My friend asked me to watch her new dog for four nights because she is going on vacation with her boyfriend. They adopted the dog a few months ago. The dog is deathly afraid of the train so they can’t take her to the bf’s parents’ house to watch her and it seems like they don’t want to spend money on an Uber. My friend said she doesn’t trust her own parents to watch her and her brother doesn’t care enough. They live right down the street from her. So they are asking me.
I live with my dog in a small apartment. He is 12 lbs, my friend’s dog is 45 lbs. I am not comfortable with bringing a new dog into an apartment that my dog only met once (briefly) outside. I have no idea how this dog reacts with other dogs when it comes to food, toys, etc. if she is house trained, on and on.
Tbh I am afraid of my friend and speaking up because she is so snarky and nasty all of the time. I don’t want her to get mad at me or say something that will make me feel bad, like make fun of my dog. So I am trying to figure out how to say “no” without coming across as rude.
I also don’t want to leave my answer open for any interpretation – “No, I am not free that weekend” because then what if she moves her vacation to a weekend so I can do it. Things like that.
I always feel the need to over-explain myself when I am saying “no” to someone.
TL;DR My friend asked me to watch her dog and I don’t want to. Is there a polite way of saying no without going into details?