Hello!
I'm feeling slightly guilty, and wondering if i was OTT in a 'discussion' with DH yesterday. DH is wonderful, in every regard, however I feel he is letting down his dog.
DH got a French Bulldog puppy, just before we met.
I have never owned, or wished to own a dog. However,as pooch was there before me, I learned to live with him, especially as I moved into DH's flat initially.
Some context (I'll try to keep this as short as possible!) - In this flat, pooch had 24/7 access to pee/poop on the entire balcony. Balcony ended up stinking bad. Stink would come into flat. It was also freezing as balcony door was open in winter. Dh worked in office 3 days per week and this was his solution. He also had constant food topped up in his bowl for access anytime he wanted. He was allowed on bed,furniture etc.
I rightly or wrongly took it upon myself to try and give him a feeding routine, and in turn a pee/poop routine so the balcony door could be closed. This led to accidents inside as DH wasn't consistent and let the routine drop. Pooch would poo and pee inside, on rug, on floor, despite puppy training pads there too. I let it drop as I was frustrated, as it wasn't my dog anyway, and wasn't going to keep trying for Dh not to stick to it. In the end the balcony door remained open, and I just rarely went in the living area as it stunk really badly. We had many discussions about this.
Fast forward to now. We moved into a lovely new home.
Pooch now has a den/gated area in the garage for night time. It has a crate,bed,blankets,toys, water etc, as he can't be trusted to not pee and poop at night time. I refuse to have daily accidents in our brand new kitchen when guests gather.
However, I feel that pooch should be trainable? This shouldn't have to be the solution. I feel DH at least needs to get a grip, and get him into a proper routine, so while accidents may happen, they aren't daily, and pooch can sleep inside the utility room or kitchen.
Dh has always agreed to take responsibility for him, as it's his dog, his decision. However I feel he is letting him down in many ways, and I told him yesterday.
I told him he needs to take better care of his dog, he needs to take it for regular walks (he didnt get a walk for 5 days straight, DH said it was too cold when i asked,but this happens often), he needs to take it to the vet (ear infection...), he needs surgery as he can't breath (snores 24/7,has BOAS, gives me bad headaches), he needs to be trained, and needs consistency with feeding and walking for his poops.
I want pooch to have a nice comfortable life. I don't think it should be down to me, when i didnt agree to get this dog, I want DH to step up and be consistent. AIBU?