Student agrees to dog-sit for his teacher while he and his wife are away, and he needs a straight answer: is this actually weird?

Ayala Sorotsky • Writer and Editor

Sep 14, 2026 11:30 AM EDT

Teachers are people too, and they love and care for their dogs just like any other dog person.

Having said that obvious thing, because every person who has ever raised a doggo child knows that their dog is the best, most impawrtant thing in their lives - we have to talk about the elephant in the classroom. It's not for nothing that phrases like "power dynamics" or "authority relationship" exist. They describe something many people feel about a strange dynamic, at the minimum, between a figure of authority and their subordinate. In this case, a teacher and his 9th-grade student.

But here, in this specific case, the awareness is impressive, in our humble opinion, because it comes from the student. u/ThatPersonSol is the 9th-grade student asking: Is it too weird if he's going to be his teacher's dog sitter? Let's put a pin in this important question and try to explain, to the best of our ability, a side point every dog pawrent has to grapple with - sometimes it's extremely hard to find a good dog sitter for our doggo children. And when you're away, you want nothing but the best for your beloved dogs who stay at home.

We know firsthand how tough it can be, as many of us here are dog pawrents ourselves. Last-minute cancellations, overpricing, and various ludicrous conditions leave dog pawrents with no secure solutions for their dogs when they're away. And some other people's horror stories of dog sitters who left the house in ruins make it very hard to trust a new person you don't know. So our question, in turn, is: Is the teacher, in his situation, really to blame for turning to his students for help, as a last resort, because he cares for his dogs' well-being?

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A teacher in front of a high school class, asking the students a question in a more casual manner, leaning on a table.
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A teenage boy is sitting next to a yellow Labrador on the grass in a park.
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For any of us who grew up in a small town, it's very relatable. There are literally so few people that you don't take your broken car to the mechanic; you take it “to George” because he's the only one in town. You don't deliberate between going to the grocery store or the supermarket; you buy your things “at Mathilda's” because her shop is the only one. And at other times, with other needs, you don't even have the necessary service, and you find yourself driving a few towns over to get what you need.
And that's more or less where these teacher and student live, it seems.
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