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.

Bill her for dog sitting. Don't sit for her again and if she asks tell her why.

Ignore the cheeky fucker and don’t ever offer to do her a favour again.

I did a similar favour for a school mum who was a single parent and said she couldn’t find a dog sitter for a holiday she’d booked. I knew she was struggling so offered to have the dog for the week. Her dog got on well with mine. However, she was a complete pain in the arse, not really trained and chewed furniture and scratched at the doors. My DH even had to sleep downstairs on the sofa to keep the silly dog company as she would howl and scratch at the doors otherwise. When the mum got back she said thanks and gave me a cheap box of chocolates and that was it. Thing is, she’s also my hairdresser so a free or discounted cut/blow dry would have been a nice gesture. 😂

Sadly, I don’t think she was that bothered about the dog because she had it re-homed within about a month after returning from holiday. 😢

Silly cow I'd just say " I did you a massive favour saving you hundred of £ and this is the thanks I get?"
I'd be wary of shit stirring Susan from now on too
Hold your head up high and ignore
She's literally bitten the hand that feeds

Fuuuck….. her name would be mud in the schoolyard faster than lightning for this kind of shit. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you - or your dog, rather. What an idiot.

I would do this too. Along with a comment about how sad you are that you obviously won't be looking after little Oscar again because he was good as gold (or similar).

I also don't think the mum who told Mary was trying to make trouble.

Of course she was; otherwise how would this even come up in conversation?

To be fair, you were out of order allowing her dog to eat your dog's food - you could've made it ill, a sudden change of food is not ideal.

But on balance your friend is being an ungrateful cow so I'd be handing her an invoice for full dog sitting services, minus the cost of 4 tins of her food.

To be fair to her she did have something else arranged but it fell through last minute. And yeah I personally would not leave my dog with a stranger. BUT just cause you’re not being payed it doesn’t mean you should compromise the health of the dog.
”If you didn’t want your dog to eat the 3kg of chocolate I left lying on the floor then you should’ve paid for a professional” - would this be statement you would make? As anyone with dogs knows, there’s plenty of things a dog will want to eat that it shouldn’t and you have to take steps to stop it from happening.
I agree with OP that the person is being unreasonable, just trying to explain why you should be careful what you feed dogs.

It does sound as if she thinks it was done deliberately.

Op said that she'd look after the dog for nothing & that's on her.

We've looked after dogs here & there feed them separately to ours with the food that's given.

I would have thought that was basic care, whether you're getting paid or not!

I'd be handing her 4 tins and a bill for boarding the dog!

Ooh difficult one. I do understand that the dogs wanted eachother's food as they do but if I was looking after someone's dog I would make sure my dog couldn't get at their food and vice versa.
My dog gets an upset tummy with non grain free food so wouldn't be pleased if I'd provided food then found out he'd been eating supermarket stuff all week.
Really it was your decision to let your dog have her food but she had provided them for her dog not yours so she probably sees it as that food's been wasted.

BUT you have done her a big favour so if it was me I would let this one go rather than make things unpleasant.

If she's asking for the food to be replaced I think you should, but it's a shame because your friendship probably won't be the same again

Of course your other "friend" is a shit stirrer, only one reason why she told her that.
I'd tell your friend as well that you'll give her the tins when she pays you boarding fees for her dog as you did her a favour.

You could give her the difference between the prices but I'd give her the money and be done with her.

Wonder why the original dogssitter cancelled ..... 😏

What twattish behaviour from an ungrateful cow.

Give her the tins with a dog sitting invoice attached! Cheeky cow has now lost out on any future favours!

It sounds like she thinks you gave your dog the good stuff on purpose. I think the women at the gate, gave her the wrong idea. I would point out that you saved her money, dogs are like kids they want the others food. And point out that you will not be helping her again.

If you do decide to give her any money I echo the suggestion to hive her it in small change 😄

I would just go back and say Hi Mary, been thinking, I don’t believe I owe you anything. Your dog chose to eat my dogs food, leaving my dog with yours. That’s not my fault. I have also saved you a considerable sum in boarding fees as I did not ask for anything. However if you insist I buy you food, then I will need recompense for looking after your dog. Obviously after this I will not be in a position to do this again for you

Is this real?

If so, I would lie and tell her it happened once.

And never ever do her a favour ever again.

Stupid woman. Shooting herself in the foot like that.

Write out an invoice for her.

7 nights dog sitting @ £40 per night: £280
minus 4 tins posh pup dog food: -£40

Total now due £240

All fees must be paid within week of invoice by bacs or bank transfer.

Mary sounds awful! I wouldn’t give her anything in regards to the tins of food. She’d then think she’s justified and will probably spin the story that you were in the wrong and replaced the tins to ‘make amends’. I’d cut that friendship off and if she ever mentions the food I’d tell her exactly where to go. Ungrateful weirdo. I’ve just boarded my dog for my recent holiday and it cost me over £400. My dog eats expensive food and if the owner had told me the same story, I would have laughed.

This

Tell her to fook off

Don’t give her a penny! Tell her she’s a cf and you haven’t charged for petrol or other costs of your time. What a cow.

As pp have said, hand her a fully itemised invoice for dog-sitting services at the standard professional rate, minus the cost of her dog food that your dog ate, but plus the corresponding cost of your dog food that her dog ate. And steer clear of the schoolgate tattletale who clyped on you!

I'd tell her no, and that your assuming she doesn't need your free help again.

I'd ignore her. If she brings it up again, I'd reiterate that you fed the dogs at the same time and naturally they were both curious about the new-to-them food and sampled it, but that was all. I'd remind her that you saved her a lot of money by caring for her dog, then leave it at that. If she isn't as friendly from now on, that's too bad, but it's not your fault that she's an idiot. And of course, I would never do her another favour again.