Anxious Dog Bites Its Owner's Friend After She Brought A Stranger Home Despite Knowing The Dog Was Nervous Around New People

The owner was away for the weekend and her friend volunteered to watch the nervous dog

Chelsi

• Published in Animal Stories
• September 30, 2022

Championing the "adopt don't shop" advocacy to acquire your pets can be a commendable act. Adopting dogs from shelters or rescues means you are giving this animal a chance to have a great life.

It can of course come with its own challenges. Rescued animals often need extra effort and attention to get them out of their shell.

You have to keep working on earning their trust and it may take a while but once you do, it's a rewarding feeling. OP adopted a 3-year-old dog from a shelter.

OP says that her rescue is a beautiful dog but she is known to be anxious when she's around strangers. OP is mindful of not leaving her alone for too long because her anxiety kicks in.

They have been making a lot of progress with crate training and OP is delighted. The 30 lbs dog has never once shown any aggression but she does get nervous easily.

OP was faced with a dilemma when she had to go away for a weekend. She worried about leaving her dog behind and finding someone her dog would be comfortable with.

Luckily, OP's friend Mel, who lives two blocks away from them, volunteered to watch OP's dog. Mel was excited about dog sitting but OP informed her about her dog's anxiety.

OP introduced them to each other and it went really well. OP and her dog even spent the night at Mel's house to make the dog a tiny bit familiar with the place.

The first day that OP was away, Mel told her that she left for several hours and left OP's dog in the crate

The dog was fine but then Mel went home with a friend which agitated the dog, so Mel put her in her crate once more

OP gave Mel some tips on how to handle her dog better if she continues barking

OP called after a while and found out her dog was still in the crate. Mel said that the dog bit her when she picked her up after failing to stop her from barking at her friend.

OP kept apologizing because her dog had never bitten anyone before

OP asked what happened and Mel said that this friend she brought home was a different person from the one earlier. Apparently, this was a guy she wanted to sleep with and Mel kept changing the subject when OP asked if the guy will be sleeping at Mel's house or leaving.

OP apologized when she got home the next day but expressed her frustrations with Mel

She did bring home a stranger knowing that OP's dog has anxiety triggered by them. Mel told OP that she wasn't mad at her but she kept blaming OP's dog.

OP said her issue wasn't with Mel's anger but her allowing a stranger to stay at her place when she volunteered to be responsible for OP's dog. OP said the events of last night probably affected her dog's crate training.

Mel is now mad at OP but her boyfriend is on her side. OP is conflicted and can't figure out how to handle things with Mel.

Do you think OP was at fault for leaving her dog with Mel or is this on Mel for inviting a stranger to stay the night at her place?

Commenters asked OP for more information before passing down judgment

They said that Mel didn't seem like she has a lot of experience with anxious dogs based on OP's story

OP said she assumed Mel would know not to bring a stranger into her house after being informed of the dog's issues and Mel is a dog owner herself

Someone agreed with the comment OP replied to that Mel is not at fault for how things went down since OP didn't explicitly warn her about not bringing another person into her home

OP said her dog doesn't have a history of aggression and her body language is obvious when she gets scared

Most of the comments sided with OP and said she wasn't the a**hole for being upset

Their suggestion was for OP to stop being friends with Mel after she left OP's dog in a dark room while she was busy with her date

Someone did point out that OP is completely at fault for leaving her dog at an unfamiliar place with someone she wasn't too familiar with

Ultimately, every person expect Mel's date should feel guilty because they all failed to keep the dog safe

The above comment did trigger a small debate in the comments section

They said that it would have been better for OP to give Mel detailed instructions on what she can and cannot do while taking care of the dog and OP should have insisted for them to stay at her house to keep the dog more comfortable

First of all, you shouldn't compare dogs to kids but that's beside the point. They are correct though that Mel volunteered to watch the dog for OP.

The majority of the people on the sub did say that OP was not to blame but she can either explain to Mel why she was so upset or OP can just keep Mel at arm's length

Dogs with anxiety will definitely challenge anyone even the most experienced dog owners. OP should have pushed for Mel to dog sit at OP's place to keep the dog more relaxed.

Another question did pop up, why can't OP's boyfriend watch the dog while OP was away? One thing is for sure, OP shouldn't count on Mel to watch her dog in the future after what happened.

Chelsi