Mum fumes as dog sitter ‘hires’ person to walk her pooch and she’s expected to pay both

A woman has been left perplexed after learning she is expected to pay for the dog walker her friend hired – despite the fact she had been paying her pal to act as a dog sitter

If you’re going away but can’t take your dog, you might find yourself in a predicament. While some pets are happy to stay in kennels, others hate the experience. Such was the case for one woman who was travelling abroad for a wedding, but did not want to leave her deaf dog in a kennel.

Thankfully, the owner thought she had found a perfect solution when a friend volunteered to “dog-sit”. But what sounded like a simple fix soon turned into a complicated arrangement, when the friend realised she might have to cancel, just weeks before the big day.

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Hoping to ease matters over, the owner offered to pay her friend for her time – something she was happy to do until it transpired her pal needed a dog walker, and she was expected to pay.

Taking to Mumsnet to share her frustration, the mum explained her friend has reasons for needing a helping hand but that she been left in an impossible situation.

Her post started by detailing her arrangement with her friend. She wrote: “We have an elderly deaf dog who gets distressed in kennels, so when we were invited to attend a family wedding abroad we asked around to see if anyone we knew would dog-sit for a week.

“A friend who used to live nearby but moved away a few years ago, jumped at the chance to spend a week here and catch up with her old mates. We agreed to leave her a full fridge and wine in exchange for dog care.”

But, as the woman explained, she ended up having to pay her friend for her help.

“A couple of weeks before we were due to leave she called to say that her request to take the time off work as holiday had been denied and she’d have to take it as unpaid leave. She works part-time and isn’t very well off,” she said.

Her post continued: “She wasn’t sure she could afford to come if it meant she wouldn’t be paid, so we ended up agreeing that I’d pay her £250 plus petrol money. She arrived as planned and we went off on our trip. She sent photos each day of the dog out and about on various walks.”

However, an unforeseen accident caused a further complication. The mum explained: “When we got back we discovered that the day after we left she’d tripped over a tree root on a footpath and injured her back. She could barely move, so one of her local friends, whom we know by sight, had looked after her and the dog. Fortunately she was feeling a lot better and was able to drive herself home.

“I didn’t think any more about it until earlier today when I bumped into the woman who’d helped out. I thanked her. She said she was glad she’d been available to come to the rescue and then said something about her rate for dog-walking being £20 a hour. I was a bit thrown and said she’d be the first person we’d call if we needed a dog-walker in future. She didn’t look happy and said something about not normally offering freebies.”

As a result, the dog owner has been left in a difficult situation, and she been left at a loss as to what she should do.

Her post concluded: “I don’t know what to do. On the one hand it doesn’t feel fair that we pay twice. They didn’t even let us know there was an issue. On the other hand this is a village and it won’t take long for word of how mean and thoughtless we are to do the rounds.

“Do we need to pay the woman who stepped in to help? If so, how much would you offer?”

Unfortunately, responders were divided about the best approach to take.

One person wrote: “Your friend pays her friend – she is the one who hired her services. I’m self employed – if I can’t provide the service I’m paid for, I have to send cover in my place….I pay for that cover, I don’t charge the client.”

But another said: “Yes she isn’t a charity and you owe her for dog walking services and you pay her whatever her rates are.”

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