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Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

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Boourns
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Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by Boourns »

So here's a weird situation. Feel free to chime in, but mostly just sharing because it's kind of strange.

We have a late 20-something kid who comes over and lets our dog out a few days a week. He seems to make a side business out of it. He's GREAT with our dog, who is a 2-year-old lab/shepherd (I think) mix. He's there half an hour, takes the dog on walks, and plays with him. He sends us numerous pics every day. We love how he plays with the dog, and he's cheap.

However, we have noticed about half a dozen times on days he comes over that the water supply valve to the toilet in our second bathroom has been shut off. I'm talking about the little valve on the pipe that comes out of the wall and feeds the toilet:

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Cutting a long story short, I am positive that the dog walker is the one turning off the water. My wife is VERY creeped out. I am less so, but it's still weird. I have no problem with him using our bathroom -- although it seems pretty simple to plan around -- but why would you turn off the water to the toilet 6+ times and NOT tell the owner of the house?

My only guess is that he's using the bathroom and thinks the toilet is going to overflow. When we moved in, I replaced the filler part of the toilet because the old one was very loud and kinda spooked my son. I adjusted the new one to fill slowly in order to be quieter, but this means it fills for longer than usual. Doing this once and not saying anything I get. Half a dozen times without saying anything is strange to me. I'd say something.

My wife wants to find a new dog walker. She's creeped out mostly by the fact he has never mentioned it. I think I should just ask the guy about it, and I almost have her convinced that we might as well to see what he has to say. How would you guys handle it?
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recapt
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by recapt »

That is really strange. I think you should ask him about it, but do so one-on-one without your wife or anyone else involved. And obviously approach him with a tone of curiosity as opposed to accusation (which I’m sure you would naturally).

There is most likely a harmless explanation but you will learn a lot by the way he responds to the question.
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by MoT »

recapt wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 9:24 am That is really strange. I think you should ask him about it, but do so one-on-one without your wife or anyone else involved. And obviously approach him with a tone of curiosity as opposed to accusation (which I’m sure you would naturally).

There is most likely a harmless explanation but you will learn a lot by the way he responds to the question.
I echo this.

Ask him one on one, Mrs.Boourns is "creeped out" so she may get accusatory without meaning to. I'm sure the explanation is close if not exactly what you're assuming.
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by Sussa »

Talk to him. At least give the guy a chance to explain himself before taking away some of his income. You're probably on the right track - the toilet runs longer than someone might expect and he shuts it off to avoid overflowing. I see a few possible reasons he hasn't mentioned it: 1) He's not sure you're cool with him using the toilet and doesn't want to draw attention to it. 2) He thinks it's something he's doing wrong and doesn't want to lose bathroom privileges. 3) He thinks it's impolite to tell someone part of their house is broken. 3b) He thinks you'll think he broke it.

Sometimes the people who are really great with dogs are not so great with people :lol:
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by Stretch44 »

I agree with all of the above responses. I am also intrigued to see how this plays out...
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by watchpalooza »

So first you coat the shut off valve in vaseline, then you place a 9V battery behind the toilet and run wires from each terminal, connect the + to the valve and the - to the... No, just kidding, agree with the advice from [mention]recapt[/mention]
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cairoanan
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by cairoanan »

Maybe he drains the water so the dog doesn’t drink from the toilet?
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by watchpalooza »

I assume you have checked the tank, right? Some people have been known to hide drugs in the tank or tank lid...would make sense to shut off the water to retrieve something. Just a thought...

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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by cortman »

That's really odd and kind of funny lol. My guess is that it's 100% he thinks the toilet's just going to keep flowing and flowing, and doesn't want to risk it, but it's a little awkward to bring up in conversation. I'd definitely ask him pleasantly about it. If he denies it, that's when it might start to get creepy.
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by cheesetime »

Weird! You had me sucked in immediately after reading the title. "Where could this be going?" I thought to myself. "What kind of situation is this dog walker getting themselves into?"

The answer, while not what I would have guessed, is certainly weird.

On the approach, I ditto everyone above.
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by Boourns »

Well the situation has resolved. As was my instinct (and your guys' advice) I just asked him. Turns out my guess was spot on: He said it seemed like the toilet was running too long, and he didn't want it to flood after he left. So he shut off the water and forgot to tell me about it. I'm not not sure how you can forget like half a dozen times, but I'm not bothered -- I think maybe he was a little embarrassed. I told him not to worry about it, and everything is cool now.

Just an example of Occam's razor I suppose. Sorry if the resolution is a let down to anyone :lol:
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by pdsf »

Just saw this read. Glad to hear the situation has been resolved, although I was half hoping it was the drug scenario, and you go steal his stash, sell it, get a nice watch (38mm please), and show it off on the New Watch thread...oh wait, you might get into trouble with the drug gangs like those folks on TV...
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

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pdsf wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 6:50 pm Just saw this read. Glad to hear the situation has been resolved, although I was half hoping it was the drug scenario, and you go steal his stash, sell it, get a nice watch (38mm please), and show it off on the New Watch thread...oh wait, you might get into trouble with the drug gangs like those folks on TV...
lol I did mean to add, in response to [mention]watchpalooza[/mention]’s post, that I did check the tank. Not to check for drugs, but in the initial diagnosis of the problem a month or so ago. Once I opened it and saw the tank was empty but the stopper looked OK and chain was connected I realized it was just that the water had been turned off.
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Re: Weird situation with dog walker & toilet

Post by NapoleonDynamite »

Best post I've read in while. Hahaha.

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