If you liked dogs and your neighbor had a dog, would you agree to dog sit while she went on vacation? What would you do if she returned home but never came over to get her dog back? Would you keep watching the dog, or would you take the dog home?

In this story, one man is in this situation, and he ends up watching the dog for almost half a year. At that point he thought the dog was basically his. Now that his neighbor finally wants the dog back, he’s not sure what to do.

Let’s read the whole story.

AITAH for assuming my neighbor abandoned her dog and wanting compensation for the 6 months I cared for it believing it was now mine?

My neighbor and I have always had a pretty nice relationship. Not necessarily close just always in good terms.

I used to live with my ex and our small dog prior to a break up and my ex would work from home.

My neighbor has a small dog whom she had often left outside for hours.

I live in TX so the heat/sun was always blazing. The dog would even be left out as she would leave the home to run errands.

His ex had a suggestion.

The neighbors dog, G, would sneak into our yard and play with our dog pretty often.

Eventually after returning her back to the neighbor several times, my ex who had a friendlier relationship with her had suggested that she could hangout with the dog during work hours so she wouldn’t have to be left out. This would happen pretty often and it was nice company for our dog at the time.

Gradually G would begin staying more often and often.

Things changed in the Spring.

Well at the end of the Spring my ex and I had broken up and she had taken the dog we jointly owned.

Also around this time, G had started staying with me pretty much permanently as my neighbor was getting married, has 5 kids and was moving to Georgia so she was quite literally in and out at random throughout the summer.

The last time she had formally asked me if I could watch G was in June and said they would be back in a week.

I didn’t mind at all as I had grown to like G and it was easier on the dog than having her dragged around.

She doesn’t seem in a rush to get her dog back.

Despite my neighbor returning, she never came for the dog.

At times when her kids would try and knock on my door for the dog, my neighbor would tell them to stop as having the dog “made things harder to manage”.

She texted maybe twice up until yesterday about the dog, the last time being in July where in reality she texted asking about the dog under the guise of asking if I could hold some packages for her as it was going to rain.

G has basically moved into his house permanently.

So since then, I took it upon myself to care for G.

This meant grooming, scheduled feeding, exercise and overall great care. I’ve always thought pets should be spoiled.

There was no agreement about eventually getting the dog back, the arrangement being temporary or anything like that.

She had said she would love to give me the dog fully if her youngest child wasn’t so attached as G was a divorce soothing gift.

NOW she wants the dog back.

Yesterday she contacted me saying she was very grateful and appreciated me watching G this whole time but that her new husband would be taking G back with him to Georgia on the 8th of November.

After some back and forth clarifying that there was no indication of Gs stay being temporary and the lack of communication and contributions to any of the necessities, as G was left with no bowls, food, grooming supplies or anything, just the pet by itself, that it had appeared as if G was staying as the children began to be distanced from her.

I never wanted to or intended to separate kids from a pet but G would often run away from the youngest child and bark at them.

He watched the dog for a VERY long time.

However give it’s been over 5 months, 167 days to be exact, and I had cared for the pet entirely on my own.

I agreed that if she was certain about wanting the dog back that I would want partial compensation for at least the exact amount as all the supply costs.

The local boarding rates are on average $59 and for the stay alone would have totaled about 10k. I hadn’t even thought of asking for this amount yet I felt at least 33% was fair as it seemed ridiculous to silently assume the arrangement was mutually agreed to temporary when my neighbor never stated anything beyond can you watch her for a week and then never gave her back.

The neighbor doesn’t want to pay him for watching her dog.

She says that she thought I really enjoyed having her and she could have came back to her at any time if I felt forced to watch her.

It is not about the money. Beyond the negligence for her pet, it’s an utter disregard for the time spent caring for her.

She offered 350$ and I have yet to respond as the 33% would be around 3500. And even that seems incredibly low for such a sweet pet.

I would gladly take full financial responsibility and let any sort of compensation go if it meant being able to continue caring for the dog.

He feels like his neighbor took advantage of his generosity.

Part of me feels bad for the children as I know they don’t understand and neither does the dog, but I also refuse to let someone feel like they can deposit their pet somewhere for months to handle their business stress free and not even check in once a week.

The dog was not taken to the vet by her and I believe she was purchased secondhand from an unlicensed breeder so I don’t believe there is any documentation for her. For what it’s worth.

I feel bad for the dog. It basically moved in with him, and it sounds like the dog was happy there. Now, the dog’s whole live is going to be different.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person thinks the dog is his now.

Here’s another vote for keeping the dog.

Another person suggests taking the dog to the vet.

If he asks for $10,000, she probably won’t want the dog back.

Looks like he got himself a dog!

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.