Help! I Told My Partner I Didn’t Want Another Dog. He Brought Home a Terrifying One Anyway.

Dear Prudence,

I have been in a relationship for many years. I love my partner very much and want a future with him. The issue: I can’t stand dogs. He always had one dog. It is quiet and well-behaved. I didn’t love the dog, but I accepted it and I could imagine a life living with it. Then he decided he needed a new dog. At first, he said he would take me into consideration and was thinking of getting a smaller dog that I might like more. This did not happen. I was hopeful that the dog would be small for a while and I could bond with it. It grew to be large very quickly and is very hyper, jumping on me, running around, it makes me anxious. It also very much changed our life as now he can’t really leave the house or do many of the things we used to.

I actually tried to speak with a therapist about this. She told me to tell him I would leave him if things didn’t change. That is not at all what I want and I stopped seeing her. I want to figure this out but I’m having a hard time and I can’t really discuss it with him because I don’t want him to get mad at me. I want to fix things, but I don’t know how to make myself like this dog. I feel like I’m so alone and pent up. People love dogs, so no one understands why I feel this way. I’m trying so hard to seem like it doesn’t bother me, but inside I’m so tense and anxious around this dog. I’m also a little upset because he did this without any compromise and it has impacted me so negatively. I don’t think it’s fair that I feel this way, but I don’t know how to fix it.

—My Life Has Gone to the Dogs

https://slate.com/human-interest/2024/02/dear-prudence-terrifying-dog.html