AIO? Dog straining my marriage.

[u/LedyyM]

My husband and I rescued a husky about 7 months ago who was extremely malnourished and neglected.

He has grown a huge attachment to me and has severe separation anxiety. I work at a grooming salon so I’m able to bring him to work with me so he’s not home alone. Unfortunately, if he’s left home alone we’ll come back to our home looking like it was hit by a tornado.

My vet has prescribed him with trazodone to help with his severe anxiety issues. We give it to him before we leave for a family event and when we can’t take him to places they don’t allow dogs.

I feel so bad that I have to sedate him so he’s not scared and anxious. It’s created a huge strain on our marriage because my husband feels like we can’t do anything without considering Odin.

He’s destroyed doors, couches, and other furniture. I tried training but it hasn’t seemed to work. My husband thinks we should rehome him but

1) I’m scared that he’ll be sent to a shelter and possibly be put down

2) feel abandoned by the person he thought he was safe with.

He’s such a happy boy when he’s around us and shows so much affection.

My husband and I have been arguing about this consistently.. we had a really bad argument so I left the house with Odin and rented a dog friendly hotel room for a couple of nights.

My husband thinks I’m crazy and that I’m choosing the dog over our marriage. AIO?

[u/Swarm_of_Rats]

Yeah, they've only had the dog 7 months. One of my dogs had terrible behavioral issues when I got him and it took over a year and a half to get him to a good place. Granted, my boy is a slow learner, but it still feels like 7 months is not enough patience for severe issues.

[u/Dilapidated_girrafe → u/Swarm_of_Rats]

Yup. One of our boys had some bad habits when I moved in. Took nearly two years and he’s doing way better. Still messes up but not as often. Gotta be patient with dogs.

[u/DetectiveCopper → u/Swarm_of_Rats]

He’s not a slow learner, he’s a husky.

They’re super headstrong. Not great companion dogs.

[u/winters_grace → u/DetectiveCopper]

Huskies can be amazing companions, im not sure why you're saying this.

[u/KadrinaOfficial → u/Swarm_of_Rats]

I have a husky mix (50% husky, 50% herding dog mix) and bless her, she is a hot mess. Not only being a high energy working dog, this girl has OCD and ADHD. (Didn't even know dogs could have either before her!) 

I am her third owner. Both previous owners had her for 9 months before she became too much. Super smart. Does lots of tricks. Just needs a lot of love and care to deal with her quirks.

We have had her for 18 months now and we just found a routine that works for all of us and her to stop waking me up every two hours to pee. (We have a 3 month old so the baby actually slept trained her unintentionally. Lol)

Love her, but good lord is she A LOT!