Do Your Dogs Stress Your Relationship?

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

I don't have a partner so no problems with what he thinks.

But my mum and my brother - ugh.

So we visit mum occasionally - but she's being more and more negative about me showing up with or without dog so I'm going to have to have a discussion (confrontation) about that. It's hard cos she's getting older and in our family, older tends to mean grumpier. Tho I've always been grumpy. I worry that something else might be going on despite no family history of dementia.

And with my brother - I leave the dog at home. But I still have to deal with his shit about how to train a dog.

[Dame Aussie]

Can't say my dogs have caused any issues. Could be due to the fact I've always been single and still am!! :D

Same here. I don't know how I'd manage if someone else was around, because I am pedantic to the nth degree about doors and gates which are always the biggest issue for me in terms of their safety.

I'm like this too. "Did you shut the gate?" "Shut the GATE!" :laugh: Luckily OH is just as paranoid as me!

[SkySoaringMagpie]

We don't "share" our dogs, if that makes sense. In our pack some dogs belong to OH and some belong to me. So the person to whom the dog belongs has the final say.

Yes, sometimes we get the shits with each other, but I think there is a basic mutual respect as far as each other's dog knowledge is concerned.

A lot of show people have commented that we are lucky that we both have the bug - I think this is true, it would be very hard if your partner wasn't a dog person but wanted a say.

And of course, if the dog wins something it is "our" dog, but if it vomits on the floor at 2am it's "YOUR dog". LOL! :laugh:

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Can't say my dogs have caused any issues. Could be due to the fact I've always been single and still am!! :D

Yep that's me too!!

[Jemmy]

Sometimes. Mainly if she's done something naughty for me and I vent to OH, and he says "she's not like that with me!". I just roll my eyes at him :)

[LisaCC]

I've been single since just after I got Nova (surprisingly with the nature of this thread, it's not related) no current plans to find anyone else. The two of us take up all the room on the couch anyway

Nova is very much a one person dog, now moved out housemates (again not related, they graduated ) and family can get frustrated that he doesn't listen to them. I've seen my old housemate who is experienced with working dogs, tell him to sit, or go to his bed, and he glares for a few seconds then does the exact opposite, like go lay in the kitchen. I swear if he had fingers he'd be flipping them off.

Doesn't help that they wouldn't let me intervene or listen to me when I tried to get them to do some basics with him so he would start listening to them. My mum is a dog person though and since she started listening to me, Nova followed suit and will now do as she says when she visits us or vice versa.

[Canisbellum]

I live alone so it's not a issue, the ex and I were pretty much on the same page about dogs so no problems in that regard. Anybody I get involved with in future will have to fit in with the dog situation and get the doggy seal of approval.

[Taliecat]

if the dog wins something it is "our" dog, but if it vomits on the floor at 2am it's "YOUR dog". LOL! :laugh:

Bahahaha, we're a bit of the same.

Dozer is the OHs dog, but all dog related decisions defer to me, just because I'm the crazy dog lady that spends hours reading DOL a day.

[HazyWal]

I've been single since I've had the greyhounds and it'll stay that way because a)I love being single and b)with two greyhounds in my bed at night there just aint no room at the inn. My ex was terribly jealous of my old boy, which just goes to show how pathetic he really was, and whilst he liked dogs he certainly didn't have the passion for them like I do. One day when we were going out I said to my old dog "love ya" which was always the last thing I said to him when leaving the house, still do it with the greys and he said "you never say that to me when you go out" I realised then it was time to venture out into the world alone and become the crazy dog lady...it's worked out well :D

[The Spotted Devil]

Mr TSD was well and truly tested by Willow and Dolly, my older cat (18) and dog (17), who are no longer with us. I figured he couldn't be too bad when I caught him and Dolly wrestling on "the good dog bed." I'm not sure who looked more guilty at breaking the "quiet dogs inside" rule but they both accused each other of starting it. Willow wouldn't have a bar of him for more than 6 months - every other visitor she was fine with but he'd turn up and she'd stalk to the back of the house and HOWL. One day I came home from work early to find the pair of them snuggled up together. Willow had finally relented. Nothing's changed and our cats and dogs have him wrapped around their little paws :D I make all the tough decisions and do all the training. He gets to just love them, remember what to feed them, keep separated as instructed and be super supportive of my dog sports. It really suits him as he thinks they're the best but is not organised or home enough to have a pet and take full responsibility on his own.

Now I get the tap on the shoulder when we're out: "I think we need to go. The cats will be wanting their supper."

Edited December 20, 2014 by The Spotted Devil

[Loving my Oldies]

I'm having a stressful relationship WITH my dogs. :cry:

[pebbles]

Oh boy, could write a book on this lol. We were separated for some years and it was great, just the dogs and me. Being kind hearted (read - stupid) he moved back in. Constant fights over the dogs, won't listen when I say don't share your food with them (and he's always snacking) so dogs' weight is an issue. He lets them get away with murder so there's the occasional dog fight as Mick is a bit food aggressive. Being told I'm always putting the dogs first (well that's one thing he has right lol) Not good with gates etc. Oh for the peace again!!!

[Malamum]

Our dogs are joint dogs and every decision made in regards to them is a joint one. We don't always immediately agree 100% on everything but our views are not that far apart that we can't easily come to a mutually agreeable solution by talking things through.

[hankdog]

I was chatting to a man yesterday. He bought a stafford against his wife's wishes. The dog was supposed to be his dog and wasn't to be allowed inside.

One year later and they want to go on holiday, have two weeks booked in Fiji but the wife doesn't trust the young adult children with the dog. Dog is delivered to the kennels the day before leaving but that night they have to get the kennel owner to open the kennels and rescue their dog and the holiday is forfeited because the wife cannot bear to be without the dog.

Well it was a stafford, who could resist.

[disintegratus]

We occasionally have issues over the animals (in general, including the dogs), but only because Nathan hasn't cared for them to my satisfaction when I'm away over the weekend. I got home one Monday and was thinking to myself that the dogs all looked fatter and were quite gassy, and their poops were not nearly as firm as usual. When I went to make some room in the freezer for the dog food I'd bought, it became apparent that Nathan hadn't fed them any of the food that was still left in there, and it turns out that he'd bought them some kind of god-awful supermarket crap and between the 5 of them had fed them 3kg of dry food over the whole weekend. I got really mad at that, and made him clean up those horrid soft poops.

I made it very clear though before we got together that we're a package deal: love me, love my critters. I wouldn't settle for someone who just tolerates them because the're mine. I tolerate that Nathan is not as passionate about them as I am, but he does love them :) Just last night, I invited Thundercleese up on the bed for a cuddle while I waited for Nathan to have a shower. Thundercleese usually isn't allowed to sleep on the bed mostly because he takes up more room than is humanly possible (and also, has horrid pervasive tiny stabby hairs), but Nathan took so long in the shower that I fell asleep, and when I woke up in the morning, Thundercleese was still on the bed :) apparently Nathan tried to tell him to go to his own bed, but when Nathan said his name, Thundercleese looked at him like he was physically tearing his heart out of his chest by not letting him sleep next to me. Nathan's such a softie :p

Nathan also brought with him the set of couches we have (my couches were destroyed in several freak dog-related incidents somehow ), and one of the very very few things that he put his foot down on was that the dogs weren't allowed on the furniture. Given that they'd destroyed $2600 worth of couches within the last 12 months, I wasn't arguing the point! I'd get them on the couches occasionally (like if I felt like shit and needed hugs from my puppies I'd be damned if I'm gonna to lie on the floor to get them.)

Out of the blue one day Nathan said if I get covers for the couches I can have the dogs on them :D SUCH a softie!!! :p

The only thing I'm not 100% happy about is that I would like him to contribute more towards their care. He always refers to them as "our" dogs, but I tell him that until such a time as he cleans up their poo without having to be told, they're "MY" dogs, and that won't change. Until then, they're MINE. (unless one of them does something terrible, smelly and/or embarassing, then they are HIS dogs.)