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Is there a reason why you can't look at the dog? She isn't a stranger, she is your landlord in which you rent from. And you don't have to drive or anything right? Just go out your door and check on her dog?
I believe the intent of his words where "Iam not comfortable creating a peronsal realtionship"
Either way, just tell them no.
Don't beat around the bush or tell white lies to avoid the truth.
Personally, I also don't like to get close to my landlord or my neighbors. I think this was an inappropriate request of a stranger, and of a tenant as well. Landlord should have called a friend, etc. Just think, what did this person do regarding emergencies, etc., before they met you? Why are YOU the one they are calling now? Just tell yourself this is a grown person who has dealt with their own personal problems for many, many years, before they met you - and they can just do whatever has worked for them in the past - before they met you. If they've burned all their bridges and burned out all their friends and relatives with their problems and requests, that's not your problem.
How I would handle it, after having dealt with intrusive landlords and neighbors, is to not answer the phone. Just don't answer the phone, don't be available. If the landlord ever confronts you in person about why you didn't respond, just say something like, "Oh, sorry, I wasn't available." And never be available. This is the only way to "train" people that they can't use you as their personal servants/taxis/helpers/secretaries/dog sitters, etc., etc., etc.
I call it being "blonde." Just look confused and say, "Oh, I wasn't available." If they flat out ask you to do something say, "Oh, sorry, I'm not available to do that." If you just keep repeating that like a broken record - and don't come up with any type of excuse they can then start trying to blow holes in - you should be good. You don't have to explain what you are doing that makes you unavailable. Don't go there. If they ask you flat out, "Why aren't you available?" Just say, "I'm sorry, I'm just not available."
They'll give up. Hmmm, wonder why the last tenant left?
I see many are upset about the tenant not wanting to go check on the LL's dying dog. I get that on some level...But, I question, more to the point....if the LL's dog was so close to death, why did they even leave the poor animal there alone to suffer. After all, it is/was their dog.
I see many are upset about the tenant not wanting to go check on the LL's dying dog. I get that on some level...But, I question, more to the point....if the LL's dog was so close to death, why did they even leave the poor animal there alone to suffer. After all, it is/was their dog.
Maybe they asked because the tenant, who admittedly lives on the same freaking property as the landlord, is the closest person to run in and check on the dog's status. Trust me when I say that when a person is dealing with the emotions of having to put a beloved pet to sleep, common sense and rational thought are not necessarily at the forefront of the person's mind. Geez. I had no interest in developing personal relationships with my LLs or neighbors, and even I wouldn't have been so cold as to ignore a request like that.
The problem is, today it's the dog, tomorrow it's something else. It's that person who feels responsible to "help" who ends up being a "sucker." I learned this the hard way, and especially recently at my last senior apartment building. Wanting to be "kind" and "helpful" and the next thing I knew I was everyone's taxi, dog-sitter, yatta yatta. You're just way better off never saying yes in the first place.
People who ask for favors like, "will you go check on my dog," are not the kind of people to stop at that one request. In my experience.
If I was the landlord, my first thought would not be to ask my new tenant in my backyard to go check on my dog. I might ask the tenant to see if my house is on fire because I think I left the stove on - because the tenant was right there. But, a personal chore or favor? That's crossing the line. IMO.
The problem is, today it's the dog, tomorrow it's something else. .
Only in YOUR experience. Perish the day when something happens to you or your dog and for whatever reason you need a favor from a neighbor or a landlord. Good luck with that.
Only in YOUR experience. Perish the day when something happens to you or your dog and for whatever reason you need a favor from a neighbor or a landlord. Good luck with that.
Exactly! Don't expect your neighbors to come to your aid for anything if you can't be decent and human enough to lend a hand. Good grief...what happened to being neighborly?
We rent a modular home on the back half of the owner's property. Today she called me and asked me to go check on her elderly dog while she is at work until she can get a hold of the vet to have her put down. She is a stranger to me. I try to only have contact with her when I pay the rent or need a repair. I worry that if I tell her no she will make the next 8 months until our lease is up hell. Any suggestions?
This is the original post....Most of us can relate to the loss of a pet, it is tragic...I personally would have gone and checked on the dog .....if I knew the dog. I cannot imagine having to ask this of someone that you have a business arrangement with, as the OP has described.
But, the point of the OP's question is being ignored because folks are very emotional about the fact it was a request to check on a dying dog....
I wonder what the responses might have been, had the OP said the LL called and asked her to go into her house and check on her plants, or her roast...or her mom.
Leaving emotions out of it, my response would be the same to the OP's post....
Bottom line, I feel very sorry for this poor dog, that the owner was so ill prepared for such a tragic event, however she planned for the Vet to come to her home so there was some preparation made. This is something you would ask of a friend, a known neighbor...someone the dog has a relationship with.....Someone that you know would actually comfort the poor dog....just a sad situation all around.
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