Friend asking for dog food 'compensation'

[dogbiscuitsareforlife]

What do you make of this.

One of my school mum friends, (I'll call her Mary) has a dog and we often bump into each other out for dog walks and walk along together. Not super close, but chatty and friendly

Last week Mary told me she had been let down by a dog sitter for a holiday. She couldn't find anyone so I offered to help. Our dogs get on well and I'm used to having more than one, although at the moment only have one. She asked how much I'd charge but I said no bother just provide his usual food and treats, which she did. Her dogs food is a superior top end brand to the food I give mine.

All was great whilst we had him, but when feeding, the dogs seemed to favour each others food and swapped between bowls. I didn't think too much of it but did mention it to one of the other mums at the school gates in a jokey way, saying my dog obviously preferred the more expensive brand to the supermarket stuff I provided. Whereas her dog really liked the cheaper stuff.

Mary has obviously been told and today asked me if I fed my dog her dogs food. I was a bit taken aback but explained the above and of course I did give her dog its own food but sometimes dogs want what the other dog has.

She was very cold and told me to compensate her for any tins I gave my dog as she wasn't there to provide for my animal! I'm totally bemused, I saved her £100's in dog sitting fees and although I'm not now going to charge her she must see she is totally unfair.

Or am I wrong and should I buy a pack of 4 tins to give her. My DH says ignore but I don't want bad feeling.

Good woman.
I would totally shame her.
She is a CF.

Ungrateful mare!

Hand the dog food over with an invoice for your pet sitting services. And obvs don't do it again!

Easy. Offer her the four tins and an invoice for the going rate of dog sitting at your own house.

I'd do this and add "I would have hoped you'd be grateful for me helping you out as a favour free of charge. Probsbly best you don't ask again"

Gobsmacking that these people walk amongst us.

Not getting you a present is just proper cheeky mucker territory.
Asking you for replacement dog food is beyond that.

I would buy her 4 tins, give them to her and then never speak to her again. The cheekiness is astounding!

PLEASE update after you speak to her!

Sorry, I wouldn't even consider paying for dog food. Nobody at the school gate will care. There is no reason for you to put your hand in your pocket. You have already paid any debt several times over. I would just ignore her and only respond if she is brazen enough to ask again.

No way would I be speaking to this woman again. If I saw her approaching on the same side of the street I’d cross over, each time. I know it sounds dramatic but she’d be dead to me. I can turn cold on someone pretty quickly when they show who or what they truly are.

Everyone saying about not being wise to change a dog's food, that isn't the basis of Mary's issue though, it is solely from the price!

Laugh in her face? Surely she's kidding

I would buy 4 tins of food. I would put an envelope in the bag with a dog sitting invoice for the £40 per night, total etc.

But at the bottom of the invoice I would put - paid by friendship, nothing owed.

It is a bit passive aggressive, but it gets over the point that you did this as a favour, to a friend, and she is being petty.

I've not read the whole thread but I wonder why her previous arrangement fell through?

Why get the dog food for her? Tell her that, as she's moved the goalposts, you are doing the same and now expect to be paid the equivalent of what kennels would have charged.

The other mother who passed on the information to Mary that you had joked about your dog eating the food was at fault and I wouldn't count her as a friend.

Exactly this. Tell her you'll deduct the cost of the tins from the bill you'll present her with.

What a complete arsehole.

Why are you all supporting giving the CF dog food? I'm horrified! I'd tell her that her dog had been fed, walked, watched, poo picked up and given company 24 hours a day for FREE when it would have cost her £££ to get a dog sitter/kennels, and that you are horrified that she is being such a miserly cheeky cow that she wants you to compensate her two tins of fucking dog food. I'd also tell her in no uncertain terms not to bother asking you again.

I agree that in hindsight not a good idea to joke about something that has clearly been through Chinese whispers and made you look like you've switched the dogs' food for your own gain. Though I'd probably make use of the same school mum gate mechanics to have a laugh about some CFer whose dog you looked after and who was so tight that not only didn't she offer to pay or even turn up with a thank you gift, when she heard that the dogs ate a bit out of each others' bowls demanded that you bought her a tin of dog food back, lol!

FFS don't by her the Lily's kitchen without also insisting that she buys you your pedigree chum or whatever that HER dog ate, and ask her to provide you with replacement water for what the dog drank, 4 replacement poo bags, etc, money for the laundry load you ran after her dog dared to shed or traipse muddy paws into your house. What's good for the Goose is good for the Gander, and she might just twig how fucking petty she is being.

Sorry, but now I'm unreasonably annoyed that you're planning to give her replacement food. 😅.

I would refuse on principle. Her request is unreasonable, she is unreasonable, and there's absolutely no reason to waste your own hard-earned money this way.

I had something similar with a work colleague

She asked if I'd have her dog for 10 days and I love dogs (and knew this one well) I agreed as I love dogs but can't have one myself

She sent him with a knackered harness,chewed on lead,a bag of human sweets/cakes,a bottle of crusha milkshake mix and a much loved toy

No tins of food,no poo bags or biscuits for him so I ended up at tesco,buying him tins of food,which cost me about £20 and thankfully ds had left his dogs lead and poo bags from when we last had his dog (he was fine with us using them)

We fed the dog,walked him for hours each day,played games with him and picked up the sloppy shits (and the shits where like water)

Sent him back once she came back-she seemed to be grateful,snatched him from dp and walked away and that was the end of that-didn't ask for the money for his food,as I was just happy to help (and didn't get a thank you,let alone a bottle of wine or some chocs)

Or so I thought-she went round at work,telling everyone we'd abused him by not feeding him the food she'd sent (cheap sweets and cakes-which we sent back with him),we hadn't bought him his 3/4 Maccies milkshakes per day (£7/8 a day-chocolate is his fave apparently-shes in debt up to her eyeballs and cant understand why)we hadnt given him his crusha shakes (she wasnt offering money for the endless bottles of milk-im not even sure if dogs can have milk) he seemed happy enough with water,we'd not bought him a new harness and lead from the local,posh and very expensive pet shop and walked him too far (he's a staffie so needs more than a trip round the block)

we had taken him to places she wouldn't have dreamed of for lovely walks and he seemed to enjoy himself

I was fuming-wed really worked hard to make him happy and well looked after,but didn't say a word to her as she was leaving and I was that angry,i would have slapped her

Thankfully all my colleagues stood by me as she was known to be a cf and lots didn't agree with how she fed or treated him (she's not abusive but her bar is very low)

Didn't hear a thing once she'd left work-until a year later-she popped back up and wanted us to have him again for the same week

I'm afraid I took great pleasure in saying 'no,our care wasnt good enough for him last time we had him'

Never heard a thing back from her

I'd be telling this woman she owes you for the dog care (my one regret is I didnt) minus the price of the posh dog food

Please don't even get her the food.

It's just stunning to me that she will come out of this ahead, except for the fact that she has revealed herself as a CF. She didn't have to pay to board her dog and now she's getting a couple of tins of fancy dog food for free. The injustice of it all! 😱

Why would you though?

Mary is not a friend. What a cheek! I would give her the tins and never speak again.

This

She totally thinks you decided to feed your dog her food deliberately while giving her precious darling your "cheap" food! Because you hadn't mentioned it at handover she's obviously decided you did it deliberately and deceitfully.

Depending on how long you want the situation to go on for, you could always type up an invoice:

• Cost of SMDD (School Mum Darling Dog)'s food that my dog ate - £(5)
• Cost of my dog's food that SMDD ate - £2.50
• Net - £(2.50)
• Add: overnight kennel fee - £25 per night x 7 nights = £175
• Total due = £172.50

Add a note on the bottom - "100% discounts available to those that are actually appreciative of someone jumping in to help in an emergency".

P.S. I could never do it and in reality would begrudgingly give her half the amount of tins requested, in front of everyone in the playground along with a "it's only two tins though - seeing as your dog ate some of my food too, it seems fair" then make sure you tell "Mary" what's happened. Something tells me the news might spread quite quickly if told to the right person...