Izabelle Krystelle6 months agoI’m a 41-year-old woman, and my husband (49) and I have been married for 15 years. Seven years ago, we adopted two dogs from a shelter—both mixed breeds. I know I’m probably going to get judged for this, but my husband and our kids love animals, while I don’t. I don’t have anything against people who love pets, and I understand it’s good for the kids to learn responsibility, so after a lot of pressure, I agreed to take them in. I made it clear from the start that I would not take on the responsibility of caring for them, because I have enough on my plate. My husband, who’s a stay-at-home dad, agreed to handle their care. For the last seven years, these dogs have been a constant nuisance. They frequently urinate and defecate somewhere in the house, almost daily. We live in a warm climate with tile floors throughout, so cleaning it up is easy, but it’s incredibly frustrating. Even though my husband and kids walk the dogs three times a day, and the dogs sometimes go outside, they still regularly have accidents inside. They never signal when they need to go out—if they need to relieve themselves, they just do it in the house. The situation has become so intolerable that it’s getting harder for me to keep my frustration in check. Since the dogs aren’t house-trained, they’re crate-trained. We have a large crate with two dog beds, and they sleep there (even with the door open). If we let them roam the house unsupervised, they will inevitably make a mess everywhere. So, the rule is that all doors must be closed before letting them out of the crate. This rule was implemented after one of the dogs defecated and urinated on my son’s pillow. When they aren’t in the crate, they must first be walked outside and closely monitored. We’ve had to get rid of every rug in the house because the dogs ruined them, and we can’t leave food out on the counter without the dogs jumping up and eating it. It’s a nightmare. For the past two months, one of the dogs has been barking non-stop at night. My husband says she’s barking at a mouse, but the only thing that calms her is him. So for the last two months, he’s been letting them out of the crate at night and sleeping on the couch with the dogs. Neither of us wants this. We did have a mouse, but it was caught in a trap a week ago. We thought this would stop the barking, but instead of barking, both dogs now whine loudly until my husband gets up, comforts them, and they stop. This has been disrupting everyone’s sleep, and of course, the dogs are still making messes around the house at night. I didn’t grow up with pets, and I don’t know what to do about their behavior, but this is starting to cause serious issues in our marriage. My husband, who grew up with pets and begged me to adopt these dogs, hasn’t come up with any solutions. I run two businesses and work long hours. I’m just so tired—tired of the barking, the messes, and the smells. Tired of never being able to eat in peace or walk across a rug. I’m at a point where I’d rather live alone in an apartment than wake up to another pile of dog feces on the bathroom floor. I told my husband that I don’t think it’s right to rehome the dogs (it would be cruel), but I will never agree to have pets again in the future. I’m really at my breaking point and would appreciate any advice.3631
Izabelle KrystelleIzabelle Krystelle