If you’re a dog owner, chances are, you feel like you’d do anything to give your furry friend a happy life.
Some people adopt a dog and find out it has health issues later on, which can be a tremendous challenge.
One woman is distraught and unsure of what to do after bending over backward to try and give her special needs dog a good life.
“My dog is a special needs, reactive dog,” she explained.
“She has debilitating anxiety. She takes four to five medications to manage her anxiety every day. It is over a dozen pills that I have to give her, spaced throughout the day. I have accepted this is how our life will be, and this is what she needs from me.”
Her dog has seen multiple veterinarians and specialists, who say her behavioral issues are due to her slow development. Although her dog is two-years-old, she still acts like a young puppy with extreme anxiety.
She works a shift-based job and makes a good amount of money. She’s spent over $20,000 to make accommodations for her dog, but nothing has seemed to work.
She has consulted veterinarians about behavioral euthanasia, which would involve humanely putting her dog down to relieve her suffering.
However, the doctors felt that the longer she’s on her medicine regimen and receives more training, the better she’ll get.
“I love her very much, and I am committed for the long run, the rest of her life, even though it will be hard and not what I expected,” she said.
“I have done everything I can for her, including most recently, paying double in rent to move to a high-cost-of-living [place] with a backyard.”
This is the third time she’s moved in two years to find a place that makes her dog more comfortable. With her new living situation, she has to commute hours to get to work every day, and she’s becoming exhausted.
On top of that, her dog has a hard time sleeping at night and often wakes her up hourly.
“I have not slept without her waking me for this period of time,” she added.
“I am exhausted. In that time, my temper has grown increasingly short. I have tried relaxing, trying to exercise more with her to get her energy out, as well as more relaxation for me, reading, [and] watching movies. Most of these activities are disrupted by her wanting my attention.”
It’s hard to catch a break from her dog since her health issues often keep her from being able to stay at a dog boarding facility.
While she loves her dog, all of these complications have made her have a few outbursts, where she ends up yelling at her dog and tugging on her leash.
She feels incredibly guilty whenever she does have an outburst because she knows her dog can’t control her behavioral issues.
She’s simply at her wit’s end and can’t seem to find ways to care for herself because all her time is dedicated to helping her dog.
“I want to change because this is not the person I used to be and not the person I want to be, and most importantly, it is not the person she deserves,” she said.
How should she handle this situation with her dog while making time for herself?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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