I have two dogs living with me. They are legally my exH's dogs, but he left them living with me after the divorce (and they have been living with our family since quite young).
My circumstances keep on changing towards less and less dog friendly life. I am working full time now in an office, away from home for 12+ hours (was freelancing previously, with plenty of remote working, but the opportunities had dried up since). My oldest child got diagnosed with SEN, and it comes with a lot of extra logistics / appointments. I have to put the house on sale in a couple of months (court judgment post divorce), and it does not look like I will be able to get a mortgage on my own. It also increasingly looks like not a lot of landlords are keen to rent to a family with one income, two young children and two dogs.
The dogs don't have any serious issues - they are affectionate and socialised, with zero aggression towards people, dogs or cats. They are very active though, and become a bit destructive / hyper-agitated when locked up for long periods of time.
They have a dog walker now, but a) the hour and a half walk they get is not enough to burn all their energy b) quite honestly, I started struggling with the cost (around £500 monthly) now.
A thought of rehoming them keeps coming back to my head, as I don't think that the life I am offering them is of sufficient quality, but I feel like the worst person in the world to consider this. I am not very much a "dog person" myself, but I do like them and have a sense of responsibility towards them. Their legal owner (exH) keeps promising that he will take them to live with him once his life is sorted, but it has been three years so far and it did not happen - and he had just started a new family, so it looks even more remote now.
He does not agree to rehoming, and says I will break the childrens' hearts as they are very close to the dogs (it is true). I feel like Cruella de Vil then, but then I come home and the dogs literally scream when they see me, I spend half an hour cleaning their room and I start having thoughts again.
I don't know, is there an option for rehoming at all where I will keep contributing to the dogs' costs (say, paying for pet insurance and food costs) and the children will be able to see the dogs say once a year to ensure they are loved and looked after? Or am I dreaming it up?
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The doghouse
please tell me what else can I do apart from rehoming
20 replies
dontevenknow · 26/01/2020 11:08
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