'I served my mother-in-law the dog's water and I'm baffled by her reaction'

Having the in-laws over for dinner can be stressful and confronting for many couples.

But one mealtime was especially awkward for a dog owner, who offended their mother-in-law by using the "dog's water" to top up her glass.

She believed they were "trying to poison her with dog germs" and refused to drink from the jug again.

Following the conflict, the person took to Reddit to ask users if they owed their mother-in-law an apology, or if she was overreacting.

They wrote: "A couple of nights ago my in-laws came over for dinner. I had glasses on the table with ice and was filling them with water from a pitcher.

It was called gross by the stepdaughter (Getty Images)

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"I set the pitcher down to go grab something off the stove and my mother-in-law resumed filling the glasses.

"My 13-year-old stepdaughter walked in and stopped her, saying 'don’t use that, that’s the dog’s water!'

"My mother-in-law was confused and said I had just been using it and my stepdaughter replied with 'No, that’s gross. That’s for the dog."

The person clarified that the water comes from the kitchen sink, and they use the pitcher to top up the pet's water bowl - "but the dog doesn’t actually touch it or drink out of it directly".

Later in the evening, the family were sat round the dinner table when the person's husband reached for the same pitcher and their mother-in-law told him not to use it.

"Apparently, she's offended that I filled dinner glasses with the 'dog’s water'," the person said.

"In my mind there's no difference between that water and pitcher versus any other water and pitcher I pour from."

Users agreed the mother-in-law was being dramatic (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The person turned to Reddit to ask if they were missing something, because the mother-in-law now thinks they're "trying to poison her with dog germs".

One user jokingly responded: "How dare you make your dog drink the same water your MIL drinks. Don’t disrespect your dog like that."

Another said: "This might just be the craziest post that I have read on Reddit today. A pitcher is a pitcher." and a third agreed: "The pitcher literally just holds water."

A couple of people blamed the stepdaughter for her "inappropriate wording" and said it caused a misunderstanding.

While one person said: "I fill my dogs' water at the sink, does that mean I can't drink water from our sink?"

"By their logic, all tap water is now dog water. And presumably everything in the reservoir," a user agreed.

It isn't unusual for couples to argue with in-laws about their pet - one man last week kicked his girlfriend's mum out of his house after she tied up his dog.

Do you have a dog story to tell? Contact nia.dalton@reachplc.com.