A mom is reaching out to an online community to ask if she made a mistake. She recently brought home a chihuahua mix puppy for her family, which she received from a work friend who had a litter and couldn’t manage them all. Her friend was giving it away for free, so she brought it home on a whim. Her kids were immediately in love with the puppy.
About a week later, she received news that her best friend’s mother, unfortunately, saw her chihuahua get hit by a car as she was calling it back across the road to come home. She heard the mother had been sobbing for hours while holding on to her dead puppy until her husband got home. She felt so heartbroken hearing this news that she offered to give their new puppy to her best friend’s mother to help her feel better.
She dropped the dog off in the morning and then told her husband afterward what she had done. Her husband was furious that she had done that without discussing it with the kids first. Even though they only had the puppy for a week, they had become attached to it. She did that intentionally because she thought taking the puppy away while they were in school and telling them about it when they got home would be easier.
She planned to talk to them about compassion for their family friend and assure them that they could get a new puppy soon. She thought she was doing a good deed for her friend but now feels terrible about it. She is reaching out to an online community to ask if she made a mistake by giving the dog away without telling her kids first.
The readers of her post didn’t take kindly to what she had done and felt sorry for her children.
“You gave away your family’s pet without any talk to any of them. I’d feel betrayed if I came home and our dog was gone just so mom could score brownie points with her friend. Hope the dopamine hit you got from that was worth it. Your children may never trust you again. The dog wasn’t yours to give away. It belonged to the whole family. Why didn’t you first approach your work friend to see if they had any other pups that they needed to re-home or at least talk to your family first?”
“Looks like OP’s family will need a new dog AND a new therapist after this one.”
Some pet lovers may have overreacted by suggesting her husband divorce her. Many replied that although she didn’t make the right decision, she didn’t deserve to be punished.
“While what OP did is awful, the dog was with them for a week. I doubt it’ll be as traumatic for the kids as some of you are making it out to be. I’m not saying it’ll be good, but jumping to divorce and making it sound like OP’s a bad mom for what could be a very isolated incident is unfair.”
“In the real world no-one is going to leave their partner over a dog they’ve had for literally one week. It was a stupid decision to give it away but even so.”
An experienced dog sitter commented that there was no need to worry about the dog’s mental health.
“It was one week with the family. I don’t know why you’re arguing that the dog will be traumatized, feel abandoned. As a dog sitter I’ve had dogs stay with me for a month while their families were away and, I’m sorry to break it to you, most dogs are usually fine within an hour as long as they get food, love and attention.”
Many don’t believe she should even consider getting another dog because she isn’t a true pet lover.
“I don’t know how somebody could’ve brought a dog home on a whim and then immediately gotten rid of the dog. This reeks of somebody who doesn’t have a sense of empathy, and commitment to a pet. Maybe the dog is better off without her.”
What do you think? Was helping her friend’s mother recover from a tragedy worth upsetting her own family?
This post came from this thread.
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