Puppy destroys owner's couch cushions and rugs while they are on vacation, dog sitter purposely does not tell them until their return, leading to a dispute: ‘How could you let this happen?’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Sep 10, 2025 4:00 AM EDT

Whenever we go away on a vacation, we ask our pet sitter to give us as many updates as possible. They send us hourly updates, pictures while they are out on walks, and reports on exactly how much our beloved children ate, slept, and played. It gives us peace of mind while we are away.

Some pawrents would rather not know anything while they are out of reach, trusting their pet sitter to do the job and keep everything in line. 

If that's what works for some, we support it, as long as there is full communication between the owners and the pet sitter. Which is exactly what the dog sitter in the story below was aiming for. She wanted full disclosure with her clients, so she created a survey to ensure every pawrent knows exactly what service they will get.

When one owner filled out the survey and asked not to be contacted unless it's an emergency, the dog sitter complied. So when their puppy destroyed a few cushions and a rug, the sitter flagged it as 'not an emergency' and didn't let the owner know. 

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  • Was it cool that when they returned, they got mad at the sitter for how she handled the damage? We certainly don't think so, but scroll down to read the full tale and decide for yourselves.

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    Cheezburger Image 10552100608
    via Dyball

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    AITA for not texting the people I was petsitting for when their dog destroyed stuff?

    So I (24F) have been petsitting for a decade. A couple of years ago I made a survey for new clients so that
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    I knew their preferences and wouldn't bother them while they were away. One of these questions asks about the circumstances
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    for contacting them. The options are 1) I'd like a daily photo with update, 2) I'd like a few updates and to know
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    if anything unexpected happens (ex. damage, minor concerns) 3) only contact if the unexpected happens 4) only contact me if it's
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    an absolute medical emergency. Recently I agreed to petsit for a new client and on the survey they picked the emergencies only option.
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    When I first showed up to the house at the scheduled time I saw that their rotwieller had chewed up several couch cushions, the rug,
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    and a stuffed animal. I looked around and based on the amount of stuffing, small things still attached, and the puppy behaving normally I
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    determined that the pup had not consumed anything, so it was not going to be a medical emergency. The damage was pretty bad, but
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    since they clicked the only emergency option I figured that they knew the puppy would probably do something and didn't want to stress about anything
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    Young Woman Scolding Cute Toy Terrier Dog
    via pixelshot

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    while on vacation. Well when they sent the on the way home text | reported the damaged items and said the usual pup will be happy
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    to see you message. I said the items were all stored in a trashbag in their entry closet in case they wanted to repair anything. A
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    few hours later they start blowing up my phone sking how could I let this happen, why didn't I tell them earlier, why did I
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    disrespect their stuff by putting it in a trashbag? On and on. I responded that I went to the house at the scheduled
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    time and the pup being loose while unsupervised was their decision. I reminded them of the option they selected on the survey and was confused
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    by the trashbag issue because is was a clean bag and those were the only things in it. They said they were going to badmouth me
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    to their friends and I know my usual clients will know it's fishy, but I still don't like the situation. I take pride in the work
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    I do and this situation has been stressful. I think I could be the ah le because maybe their definition of emergency was different but I
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    also feel like my examples on the survey make it clear what I mean. I'm not sure what to think, AITA?
    via KiryuChan-

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dogs aita cute dogs pets toys dog sitting dog owner pet sitter doggos dogs of reddit pawrents story Reddit home pawdorable vacation
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