recklessdefector
New member
This dog is a 5 year old Staffy (adopted from a friend of a family member from a farm) who previously lived with my boyfriend and his Mum in a small house. Over time, the Mum is no longer in the picture and the dog has been under the care of solely my boyfriend.
So the situation now is we're both living in a house, my boyfriend and I. And the dog. We work together, often on the same shifts. Weekends can usually mean we're gone for 12-14 hours and that's not if we want to do something together before or after work. That whole time the dog is locked in this 1x1m little dog house, which is in the living room, because when alone he destroys the living room (There's a dog gate keeping him away from the rest of the house
That's obviously a separation anxiety thing that we work on with little results.
Once we're home, we let the dog out (not immediately, so as to alleviate his excitement and stop the jumping up) it's straight to bed for us. My boyfriend often not getting up until work, which can mean sleeping up to 15 hours at a time. And if we are awake, up, and about, we're not in the living room. Even days off can mean staying upstairs all day, asleep or not. With occasional trips to the kitchen.
Before I entered the picture, the dog had free roam of that house and the place was a disgusting dump. Dog hair, dirt, mess, shredded things everywhere, furniture frequently destroyed, incessant barking if anyone ever sat on "his" couch, and non stop badgering for food.
I don't think they ever got out of that cute puppy mentality because outside of "sit" and going the toilet outside (mostly) he wasn't trained at all and apparently just given whatever he wants.
Back then, my boyfriend would work long hours in a nightclub, on weekends being gone for over 12 hours at a time. Then coming home, straight to bed until the next shift and back out. Rarely walked. Hardly given attention.
Once I was coming around more, the dog ended up being moved into a small 1 square metre big dog house in the living room, made of wood with a lockable door. This was to stop him trashing the place while alone.
Since then we've moved and I think things have only got worse.
The house is a work in progress, as in started without floors without a bathroom without doors etc. After getting a floor in and making the garden good, we brought the dog in. Now, he lives in the "living room" which is at the back of the house because that's how to access the garden. I've been adamant that he can't have free roam of the house and needs boundaries, else everything we own will just be destroyed. We're still moving stuff in, still building stuff, and the house just isn't dog friendly. If he ever got into the room where I keep everything for my job he'd absolutely destroy it all.
So we work a lot, aren't here a lot, and when we are aren't able to give the dog much attention.
I am not a dog person, so have little desire to. I hate the hair, the slobber, and the smell. Which is fine, because I never wanted to own a dog and can recognize I shouldn't.
He hardly ever gets walked. He hasn't been walked in about 4 months, and in the months prior he'd maybe been walked once a month. We've had several people round to help, dog soecialists, people from dog schools, all with conflicting advice of course. He's been walked immediately then but it stops. He's been bathed once in the last 6 months, maybe twice, but apparently research online makes out that's "mostly fine".
I understand dogs are meant to sleep a majority of the day, but I don't think that excuses being alone for such long periods.
He's badly behaved. He bit my hand one time when I tried dragging him to his house since he ignores everything I say. We can't trust him to be alone. He's obviously starved for attention. Clearly deserves more exercise, we have a stone garden but he never runs around it, I don't think it's enough space nor is he fond of the stones. I, being not a dog person, from a family of not dog people, hate the smell. My dad hates the smell, he hates how I smell when I visit and I do my best to smell so nice. I hate that we don't have a living room, the biggest room of the house is just an empty space that the dog dominates that only secured plastic boxes can go in. I have zero motivation to buy furniture or make it a nice room because what's the point? It'll just get Dog'd in a matter of time, and we won't be in there anyway. We had friends round once for a games night, and that's never happening again because the dog completely ruined the whole day.
I hate how anything in there, or downstairs, reeks of dog. I hate everything being covered in hair. I hate the expensive new floor being covered in weeks of dog slobber. I hate the constant barking. I hate that we live in an area right next to a football field and there's constant fireworks all year round. I hate that I can't spontaneously do what I want outside of the house because I have to plan around the dog. I hate that we can't go away somewhere nice for days at a time without doubling or tripling the cost because of kennels. I hate that my boyfriend is never willing to have a discussion about this, and shuts down any conversation with "I'm not getting rid of him, it's not an option" and that this dog, that I don't even like, is a big reason for living in this house feeling unfeasible at best and totally miserable at worst.
I think the dog's miserable and deserves better. I think he deserves to be outside running around like a big dog does, with owners who have the time for him. Staffies especially are energetic attention seekers. And I think the conditions this dog is living in, while technically acceptable, are borderline negligent. I'm at a loss and sick of every day being miserable and I guess I just need a serious second opinion or something to back up my point.
TL;DR
5 Y.O. largely untrained Staffy is with 2 young night-workers who work more than not, is left alone in a small dog house for 12+ hours most days and then spends the other 12 alone while we sleep or are elsewhere. Hasn't been walked in months, and doesn't get walked enough. Must be miserable, makes me miserable, has a plethora of issues and I am not one bit a dog person and the other owner is frankly lazy and irresponsible but "he's happy, he's cute" justifies keeping all 3 of us miserable.
So the situation now is we're both living in a house, my boyfriend and I. And the dog. We work together, often on the same shifts. Weekends can usually mean we're gone for 12-14 hours and that's not if we want to do something together before or after work. That whole time the dog is locked in this 1x1m little dog house, which is in the living room, because when alone he destroys the living room (There's a dog gate keeping him away from the rest of the house
That's obviously a separation anxiety thing that we work on with little results.
Once we're home, we let the dog out (not immediately, so as to alleviate his excitement and stop the jumping up) it's straight to bed for us. My boyfriend often not getting up until work, which can mean sleeping up to 15 hours at a time. And if we are awake, up, and about, we're not in the living room. Even days off can mean staying upstairs all day, asleep or not. With occasional trips to the kitchen.
Before I entered the picture, the dog had free roam of that house and the place was a disgusting dump. Dog hair, dirt, mess, shredded things everywhere, furniture frequently destroyed, incessant barking if anyone ever sat on "his" couch, and non stop badgering for food.
I don't think they ever got out of that cute puppy mentality because outside of "sit" and going the toilet outside (mostly) he wasn't trained at all and apparently just given whatever he wants.
Back then, my boyfriend would work long hours in a nightclub, on weekends being gone for over 12 hours at a time. Then coming home, straight to bed until the next shift and back out. Rarely walked. Hardly given attention.
Once I was coming around more, the dog ended up being moved into a small 1 square metre big dog house in the living room, made of wood with a lockable door. This was to stop him trashing the place while alone.
Since then we've moved and I think things have only got worse.
The house is a work in progress, as in started without floors without a bathroom without doors etc. After getting a floor in and making the garden good, we brought the dog in. Now, he lives in the "living room" which is at the back of the house because that's how to access the garden. I've been adamant that he can't have free roam of the house and needs boundaries, else everything we own will just be destroyed. We're still moving stuff in, still building stuff, and the house just isn't dog friendly. If he ever got into the room where I keep everything for my job he'd absolutely destroy it all.
So we work a lot, aren't here a lot, and when we are aren't able to give the dog much attention.
I am not a dog person, so have little desire to. I hate the hair, the slobber, and the smell. Which is fine, because I never wanted to own a dog and can recognize I shouldn't.
He hardly ever gets walked. He hasn't been walked in about 4 months, and in the months prior he'd maybe been walked once a month. We've had several people round to help, dog soecialists, people from dog schools, all with conflicting advice of course. He's been walked immediately then but it stops. He's been bathed once in the last 6 months, maybe twice, but apparently research online makes out that's "mostly fine".
I understand dogs are meant to sleep a majority of the day, but I don't think that excuses being alone for such long periods.
He's badly behaved. He bit my hand one time when I tried dragging him to his house since he ignores everything I say. We can't trust him to be alone. He's obviously starved for attention. Clearly deserves more exercise, we have a stone garden but he never runs around it, I don't think it's enough space nor is he fond of the stones. I, being not a dog person, from a family of not dog people, hate the smell. My dad hates the smell, he hates how I smell when I visit and I do my best to smell so nice. I hate that we don't have a living room, the biggest room of the house is just an empty space that the dog dominates that only secured plastic boxes can go in. I have zero motivation to buy furniture or make it a nice room because what's the point? It'll just get Dog'd in a matter of time, and we won't be in there anyway. We had friends round once for a games night, and that's never happening again because the dog completely ruined the whole day.
I hate how anything in there, or downstairs, reeks of dog. I hate everything being covered in hair. I hate the expensive new floor being covered in weeks of dog slobber. I hate the constant barking. I hate that we live in an area right next to a football field and there's constant fireworks all year round. I hate that I can't spontaneously do what I want outside of the house because I have to plan around the dog. I hate that we can't go away somewhere nice for days at a time without doubling or tripling the cost because of kennels. I hate that my boyfriend is never willing to have a discussion about this, and shuts down any conversation with "I'm not getting rid of him, it's not an option" and that this dog, that I don't even like, is a big reason for living in this house feeling unfeasible at best and totally miserable at worst.
I think the dog's miserable and deserves better. I think he deserves to be outside running around like a big dog does, with owners who have the time for him. Staffies especially are energetic attention seekers. And I think the conditions this dog is living in, while technically acceptable, are borderline negligent. I'm at a loss and sick of every day being miserable and I guess I just need a serious second opinion or something to back up my point.
TL;DR
5 Y.O. largely untrained Staffy is with 2 young night-workers who work more than not, is left alone in a small dog house for 12+ hours most days and then spends the other 12 alone while we sleep or are elsewhere. Hasn't been walked in months, and doesn't get walked enough. Must be miserable, makes me miserable, has a plethora of issues and I am not one bit a dog person and the other owner is frankly lazy and irresponsible but "he's happy, he's cute" justifies keeping all 3 of us miserable.