To be annoyed that partner does walk dog

[Opinionator]

We have a 3 month old DC together and ever since DC was born DP has walked our dog 2/3 times alone. Any time the dog is walked it's either me doing it alone, or all of us together after I've asked DP to come with us. Never does he take initiative and decides to walk the dog without me, therefore the responsibility falls on me constantly.

I'm on maternity and DP is WFH, but never has any actual work to do, so it's not like that's stopping him. I've mentioned to him several times that he needs to help me out and walk the dog. He either gets annoyed at me and reminds me that when I was pregnant he had to walk the dog all the time (he's a staffie and too strong for any pregnant woman to be walking), or he says he'll do it and never does.

I'm genuinely at the end of my tether! Any advice?

Rather than just saying ‘help’ I think you should agree to specific times/days that you’re each responsible for.

One of you does the morning walk and one of you does the evening?

@MessAllOver

Rehome the dog. Regardless of the walking issue, it's not safe to have dogs like that around young children.

Always one 🙄🙄

I'm sorry if my views offend anyone, but an immature dog that isn't trained property, that neither of them can be bothered with and which is too strong for the OP to handle by herself being around a small baby is a recipe for trouble, especially when that baby starts to move.

The baby's safety needs to come first, not the dog.

I am usually very much of the "You (plural - you and DP ) chose to get a dog , just Man Up and get on with it .

But you are on Mat Leave ? When does that end ?

I wouldn't take a dog out with a baby in a sling in case I tripped over the lead . But your dog can and must be trained to wallk to heel.

Breakfast time - your DP watches the baby as you walk the dog
Lunch time - the same
You can tell him he has a legal lunch break and he can have breakfast before
Then he walks the dog at night .

Otherwise the outlook for this poor animal if you're out the house and your DP in in sole care isn't good , is it?

he's a staffie and too strong for any pregnant woman to be walking)

This is worrying. If you get a big dog you need to train that big dog, especially if you I tend to have it around kids!

Leave him with the baby and a list of things that you'd be doing if you weren't taking the dog out and ask him to make sure they're done when you get back.

Taking the dog for a walk is far more relaxing than household chores!

Are you for real? That’s so ignorant. There are only two breeds of dog that the kennel club recommends for families with children. Just TWO! And one of them is the STAFFIE.

That only works when they are cared for, exercised and trained. If no-one cares about the dog enough to look after it and is hasn’t been trained to walk to leash it is unlikely to have been trained well enough to be reliable around children.

Especially as the man sounds disengaged and would probably be busy playing with his phone and just ignore the child trying to pull the dog’s tail/poke it.

@MessAllOver and @MaskingForIt you’re making some leaps and inventing things that the OP hasn’t actually said.

Why not ask the OP questions and wait for the answer before giving advice... rather than giving advice on information you’ve made up?

Well I think your dp needs to start pulling his weight and your ddog needs to stop pulling his. Not sure about best way to sort dp but the dog can be trained to walk nicely with the help of a good behaviourist and lots of practice.

Neither of you deserve the dog tbh. Find him a new home if you can (don't dump him at the rescue though).
I have a 12yrs old staffie and 4 children all younger than the dog. I don't remember ever thinking walking the dog was such a chore. When on mat leave with my first I'd go on long walk with the dog as it was an easy activity for me to do with the baby in the baby carrier. It was a little more complex with subsequent children but he would be walked to/from nursery/school and we would have long walks as a family.
How is it that you couldn't walk the dog whilst pregnant? He needs better training if he is that badly behaved. I actually had 2 staffies when pregnant with my first child and one of them was completely bonkers (in a good way... mostly) and I can't remember walking them being an issue at all. But then I don't think walking the dog(s) was ever an issue. We have always had dogs because we like their company and we like long walks...

DH and I used to joke that when I was on mat leave would've been the only good time to have a dog, I used to walk miles with DS in Peru much all weathers, but I guess it depends where you live, we live by the sea so there are nice walks to be had. There's not enough info here to say if he's being unreasonable or not; is it a dog you both wholeheartedly wanted, or is it more your dog or his dog? What hours is he working? What else does he do around the house? Balance is in context not both doing exactly half of each task.
On a slightly different note this is why we don't have a dog, but very much enjoy PIL's and my parents' dog before he died , in the day to day of two adults working full time with a young child, the dog would become a chore not a pleasure and that's not fair to the dog, because inevitably their needs are not being fully met.

How many DC do you have? Can you leave the older ones at home while you or DH walk the dog and the baby? Or drag them along for a bit. Definitely set up a rota though. Is he a lazy arse with the kids too?