My husband hates our dog! Help!

So initially, I was never really a dog person. In fact, it was my husband that grew up with dogs his entire life. When we got married, he gave me a dog as a gift and I completely fell in love with it. This dog was spoiled from the beginning--he slept in the bed with us (at my husband's insistence) and was always our little shadow. It's been five years now and my husband's attitude has completely changed! He's so annoyed with our dog, wants nothing to do with it, and even storms off to sleep on the couch if the dog gets in the bed. Every little thing our dog does angers him and he goes as far as blaming me for it. I'm so stressed out as this has definitely strained our relationship. It just boggles my mind how he can act so immature when he insisted that we get this dog in the first place. I'd really hate to have to choose between the two. What should I do??

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Asked by loubiesnlouis at 1:24 AM on Aug. 7, 2012 in Pets

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Maybe there is more to it then just the dog. you should talk to him about this.

Answer by mommys2cupcakes at 1:46 AM on Aug. 7, 2012
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You do need to talk about it. Probably with a neutral third party.

Answer by gdiamante at 2:07 AM on Aug. 7, 2012
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I was thinking there had to be more to the story, too. Maybe your husband is frustrated with other things in the world, and the dog is a safe scapegoat. Has something in your situation changed lately? Definitely talk calmly about the problem with your husband, and maybe with a family friend who ccan be unbiased or even a counselor. But try as much as you can to keep the house rules the same for the dog. The poor thing will get confused if the game suddenly changes, and then you might end up with all sorts of problem behaviors that would only fuel your husband's negative feelings for the dog.

Answer by Ballad at 3:34 AM on Aug. 7, 2012
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i doubt that the problem is actually the dog. i would talk to him to see if something else is wrong. he could be using the dog to express that he is upset cause he does not want to talk about what is really going on.

Answer by MooNFaeRie30 at 6:17 AM on Aug. 7, 2012
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Could he possibly be jealous of the dog? Are you showering the dog with attention when he wants attention from you? Sit down and talk to him to find out what is going on.

Answer by AllAboutKeeley at 6:28 AM on Aug. 7, 2012
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Love me, love my dog!!! Seriously tho, I agree w/ the other ladies here- there's more to it. Talk to him.

Answer by mrsmom110 at 6:30 AM on Aug. 7, 2012
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There is more to it. Men do not just come out with it. You have to pull it out of them. Talk to him tell him you know something is wrong. Nut when he tells you you may not want to hear it so be ready for anything.

Answer by jthough407 at 8:54 AM on Aug. 7, 2012
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Hi everyone, thanks for your responses. I suspect there's an underlying problem but my husband's the type of person who shuts down when confronted so I've about given up on doing that. I haven't been treating the dog any differently than I have for the past five years. I might be a bit more defensive but my husband's behavior has escalated to the point where the poor dog is just terrified. The sight or sound of the dog will set my husband off nowadays and he'll project it all towards me. Nothing's different so I'm just confused about this complete 180 personality flip.

Comment by loubiesnlouis (original poster) at 11:46 AM on Aug. 7, 2012
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Maybe he is having mental health issues ...

Answer by tasches at 7:34 PM on Aug. 7, 2012
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Ask him why?

Answer by Sarah961 at 8:00 PM on Aug. 10, 2012
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