I'm fucked. My wife let our daugther get a fucking dog.

[orleans]

34. i hope everything works out for all of you.

i've had a dog in my life since i was fifteen.

(we had cats before that and then discovered that i was highly allergic to cats--& the symptoms even included asthma attacks--it was devastating to have to part with my kitties but there were too many nights i couldn't breathe & trips to the emergency room for shots of adrenaline.)

my mom brought our first dog home--didn't consult me or my dad. and neither one of us were thrilled at first. but i ended up falling in love with her, as did my dad. he'd come home from work and she was always at the door, wagging her tail, the first one to greet him--and he'd smile and laugh at his new best friend who was always so delighted to see him. she became one of his joys in life. and in my life as well.

if you are an animal lover (and i suspect you have a heart for them since you do & have had cats) then i think if you just open your heart and mind a little to this new addition you might not be so angry. i'm guessing the dog is feeling a bit scared, lonely, and anxious simply by being in new and different surroundings, and around new people.

if it's a rescued dog then he might also have a sad backstory--maybe he is scared of people, or loud noises, maybe he was treated badly, or abused, or yelled at, or neglected. (i have a rescued dog now and she was very afraid of people, noises, and trucks when she came to live with me. i slept in the living room with her and she slept as far away from me as she could get for the first several nights. i know she was scared. she was picked up as a stray from out of state and i know there is a lot of history to her that neither she, nor anyone else, can tell me about.

i hope you can put aside some of the anger and resentment you feel and think about this dog that has been put in this new situation and environment and the distress it must feel--having to learn all the cues for different things from the three of you.

take a breath. see how it goes. you may find that you have a special friend you never dreamed you'd have.

they say people and animals come into our lives for a reason--and that we are meant to know who we know for whatever reason (to learn from, to grow, to understand, to love, etc.)

like i said, i hope everything works out for all of you--and i wish all of you the best.