Since we are talking about animals ...

Saraevh

@ooocarrie's post got me thinking.  

I have a confession that I know the animal lovers of the world will probably not like very much but I'm just going to say it anyway.  I HATE our dog.  And I shouldn't.  She is the most loving, loyal animal you will ever meet - a golden retriever who is a SAINT with the kids and wants nothing more than attention and love.  

But I'm over her.  I was over her like, 3 years ago.  She drives me crazy with following me around all of the time, begging for food, crapping on the floor whenever there is a rumble of thunder, peeing all over the floor when it starts to rain, the hair (OH LORD, THE HAIR!), the itching (and then more hair), the craziness (example: whenever people come over and they pet her, she whizzes all over the floor in excitement, whenever you sit down on the couch she flies up, races over to you and nudges your hand, demanding to be pet), laying on the kids' blankets, stealing their toys, etc.  I swear I could go on forever.  She won't ever leave me alone, she is high strung and honestly, most of the time I feel like she is more needy than the kids.  Our vet suggested we put her on doggy Prozac.  My husband said no way.  We live on a nature preserve and our neighbor takes her with his dog out to run by the lake almost daily.  We also take her on walks almost daily ... it doesn't matter.  She is never any less crazy.  I suggested putting her in doggy daycare a couple of days a week but my husband thinks that's ridiculous.      

So many people have offered to take her but my husband refuses to give her to anyone else because he feels like she is part of our family and we made a commitment when we adopted her.  Okay.  I get it.  And I agree.  BUT I just feel so hostile towards her all of the time and recently I find myself yelling at her more and more (so much that now the kids will yell at her too and I don't want to set that kind of an example ).  I always put her in the basement or outside so she is out of my hair and then I feel guilty but sometimes just looking at her pisses me off.  My husband says it's hormones and I'll get over it, but I don't know.  It's just one more thing for me to have to deal with and I am SO over it.  She acts like a puppy and she is over 5 years old.    

Anyone else start to hate their animals after they had kids or is it just me?  I told the kids we will never get another dog (EVER) so they better enjoy her now        

Robeano

Ya. I hear you. Once Hannah was born I disliked our dog more. Only cuz it frustrates me to have to take care of her. Baby trumps dog. And my dog is obnoxious!!! Super needy, and barky

Mrs.AmyDylan

I'm still obsessed with our little pooch. But she is my first baby. She kept me sane during the dark days of IF and for that I will eternally be grateful.

That being said, other than the required two pooch walks a day (which suck because it is still over 100 degrees and she won't walk, she just stands around bemoaning the weather), she does her best to resemble a couch cushion. Other than freaking out at the doorbell and an increased frequency of begging, she is super easy and sweet. 

I know she is depressed because she hates our new floors (wood instead of carpet) and she doesn't get as much attention. Now that J is getting more independent, I'm getting more space in my lap. 

Oh, and she likes J quite a bit!! Once J connects the dots on the pooch-high chair-food thing, I will be outnumbered! The pooch has it figured out...

ELF4321

Our neurotic dog is so crazy our vets referred us to the animal behavioral clinic at U.Penn VVeterinary School. After working with him for months and trying every behavioral modification/training method out there, they said "he's broken.Medicate him. He'll be happier and have a better quality of life, and so will you."

He's been on prozac for 8 years and it really helped even things out. Walgreens has a prescription discount plan and lets you include your pet, so it only costs $10 a month (Plus the annual fee of like $30). Totally worth it and doesn't hurt him at all.

Slap YH upside the head and tell him to get the dog some prozac if that's what the vet recommended.

kmc84

I feel ya! We have three dogs. One drives me and DH crazy! He is a great dog. He is very loyal, obedient and friendly. However, he is very high energy and he is your shadow. If we get up to open a door, if he hears a doorbell on tv, if he thinks he hears something outside- he SCRAMBLES get to the door as fast as possible. He is like a bull in a china shop no amount if excersize helps. He could be flat out exhausted and he still scrambles around. My dad loves him and he recently lost one dog to cancer. His other dog is not doing well, so we may re home him to my dad when his other dog passes. It makes us sad, but we both get soooo angry with him I know he'll be happy with my dad and we will still see him a bunch.

If your vet recommended Prozac, absolutely give it a try. It sounds like you and YH need to have a serious talk about this. If a little medication will calm the dog and save your sanity, it's totally worth it!

IBackBevo

I was like this a little with our great dane. I loved him dearly...and he was an amazing dog.  But it just got to be too much.  We had him for over a decade...he was 11 or 12.  By the time LO came along, he basically couldn't walk on his own.  His back legs barely worked...and sometimes didn't work at all.  He had to be helped to stand up and would frequently fall.  He had also lost partial bowel control. When the baby would cry, he would get all upset and try to climb the stairs even though he couldn't. He would make it half way up and then fall down the stairs because his hind legs would give out. This would happen every darn day. I swear, I think it took me 6 months longer to recover from my C-section because I was constantly having to pick up a 140 lbs dog before I was healed.  And I was home all day long with him and the baby by myself. It was liking having another child. He was on several hundred dollars a month of pain meds and arthritis meds that screwed up his bowels/digestion.  When he started bleeding rectally again and I knew it was going to cost us another several thousand dollars (we had already spent over $10k on him in the prior 1.5 years for a ruptured spleen and the same problem and it just kept reoccurring and everytime would get worse and he would end up more feeble and sickly after a bout with it) to nurse him back to health only to prolong the inevitable, I told DH enough was enough.  We were just prolonging the life of a dog who had very little quality of life.  Our priority needed to be with our son and not with a dog who had needed constant care and attention.  Deep down, I will admit that a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was the one who had to put up with all of the demands of an ailing, crippled 140 pound dog while recovering from a csection and caring for LO.  I still feel guilty about it, though.  Even worse, DH had nightmares about the dog for months after we put him down.  I felt horrible. Horrible. I don't know if I will ever put another animal down after that experience.   

Different situation...but I do understand the sentiment.  If there are people that would provide a good home to her, I think that might be better for her...

Saraevh

@Elf OMG.  I am soooooo going to put her on human Prozac.  Especially if it's only $10!  I don't care what my husband says, I'll sneak it to her everyday  

mcgeeva

Eh I love my dog but I have my days. When he has cost me almost 1 k in the past 3 weeks since we moved it gets old. Ours is 9 and has been pooping in the house now - never before, keeping us up at night with hacking, will jump on the table to steal food as well and as soon as ds goes to bed - its in my lap he goes or on top of me. If DS is playing we me he jumps on ds. Never ending. I can imagine when our next one comes - he will be a nightmare alllllllllllll over again. But I couldn't get rid of him no matter how much he pisses me off. I love him - he just annoys the s@it out of me with going in the house and acting our when he is a trained dog. And spoiled might I add..he sleeps in our bed.

mcgeeva

I can't tell you howwwwwww many messages I heard while I was sitting at the vet waiting for my dog with people asking for dog prozac. It's common I tell you. People calling in saying we are going on a trip to a friends this weekend - we don't need our dog acting crazy and need him to sleep through the night. Can you get us a relaxer please. So hillarious

Ruthie04

I am so with Ducky on this one. I was desperate for a dog when we were going through treatment. But, I have absolutely no desire for one now. And, I really don't want to get one for the boys either. It is just so much work and they are so messy. Plus, they die and that's sad.

I always tell DH the boys are like puppies anyway. They bite, chase balls around the house, and try to eat food that falls on the floor. It's a lot. I totally understand your feelings on this one!

ETA: I realize this makes me sound like a horrible person. I do like dogs- I just don't want to own them .