Woman demands sister-in-law pay $100 for bracelet repair after claiming her dog broke it: 'I pulled the dog back right away and told her that for the rest of the week it would be better if she did not try to interact with the dog'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Oct 24, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

The question of who is to blame for a particular situation is not always an easy one. It's why we have courts and juries and lawyers. There are so many factors at play for any given incident that it's not always simple to track them down. This is especially true when there is a family involved. Because when there is family involved, there are egos at play, and not everything is cut and dry. Maybe there are ulterior motives or bad-faith actors or mixed-up emotions. It's not easy to lay the blame for any given problem on one person. 

Even if you simply knocked over a lamp. Who was standing nearby? Whose lamp is it? Who set the lamp up? Who is the homeowner? Did someone get hurt by the lamp? Was it sabotage? You see, there are a million questions that arise when you're trying to put blame on something. That's what came up in this story, where a bracelet was broken and nobody seemed to know why. But they did go out looking for recompense. But did they get it? 

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  • A woman wears a shell bracelet.
    via Unsplash+ (Roberta Sant'Anna)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • The members of this family couldn't quite agree on who was to blame. Some blamed the owner of the dog, who may or may not have broken it, while the dog owner couldn't help but point out everything she did to avoid the situation. Read on to see what happened and see who you think was to blame. 

  • AITA for refusing to pay a 100$ bill from my sisters in laws?

    So my sister and I planned a family vacation together. We rented a big house for both our families. It was me, my wife, our 1 year old, our dog, and my sister with her husband and their two kids who are 5 and 3. The house was big enough that her in laws stayed with us during the first week and our parents came in the second week.
    via u/Djings
  • Our dog is a rescue she is very sweet but gets nervous around new people. She knows both our families really well and loves the kids and my brother in law but she had never met his parents before. So we made it clear that she would always be leashed when they were around and that my wife or I would always be there.
    via u/Djings
  • Two days into the trip my sister's MIL told me she is great with dogs and asked me if she could give her a treat. I said yes but I explained exactly how to do it safely. I told her to get down low so she would not tower over the dog and to move slowly. She said okay but immediately did the opposite. She
    via u/Djings
  • leaned over her and reached down and the dog got scared and jumped up on her. I pulled the dog back right away and told her that for the rest of the week it would be better if she did not try to interact with the dog. She seemed fine with that so I thought that was the end of it.
    via u/Djings
  • Two days later everyone else was out. It was just me, our baby, Sisters MIL+FIL and one of the older kids in the house. I was on the floor playing with my kid when I heard them talking very loudly at the dining table. It was that kind of loud where it feels like they actually want you to hear it. They were saying things like we will have to get it repaired when we get home and maybe we can find someone cheap to fix it.
    via u/Djings
  • I could not really ignore it so I asked what was broken and what needed fixing. She said that one of the kids had brought her her broken ankle bracelet. She said she was not sure what happened. Maybe it broke while she was on the trampoline or bumped into sonething, or maybe it was when the dog jumped at her earlier that week.
    via u/Djings
  • I said oh okay that sucks and left it at that. Nobody mentioned it again and the topic never came up once for the next 4 days that they stayed. Fast forward two weeks after the vacation. My sister called me and said her in laws had a bracelet repaired and now they wanted me to send them 100 dollars for the repair.
    via u/Djings
  • I was honestly shocked. I called my sisters MIL right away and asked what that was about. She said she thought it must have been the dog when she jumped up on her. I reminded her that she ignored my clear instructions and that she was not even sure if it was the dog since she had mentioned several other reasons.
    via u/Djings
  • I told her that if she had talked to me honestly during the trip and said she thought my dog broke it I might have helped pay. But she said nothing, waited two weeks, and then sent the bill. So I told her no, I was not paying. Now she is upset and told my sister I am an asshole So Reddit. AITA?
    via u/Djings

  • Commenters weighed in on this situation.

    Kitchen_Chemistr... . 20h ago NTA: to me it seems unlikely that the dog managed to break jewelry that was being worn around someone's ankle, especially while jumping UP. And even if it did, there would likely be a scratch left behind not to mention the broken anklet on the floor. It's an unfortunate set of circumstances for sure but I am not buying their story at all.
    via u/Kitchen_Chemistry405
  • Two sister have an argument at a coffee shop.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • LdiJ46 19h ago NTA. Even if your dog broke it it would have been because the MIL did not follow your instructions. It is on her. Plus, I don't believe for a minute that it cost $100 to fix a bracelet.
    via u/LdiJ46
  • BigBackeron • 21h ago . NTA. She should have listened, as your instructions were clear. Her incompetence, her bill.
    via u/BigBackeron
  • pottersquash · 20h ago NTA. They gotta do a lil better than "I think" it was the dog. I ain't even worried bout dog till they can actually prove dog has anything to do with it.
    via u/pottersquash
  • sa... . . 20h ago Edited 18h ago NTA. (1) She's not sure the dog broke it, (2) it is unlikely that the dog broke it given what she says the dog did, (3) she chose to interact with the dog in a way that disobeyed the rules you gave her, and (4) she didn't tell you about this issue until you
    via u/saffron_monsoon
  • were all home and it was difficult to discuss face to face. Basically, she is counting on you paying this to keep the peace. But there will never be peace either way: she'll be upset now when you don't pay, or - if you do pay - she will treat you as a patsy forevermore.
    via u/saffron_monsoon
  • Chicago NormalGuy • 21h ago I think what your sister's MIL meant to say was, "I don't have a dog but I think I'm good with dogs because I've petted a few dogs so I can ignore what you said." NTA
    via u/ChicagoNormalGuy
  • Sheibe123 · 19h ago NTA . If it broke that day, WHY didn't they come to you and say, right then, that the dog did it? Because they are lying ignore them
    via u/Sheibe123
  • Wise-Matter9248 · 20h ago I'm having a hard time envisioning how the dog jumping on her would have broken an anklet.and even if it did, that it wouldn't have been noticed quickly. Either way, she didn't follow directions, and that's not your fault. Also, if she suspected the dog was the source of the break, she should have said something then.
    via u/Wise-Matter9248
  • Needles-and-Pens.... 19h ago Tell her you'll deduct the $100 from the $500 rental for their share of the vacation house.
    via u/Needles-and-Pens_64
  • Proper-District8608 21h ago Nta. If the dog jumped on her, did he scratch by her ankle? Sure its possible it snapped when she jumped back, but so are many of the other scenarios mentioned. 2 weeks later and blame is now the dogs? You did the right thing.
    via u/Proper-District8608
  • Fubar_As_Usual • 19h ago The poor dog is just a convenient scapegoat. She was told how to interact correctly and disregarded what you told her. It's highly doubtful the dog did it, but if it did the fault is her own. Don't give her a cent.
    via u/Fubar_As_Usual
  • BTW, did they pay for their stay or did you and your sister pay? If they stayed for free, tell them they can just put the $100 toward the house rental costs.
    via u/Fubar_As_Usual
  • Is-Potato425 • 19h ago Se literally said she didn't know how it broke and is now saying it must have been the dog now that she has a Hefty bill. I wouldn't pay it.
    via u/Is-Potato425
  • wearskittenmittens 19h ago • Let her call you 3 assholes, she still has you beat by a country mile. The kid brought the broken bracelet on the trip and the mother has no clue as to how it got broken but she wants to blame the dog? Tell her you are sorry but it is not your problem. The five year old had the smarts. to bring it on the trip? Maybe the kid is a smart enough to fix it themselves. I smell a rat.
    via u/wearskittenmittens
  • kimba-the-tabby-li... · 18h ago NTA. Don't pay them anything. Honestly, who even owns an anklet that is worth > $100? It's not the part of the body for expensive jewelry.
    via u/kimba--tabby-lion
  • Alarming_Tie_9873 • 19h ago . She doesn't know how it broke. She isn't a dog whisperer. And she should fix her own bracelet.
    via u/Alarming_Tie_9873

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dogs aita AITAH brother sibling rivalry sibling memes siblings money problems dog owner reddit story family feud broken family sibling sister reddit thread Reddit money
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