they didn't, they've just learned the lesson that owning a pet costs more than the cost of pet food.

Person_one

Well this has been a useful thread!

One of my friends has offered to look after my dogs should the need ever arise as she loves them but can't have one of her own. I'll think very carefully about allowing it now and if I do I will be making it very very clear beforehand that I won't be held responsible for any damage they might cause.

However, I have to say that I would never plan to be away from my dogs on bonfire night, or new year's eve, or Diwali. Part of having a dog is giving up those nights for their sake, their owner's calm presence is the single most comforting thing for them when they're distressed.

Dave_Furniss

How much would it have cost to put the dog in Kennels?

Offer this amount and point out that helping them find out about dog ownership in this way means they only had one set of curtains ruined.

If they had not trialled a dog before hand, they could have ended up with the same curtains as well as their sofa, chairs, carpet etc. ruined so you may have saved them a small fortune.

alggomas

I would try and come to a compromise if you are friendly with your neighbours.
One could say "Why have the dog in the living room near any valuables"?

As There is no further information. Difficult to say.

However, What if you were playing with your dog outside and it suddenly ran next door and damaged an expensive vase?
Would you pay then?

Marisco

No way would I pay a thousand quid!!! I would most likely offer to pay what I would pay for my own curtains, and that would come very far short of £1000!!! They offered to look after the dog to see what it was like - well, now they know!!:D