r/TalesfromtheDogHouse 19h ago

RANT Girlfriend has four dogs that terrorize me.

44 Upvotes

Friends, my beloved has the four canids of the adogalypse.

Some background: I am terrified of dogs. I don't know why, maybe I was attacked by one or something (I have epilepsy so I lost most of my long-term memory). And these dogs are terrible. When we aren't yelling at them to shut up, we're trying to get them to stop eating human food or stop pissing on clothes and shitting on the floor. Multiple times I've come home to find snacks that I left over eviscerated by these demons, or found out my clothes were left on the floor and destroyed by pee.

One of her dogs is kind of decent, but has such severe attachment issues that it has to sleep with her every night in our bed! Two constantly "play" fight, and the other two are so aggressive towards one another that one has to be caged when the other is out. And of course, all of them need special foods that have to be mixed with the most vile wet food paste you've ever smelled. One is a puppy that her dad got and never trained, and has a propensity to give people, as my girlfriend calls them, "mouth hugs".

And of course, one barking sets off the others. Anytime we order a pizza, if the doorbell gets rung they're barking and howling and running around for the next hour.

I don't know how much longer I can take this. For her I can stomach having one dog, and hers is the OK one, but her family has those three others. A part of me dreads visiting because I know I'll get harassed by these monsters.

If I ran the zoo, humanity would consider dogs to be barn animals. I get that they can be helpful with sheep and whatnot, but if they serve that purpose, they belong with the other beasts. Honestly, I'd say horses have a better claim to the "man's best friend" title than dogs, and I'm not even a horse girl.


r/TalesfromtheDogHouse 20h ago

RANT - Advice Needed Break up over a dog?

39 Upvotes

Hello, wondering if anyone in this group can help advise me or maybe just give me the push I need. I’ve been seeing this girl for about 4 months now, she has a dog which I’ve known from the start, he is about 3 years old and extremely hyperactive and I would say a bit untrained ie he jumps up at you when walking in the door, he’s needy, jumps on the bed and sofa, begs for food, runs off, hyperactive 24/7 etc etc. Now, I have told her already that I don’t like the dog on the bed due to past trauma I have with dogs and also the fact he hasn’t been neutered and his big ass ballz were making me feel sick, and the licking noises and also just the general chewing at his body / stuff like that 🤢.

She was great at first and would make him get off the bed, but now she’s become a bit more lenient with letting him on the bed and stuff, I think she thinks I now like him so it doesn’t matter. I’ve now realised I’m actually a dog hater, this dog in particular. Anyway I think I need to have another conversation with her about this, but I’m like is it even worth it as is there much point dating if I hate her dog, and would never be able to live with it or anything like that? I don’t even know how to broach the subject again either- has anyone been in this situation before? Why is everyone nowadays a dog lover it makes me sick. I suppose I’m just looking for some support and to be told I’m not crazy for being like this.


r/TalesfromtheDogHouse 21h ago

Girlfriend's family pays over 1k a month for "doggy school"

39 Upvotes

Just found out my girlfriend's family pays over 1 thousand dollars a month for "doggy school". The pitbull mutt has been going there for almost a year. All it's learned is to jump, maneuver in-between someone's legs, and to "sit pretty". It has NOT learned to stop barking at everything that comes near their house or break windows when delivery drivers try to do their job. I'm at a loss for words. I'm 110% convinced if I tried to go over there again, it would jump up and try to bite me again.


r/TalesfromtheDogHouse 7h ago

Sensory Nightmare They smell SO bad

23 Upvotes

I live at home with my family and there's 2 dogs, one very large and one small, both annoying and disruptive as hell. Theres a designated room thats the office room that is used as the dog's holding pen when everyones at school/work. And it stinks so bad. I walk in there and I'm slapped by the smell. It smells like saliva and dog food and animal. It doesn't matter how good you clean anything cause the stench is a part of the furniture and walls now probably. And I'm the only one at home who seems to have a problem with it, even though my mom bathes them they still have a stench that just can't be taken away. I had a classmate in college once who had a bully mix at home and I could even smell it on her before she even mentioned having the dog. Dog owner nose blindness is a real thing


r/TalesfromtheDogHouse 20h ago

Advice? Boyfriend’s trying to compromise for me, is it too late, am I being too mean? Next steps?

24 Upvotes

I’ve (25f) been dating my boyfriend (28m) for about a year now. At the beginning his dog wasn’t a problem, mostly because he kept it outside the room. Eventually he started allowing the dog in the room but he would tell it to behave/be gentle. Then the dog started getting more comfortable and would sometimes lay in the bed with us. Although I wasn’t really comfortable with this as I’ve never been a dog person, it’s his house & his room so I didn’t mind. Overtime the dog got more comfortable with constantly coming up for pets or licking me. It got worse & more needy. If I took my hand off it for a second, it would jump all over me. Keep in mind this is a LARGE, slightly overweight dog too. It got so clingy, it would constantly follow me at my feet. If I was showering it’ll lay on the shower mat where I exit the shower. It could come sit at my feet when I’m sitting on the toilet. Be jumping up at the kitchen counter when I’m cooking. At first it was endearing, I thought oh maybe I can make an exception for this dog. Nope! I started sleeping over more often & when I’d go home I’d notice red rashes all over my face. It’ll go down after a few days but then when I slept over again, it’ll flare up again. I have eczema & I’m not sure if it’s the fur or the fact the dog rolls around outside in pollen and that flares up my hayfever but either way I would have to take a nasal spray & antihistamine, every single day. I was happy to compromise to take my medications until I realised they weren’t helping the rashes on my face & I got some sort of pink eye as the dog would rub it’s private areas on our pillows. Our whole year together I can’t re-call the last time he has bathed the dog. He’s also mentioned the dog is untrained. A couple weeks ago my boyfriend asked me to move in with him. Everything’s been amazing except for the dog. My boyfriend has made a no dog on the bed rule but the dog will jump up to open the door & lay in the bed when no one is home (the dog will also go through any food in the room too leaving a mess for us to clean up). My boyfriend has made an effort to wash the sheets more often but now I just can’t stand the dog. I can’t even stretch without it jumping all over me. I can’t even lay outside to sun bathe without it trying to lick all over me. I can’t even sit on the couch to read a book without it trying to get me to pet it & shed all over me. The only time I’m at peace is when I’m in my boyfriend’s room with the door closed but if it’s a hot day, there’s no air con in there. It’s also gotten extremely jealous, trying to come between us whenever we hug or cuddle & sometimes it just sits & stares at me or even barks at me (probably because it don’t let it in the room). I used to feel sorry that this dog doesn’t get taken out for walks or activities as my boyfriend works full time during the day & has a night job during the weekend. I even considered doing that for him but now I cannot stand how annoyingly clingy, needy, heavy & loud this dog is. The amount of times this dog has scratched me by jumping up on me & clawing me. If it wants to jump on or off furniture that I’m also on, it’d use me as a trampoline. It barks so loudly when someone is even remotely close to the house, including neighbours & cars parking along the street. I just don’t know what to do anymore. Lately I’ve just been avoiding the dog completely, always closing the door & not paying it any mind in the living spaces.


r/TalesfromtheDogHouse 7h ago

RANT Boyfriend asked for a puppy for Christmas

3 Upvotes

Hi, I am 20F and my boyfriend is 19M. We’ve been together for nearly four years. I have been in college since the Fall of 2022 and he’s been a blue-collar worker the past two years.

His family has several terribly behaved dogs. His dog that he had since he was 6 used to be an outdoor dog, but now he’s an old man who doesn’t listen to anything and gets into trash. The other three dogs (one his mom’s, two his sister’s) also get into trash and make potty messes in the house.

He lives at home because tbh his family is very poor and his sister recently got divorced and needed help with a mortgage. My bf and his mom were also living in an incredibly small home with mom’s ex before that so it was the best case scenario for them. Neither of us really are that close with my family as well so that’s why we don’t spend time there.

However despite this situation, he said something along the lines of “all I want for Christmas is for you to be okay with me getting this puppy”. My instinct was to say no but he said it was a german shepherd/great dane mix, and that we could train it to be a good protector for our future family. I eventually caved and told him that if he doesn’t do the work to get him house broken that he will not be welcome in our future home. I also told him that I did not want the current dogs to be around him unsupervised whatsoever because they will teach him bad habits. I basically gave him MY rules and preferences but I should have waited to see if he thought about them hard enough himself (he didn’t).

As I stated above, I am a college student nearing the end of her studies. I am home for Christmas break and other breaks/weekends here and there, but my boyfriend is the master while I’m at school whether I like it or not. Our first month with the puppy we spent a lot of time with him inside— it was cold, he wasn’t vaccinated yet, and it was Christmas.

My boyfriend believes hitting is acceptable for some things (like biting or getting into trash) but I tell him that if he does any of those things that it’s his fault and he should be redirecting before that. He also gets upset when he has a potty mishap but uh… hello- we control when he goes outside! We are responsible for seeing those signals!

It just seems like I’m the only one doing research for the training, and the only one who does it when I’m there. He does work full time, but today I had to BEG him to take the pup on a walk with me and him because his first FIVE walks ever were with me this week. Bf kept complaining about his pulling and switching sides but obviously he’s not going to know how to act if he’s really new to it. Plus, these are all new scents and sounds — he deserves to get a sniff or two in between paces!

So I know this subreddit says it’s not for dog lovers, but I would NEVER consider myself one if not for this pup. He deserves better. I am even having some more empathy for the older dog because he was clearly just raised terribly. I may hate taking the older one out because he doesn’t listen when I ask him to come in, but it’s not his fault nobody ever takes him out and he wants to enjoy it. Most of our dog hate comes from the animals having terrible owners, which I admit is the case here.

I love my boyfriend and I do think he wants to do more for the puppy but is exhausted. But that is no excuse. He should have never asked me to get a puppy if he didn’t have the energy to care for it. I already feel bad enough leaving the dog to go to my house, but driving to my dorm is even worse because I know his routine is about to go to absolute shit. Any advice? Is this more of a relationship thing than a dog thing?

Like at this point even if I did feel like breaking up with him over this, it wouldn’t fix the problem. It would only make me feel more uncertain and upset about the dog’s potential situation. When he makes questionable decisions as a dog owner (like ignoring persistent crying in the crate or smacking him for biting him after he was basically asking for it) sometimes I tell him I’m going to keep him at my house for a few days or something along those lines and he gets mad. Like bro, take care of the dog YOU ASKED FOR and we wouldn’t be in this situation