Dear Prudence,
My brother is in a committed relationship and owns a home with his partner. I love my brother’s dog, but I don’t love his partner’s high-maintenance cats or the home’s elaborate landscaping.
When my brother asks me to sit at his place for a few days, he pays me and stocks the fridge for me, but I love this dog and would do the job for free. But my brother’s partner doesn’t pay me to follow intricate procedures for the cats or spend 20 minutes every evening with a garden hose watering each plant around the yard. We’re polite to each other but we are not friends; I don’t like them, they don’t like me, but we can keep up a truce because we both love my brother. Also, the partner keeps giving me notes and feedback on top of their complicated but vague instructions, which makes me feel bad because I’m trying my best. I don’t want to bother my brother, but is there a tactful way to ask his partner to (1) pay me for my effort, (2) lower their standards, or (3) hire someone else?
—Just Here for the Dog