My husband won't get rid of our dog 🙄
I hate the term "get rid of" but "adopt out" seemed too confusing. I really need some input here. Let me start with a little back story. My husband and his ex wife had two dogs, both of which he was really attached to. When they divorced, he had to get rid of them and he was devastated. Fast forward one year to when we met. We had been together about one year when I decided that we could get a dog because I knew he was really missing his previous dog. We ended up getting a girl named Chai. She was a rescue and she had SUCH bad separation anxiety. We tried everything we could and eventually got a puppy to help her and surprisingly, it really calmed her down. His name was Sheldon. Mind you...I was ADAMANT about not getting a puppy (I wanted an adult) because I knew we didn't have time to train it and really "raise" it. He pushed and pushed at the adoption center and I caved. That was my fault. Anyways, Chai and Sheldon were really close but unfortunately, my husband did not train him or establish boundaries. He begged me to let him sleep in our bed at EIGHT WEEKS OLD. Like he had no idea how to raise this puppy responsibly. I took over as much as I could but it became a train wreck. Sheldon eventually became aggressive and we gave him back to the agency. He resented me for it but at the end of the day, he was not being treated right and living his best life here. We kept the rescue because she's been through SO much and we really are just in love with her. So...we get rid of Sheldon and my husband starts complaining that Chai is too attached to me and he wants a dog for "him". I'm a little irritated because dogs aren't possessions like that, they are family. We tried to have two dogs and it didn't work. 6 months later, a lady at his job introduces him to her pitbull, Mello. She said he was going to the shelter that night because she had to leave town suddenly. Sketch, right? Whatever. Long story short, I was guilt tripped into having Mello. I figured we could try again. My job ended up changing hours and our dogs are now in the kennel 13 hours a day. I KNEW this wasn't okay but I've been scared to bring it up to him because he gets so emotional. He doesn't walk them, he doesn't appropriately train them, he just lets them run wild or locks them up in the kennel when he doesn't want to deal with them. Chai is so calm, she is fine in this new situation. Mello just is not. He's SO hyperactive. He's 70 lbs and plows through any baby gate/door and WONT STOP BARKING. We have had 6 bark collars. It doesn't matter. He's just overall too much and incredibly too active for what we can provide. I told my husband the day we got him that this wasn't a good idea. I have tried to adopt him out but my husband gets so explosive. At this point, he's in the kennel 13 hours a day and literally just scream-barks all day. He's probably going insane in there and it's not okay. So yesterday, I told my husband we need to adopt him out and just keep Chai. We don't need a revolving door and Mello needs someone who has more time. I put my foot down. He explodes but I stand firm. He proceeded to guilt trip me and tell me he resented me all night last night. So today, I did tell him I would be willing to work things out. However, I kept talking to this lady who seems to be a great fit. He found out and we had another explosive argument. I was wrong for continuing to try to adopt him after I said we wouldn't but I feel so backed into a corner. We don't need all of these dogs. It's not healthy for them. It's like...I'm responsible enough to realize that keeping him kenneled for so long and not having the space for him isn't okay and I'm getting the shit end of the stick. Any input ladies? it's getting out of hand.
Notes:
- We have looked for dog walkers and we can't afford that right now.
- We have a fenced in back yard JUST because of him but he digs his way out
Achieve your health goals from period to parenting.