Unbelievable tales from reddit.
handpicked from the staff at tippin ice.
Credit to: emileemilee
posted to: r/AmIOverreacting
AIO For Insisting My Friend Board Her Dog
Hi Reddit!I agreed to take care of my coworker/friend's older dog (10yrs) while she was on vacation for the week. I originally thought I'd be checking up on her before/after work, walking her, feeding her, the typical dog watching duties. She paid me $200 for the whole week, which is about $28/day. I charge about $26/20min drop in cat sitting visits through Meowtel so I thought it was fair initially.
She left me 8 pages, front and back, of instructions for her dog, wants me to stay overnight with her and pick her up to put her in the bed with me, and freaked out when I told her I had plans for my day off and would be leaving her for a few hours.
While I was at work yesterday, she pulled the trim off the door, chewed some of the paint from around the handles, and started to chew on the drywall. Today when I got back from work, she had started to eat and rip out insulation, chewed up and rip out even more drywall, and started to chew through an electrical wire.
She's in another country 8hrs ahead, but would I be overreacting if I insisted she board her dog for the remainder of her trip? I cannot put my life on hold to supervise her pup 24/7, and above that, I can't stand the thought of her dog getting seriously injured or causing any more property damage.
What do I say? How do I proceed? I don't have the PTO to call of work, and I'm certainly not getting paid fairly for the extent of this dog sitting situation.
Thoughts from the users:
Boysenberry:
"NOR. I assume somewhere in those 8 pages of instructions she left you her vet's phone number? Call and find out if the vet boards dogs, and then let the owner know she can either choose a boarding place herself and book the dog in today, hire a full-time dog sitter starting no later than tomorrow morning who doesn't have to leave the house at all, or you will be dropping the dog off at her vet for boarding and explaining the situation to them before the next time you have to leave the house, in order to avoid becoming responsible for the death of her pet. Question: did the instructions she left include stating that the dog has severe separation anxiety and can never be left alone?"
Dry-Explorer2970:
"Not only are you not overreacting, but your friend needs to come home NOW to deal with her dog. This is such irresponsible ownership on her part, and $28/day for 24 hour supervision is disrespectful and taking advantage of you. This isn’t new behavior. Her dog seriously damaged your home and ate very dangerous materials"
AlanTrebek:
"Oh my…. Well this is a pretty bad miscommunication. When did you realize she expected you to stay overnight, that seems like a pretty big thing to miss. If she didn’t tell you how anxious her dog is upfront, I’d say Not Overreacting. Poor pup. Maybe they can refill some anxiety meds for doggo as a short term fix if you can’t get him into a kennel?"
emileemilee replied:
"The first evening I got in to check in on the dog was when she left the instructions. When we met and went over things, it seemed like basic dog sitting. I was originally fine with the idea of staying over because she's MUCH closer to our job, but this has just escalated into something unreal. Her mom didn't tell me she was this anxious, just that she would "miss her mama""