'AITA if I ask my dog walker to contribute to emergency veterinary bills?' UPDATED 2X

"WIBTA to ask my dog walker to contribute to emergency vet bills?"

Hi AITA,

I have a 5 year old cardigan corgi. He’s an absolute unit, and as my friends say, he’s high in strength/constitution and low in intelligence/wisdom. He often tries to eat things that aren’t safe for him.

I live alone and hired a dog walker I found on Rover to visit him once a day during the work week. Instead of going through the app, I agreed to pay her in cash. She’s generally been great. But, we’ve had a few mishaps like her not telling me when my dog ate and tore up a wooden hand fan. I’ve given her the benefit of the doubt because my dog loves her and enjoys his walks with her.

Last night, my dog vomited up five or so partially chewed, large, bright-orange seeds. They are from the coontie plant and are in the same family as sago palms, which can be fatally toxic to dogs even in small amounts. Unfortunately, they are part of the landscape in my “dog-friendly” apartment complex. I decided not to wait it out and took my dog to the emergency vet.

They admitted him to critical care because the risk of him deteriorating was so high, even though he was in good spirits when I left him. I messaged my dog walker to let her know what happened, and she insists she never saw him eat the seeds and that she tries to prevent him from eating things on the ground.

I know he did not eat the seeds on my watch, because I exclusively took him to the turf-only dog park yesterday, which isn’t near the toxic plants. This emergency vet visit is costing thousands of dollars. I haven’t brought up the cost to her yet, but WIBTA to request that she contributes to this huge expense?

I get it’s my dog, but also I have never let this happen on my watch. I understand it was likely an honest mistake, but also I feel as though it’s really irresponsible to let someone’s dog eat random things off the ground, especially if you aren’t paying close attention.

The internet did NOT hold back one bit.

throwaway9932s wrote:

As a dog walker I can definitively say that the dog walker f--ked up by letting the dog eat something and not telling you. That doesn’t mean they should be on the hook financially. This very well could have happened with you too.

A good thing to keep in mind is that whole your dog may be super responsive to your commands, the same might not apply to dog walkers. I have some situations where the owners are confused as to how well and responsive their dog is around me, for others the opposite is true. It takes time for dogs to build that trust relationship.

Yes absolutely they should have told you but also, this is a risk you take owning a dog. They eat s--t they shouldn’t and do things they shouldn’t. You have a 1-4 year old toddler depending on the time of day. They got a mind of their own. Since you already know the verdict, here’s my advice on picking a dog walker: Do a long doggo visit prior to hiring them.

Watch how they respond and interact. See how they give commands. I always recommend the owner set some traps for me. Ie walk past a puddle the doggo really wants to go in. Leave some bacon on the ground for me to walk past with, as I’m near the street throw their favourite toy into the street. All of these simulate real situations you may find the dog walker in.

Knowing how they respond to it and how the dog acts around them says more than anything. I stopped using rover because the site was filled with people with no experience on both sides. I work on word of mouth recommendations and have more than enough work given my current ability level.

owls_and_cardinals wrote:

YWBTA. This dog is your responsibility - including his quirks and lack of training around eating non-food items - and you really cannot say that she caused or partially caused this issue. You know your dog tends to eat harmful things, that's unfortunate but it sounds like he is at high risk to do it.

There is also ZERO chance that this ask would be successful; she would simply refuse, consider you an AH, and you would not have any legal standing to make her pay. So what would even be the point?

If this and other things make you feel doubtful that she's watching him closely or being truthful with you, so be it. You find a new dog walker and try harder to make it clear that you need to know if he eats anything inappropriate because of his history.

No_Glove_1575 wrote:

HAHA YTA YTA YTA. You have ZERO proof that she was negligent here, and you describe the dog as persistently having this bad behavior. Yet you CHOOSE to live in a complex with substances around that can be fatal to your pet - you assumed that risk.

You even stopped booking via the official service that may be able to help pay for things in case of an accident 🤣. Typical irresponsible pet owner where EVERYTHING that happens with their ill-trained animal is someone else’s fault. Grow up, and pay the bills yourself.

After receiving feedback, OP shared two updates.

Edit:

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I will absolutely accept that I would be TA if I asked my walker to contribute to my vet bills. I had several people in my life reach out and suggest I ask, hence this post.

I will not be asking her to pay. I will, however, invest in good pet insurance and will only pay dog walkers through Rover from now on.

I will clarify a few things for the sake of this post.

Yes, I pointed out the unsafe area.

Yes, she knows he will eat things off the ground, but she also knows he is trained and responsive to several commands including “leave it”, “drop it”, and “wait."

This plant is only in specific parts of the complex, which are easily avoidable.

Yes, multiple sources have confirmed this was a life-threatening situation for my dog due to what was ingested.

Edit Part 2: Electric Boogaloo —

Thank you AGAIN for everyone’s feedback. My Hoover of a dog is doing okay, his labs look good and hopefully he’s coming home soon.

A few more things I’ll add:

I will absolutely be investing in a muzzle.

like some of you have suggested, it might be worthwhile to invest in a more vetted walker (instead of Rover)

I am very blessed, and my low rider unit of a dog’s bills are paid (yes, by some of the very people who asked whether I was going to ask my current walker for compensation).

I walked my apartment complex’s property this morning. On the very far side of my building, there is a line of these palms that were apparently just trimmed, and there are huge piles of the seeds all lined up. Dog walker admitted to letting my Dyson Dog “sniff” the seeds, so 🤷‍♀️

It’s a moot point because there are lots of things I will do moving forward to prevent this from happening again (boy I’m dense, I genuinely don’t know why I didn’t think of a muzzle in the first place — I’ve used things like grazing muzzles for my horses before).

Medical scares and renewed agency are one hell of a drug.

I do want to say, I’ve truly been trying my best. I came here for feedback, and I got what I needed to move forward and keep my dumb dog safe. The internet gives me tough love, and even when it stings, I’m grateful.

I talked to the front office staff about the plants. If anything, maybe some signs can be posted.

The comments kept coming.

Le_Fancy_Me wrote:

I mean there is no way in any universe, app or not. That OP would be able to duck out on this bill. OP believes dogwalker is responsible. Dogwalker believes OP is responsible. OP has no evidence to suggest dogwalker is incorrect and they are correct. Only suspicions. Pets have eaten loads up stuff without their owners noticing. Seeds could move locations for a number of reasons.

Hell OP's dog could have even consumed poop/vomit from dog or another animal that contained those seeds. Who knows? Just because they suspect. Does not meant they are right to assume. And it certainly isn't enough to establish the dogwalker's guilt, let alone prove it. OP could be wrong about the when/where just as easily as the dogwalker.

They are going to just eat this bill. Potentially write to the people in charge of the complex explaining the situation and hopefully make a case for having these plants removed. If trust was broken with the dogwalker they can switch to someone else's services. That's pretty much as much as they are able to do moving forwards. They have no way to establish/prove blame.

FordT852 wrote:

That is tricky. I would say that yes you WBTA if you asked them to help cover. The reason is simple, you did not tell them not to walk the dog by those plants or to avoid that area. You said that they are everywhere where you are, so it is normal to see them and the walker may not have know they were poison to dogs.

Also dogs will eat something off the ground super fast (like a toddler that finds a piece of candy on the ground...that is in their mouth before you can blink and there is hardly a chance to get it out before they try to swallow it.

Just faster because they are a dog)and it is also very likely that they did not see the dog do it...but that also means that it could have happened on your watch regardless of how certain you are it did not.

Unless you told them specifically not to walk the dog in those areas and to avoid those plants then you cannot hold them responsible for the vet bill even partially. Just my thoughts.

makethatnoise wrote:

YTA. My parents had a large Rottweiler with aggression issues. they had to find a dog watcher who specifically worked with large dogs with aggressive tendencies. They cost significantly more, because they took on that risk. You need a new dog walker, not to hold this one responsible for something that's your dog's fault.