To have let friend down last minute with dog sitting

She needs to compromise as you’re doing her a massive favour, I’d never dream of booking an appointment for our dog when she was being looked after by someone else so that needs cancelling.
I think the compromise for feeding is the pre bagging of dogs raw food, yes on a normal basis she may prepare it on the day but as she’s not there it needs doing in advance. Surely you can then open the bag and tip it into the bowl, no touching of the food whatsoever, maybe wear a face mask if the smell is an issue?!
I’m sure the dog isn’t going to turn its nose up at the food just because it was prepared in advance and not on the day 🤣

Even if you weren’t vegetarian that would be a tall order. She can find a professional dog-sitter who may be prepared to do all that, but I guess she wanted to do it on the cheap. She’s taking advantage of you and exploiting your friendship to save a few quid. If she really cares about her dogs she’ll want them fed by someone experienced in raw-feeding. Otherwise, she shouldn’t leave them at home to go on holiday.

Your friend should’ve realised six weeks ago that the new diet would’ve meant you were unlikely to be able/want to feed their dog and have checked with you weeks ago, on the assumption that this would be the case. This is 100% of them and their lack of thought/thinking ahead.

The grooming appointment is a compete piss take and speaks volumes,

You haven’t let your friend down at all. You agreed to plan A not plan B. You are still prepared to do plan A (which now isn’t even an option and they should’ve realised that).

I hope your friend isn’t trying to make you feel guilty and has realised that they messed up.

I have fed raw food when dog sitting for a friend in her own home. I'm not vegetarian & don't have sensory issues but the blood and smell were nauseating. I had to weigh each serving and add a certain amount of tripe. I retched if I looked at it so I became very competent at only seeing it out of the corner of my eye. I would never agree to do this at my own house - I do it at hers because I love the dogs.

YANBU I’m a Groomer and I particularly don’t like it when people send other people with their dogs. Issues need to be discussed with the owner and if something goes wrong they don’t have any authority. I also raw feed my own dogs but wouldn’t put that on another person unless they offered as it’s a fair bit of work.

Could they prep all the food in tupperwares and according to portion? It might take up a lot of fridge/freezer space but then you could pop it in the bowl. Also I think they should postpone the grooming appointment. TBH if I asked someone to cat sit for me and was cooking the cat food I’d prep it all in advance.

I raw feed my 2, it’s really not that difficult.
It’s a healthier diet, and regardless of whether you’re a vegetarian or not, dogs are not.. The meat comes frozen and I literally get mine out, defrost and feed… you don’t have to cook or do anything to it.

Your friend could however buy a brand that is raw, but is dehydrated so looks like kibble .. this would be much easier for you to feed, I believe you just put a certain weight into a bowl, add water and feed. Maybe you could suggest this to her?
Again adding an egg and a squirt of fish oil takes literally seconds and isn’t difficult.

I think leaving her in the shit only a week before her holiday is really unreasonable. It’s not ideal booking a groom for while the dog is being looked after, but these appointments are sometimes REALLY hard to come by and it may have been while you had the dog or nothing available for another 6 weeks…. I’ve got poodle crosses and honestly when they need grooming, they cannot be left for another 6 weeks because they become so unmanageable. Also unless it’s miles away can’t see the issue, you drop dig off, go about your own business for an hour or 2 and collect a clean nice smelling dog a couple of hours later.

I think you both needed to talk and come up with a compromise regarding the feeding and grooming.
I think you panicked and felt overwhelmed by the changes of expectarion. You’ve over thought it all.

She's taking the piss.
You haven't let her down, she's changed things to what was agreed. If he can have dry food and no appointments, you'll do it. Her choice. Don't let her make you feel bad!

I've raw fed my dogs and ewww the blood in the pack after it defrosts and how it would end up in my sink when I was opening the pack. The smell made me want to vomit too, plus seeing capillaries and parts of organs and vessels 🤢 🤢 🤢 I am vegetarian and autistic though and can't even cut up a cooked chicken 😂 can't stand the texture the texture.

The dog is her responsibility not yours.

She sounds a bit of a user and off loader to me. If she gan get someone to do the hard and messy bits. She will do.

Beware!!!

Lots of folks on this thread don't seem to understand sensory issues. It's not just an "I don't like" but almost physically painful. I'm not autistic (afaik) but I do have sensory issues and in some cases pain would be preferable.

E.G: for most ppl fabric which has "pilled" feels a bit unpleasant. For me it's as though my skin is going through a cheese grater.

OP has said they have issues around food smells. It's not about their preference, or the effort of food prep or the ethics of feeding meat - it's literally not being able to cope with the smell.

I'm guessing therefore that it wouldn't help if the owners pre prepped the food.

IDK whether frozen food defrosting in the bowl, or maybe dried raw food would be manageable, but no, OP YANBU. I'm sorry your friend hasn't been more thoughtful or considerate about this.

I agree. But disability/sensory issues do make it more difficult/impossible to be flexible.

Not necessarily. OP is vegetarian and has sensory issues around smell. I'm guessing this means the smell of meat, which they wouldn't experience with their own meal preparation.

I'm not autistic (afaik) but do have sensory issues & it's really like a kind of pain. In fact in some cases pain would be preferable. It's not simply an "I don't like it but I can deal" situation.

It's a very big ask. I wouldn't like to do it. I have seen you can buy ready prepared raw meals and just defrost one at a time. Maybe that would work?

When I read the title, I thought you’d be in the wrong for letting friend down but now I’ve read all of it, definitely not. She’s not kept up her end of the bargain (changing the diet, adding the appointment.) it’s totally fine for you to cancel and you’ve done nothing wrong

lol. Then the owner can make the decision to not travel where they can’t take their dog.

the dog owner’s friend is not the one letting the animal down here.

They could leave them on dry while they’re away after all the dogs were used to it, I always make it as easy as possible for my dog sitter so urnbu

OP doesn’t need to get a grip or give her head a wobble - not her dog not her problem 🤣 she’s not the one desperate for doggy day care. Her doing the favour it’s her rules 🤣

A few days with a fifth of the calories you need would not do you any harm either - but you wouldn't enjoy it I bet!

And if she bumps up the veg so the dog isn't starving hungry, she will have a squitty dog.

I don't think we should accept things purely on the basis that they do no long term harm - starving a dog for four days would cause suffering even if its short term. Not acceptable!

Actually as dogs are omnivores rather than carnivore a few days without meat wouldn't hurt.
Of course the dog may turn up his nose and prefer to go hungry, but again 4 days will not kill him.
@Rawfoodworries maybe that is a way around the problem, just ask them to change the grooming appointment, and feed "no meat raw" for the 4 days?
Don't feel guilty about dropping out though, they have altered the deal too much, especially if they know you're veggie and have sensory issues!

She is a cheeky fucker.

However, she COULD prep his food in bags - if she flattens them out and freezes them as flat sheets, you can then peel the bag off the frozen block, and drop it in a dog bowl and let it defrost, all without touching (and the dog can eat it partially defrosted too!)

SO if she wants her dog feeding that diet (And it is what I feed our dogs), then she can make it easier for you.

You cannot raw feed a vegetarian dog, you would have a dog who was starving hungry and squitting through the eye of a needle, dogs are not vegetarian and do not digest veg all that well, it makes up a tiny part of their diets.

You can buy frozen raw nuggets, and with those you just tip a few out into the bowl and let it defrost (so prep the next meal as you're feeding the current one, using two bowls) - she could put him on that for a few days, but moving back to kibble wouldn't be appropriate, no.

Just because you can handle it doesn’t mean others can.

I’m not ND and I would have said no too because if you have someone doing you a favour especially when it comes to pets and knowing your friend is xyz, you tell them asap if something has changed with said pet
, and ASK if they are still able, not assume that it is fine.

I’m not vegetarian but I don’t like dealing with raw meat if I can help it. There’s a major difference between putting dry food in a bowl and doing what they have asked OP to do.

Your friend has definitely changed the circumstances of you dog sitting which is unfair.

Wow! Did you read 'any' of the poster’s comments?? She’s vegan!

She must know that you vegetarian surely. That’s too big an ask .
It very likely wouldn’t hurt the dog to have kibble for a few days. (Remember though that there are many recalls by companies for contaminated kibble..salmonella etc so be as careful as you can)
I’m veggie and raw feed and have done for 50 odd years and still find it difficult .
As for the groomer..of course she can change the date.