Okay so...a dog is going to ruin your marriage?

Not buying it.

What is ACTUALLY going on here?

I have a lot of questions and a lot of thoughts...

If you rather hear me rant while I do my makeup... watch the vid, other wise - read on

Biggest issue I am seeing is that you are not communicating with your wife. At least it doesn't seem like you are.

This could be solved by having a chat about household responsibilities. You two chose to share a life, and yes, that includes her dog. BUT other than not allowing the dog to come to any harm or starve.... if you two talk and set "the rule" that she is responsible for caring for the dog maybe that would ease the frustration and resentment.

Be specific.

If you're okay with feeding the dog in the morning and nothing else, say that. If you think the apartment needs to be cleaned once a week to get up the dog hair, say that.

Now let me be clear, I am not saying your wife is responsible for cleaning your apartment. Y'all are PARTNERS and should act as such. If she is doing the dog care - whatchu gon do?

You CANNOT just "get rid" of a dog.

Having a pet is a commitment. Your wife made the choice to adopt/buy/whatever this animal and has a responsibility to care for that life.

It is unfair of you to think getting rid of the dog is a simple solution. I am HOPING that if you two do choose to not have this dog anymore that you will re-home the dog and put forth a whole lot of effort to get your dog to a good home.

I am assuming - because I obviously don't know the whole story here - that your wife had this dog before you two got married so

YES

absolutely this should have been a conversation before getting married.

I am not a pet person, so I get you. I don't want any animals in my home. I don't do hair, smells, or the responsibility of caring for another life. But I also make that extremely clear when I am dating someone. I'm not an asshole, I am not going to stare the dog down as it begs for food simply on the principle that "that's not my dog. that's on you." Because I am not a crazy person. I do though make it very clear that if YOUR dog is crying at 5AM to go outside and it wakes me up, I will kick you, shake you, shine a light in your face...until YOU wake up and take YOUR dog out.

Are you actually thinking your wife would prefer to be with someone else...OVER A DOG?

If you love your wife, putting up with a dog for the rest of its - let's be real - not so long life, shouldn't be a huge hassle. Y'all are going to have MUCH bigger hurdles to get over in this life and if some dog hair and less than pleasant smells are going to be the cause of your relationship pains.... baby, you gotta get to work on yourself, your communication skills, and how to be an adult.

TALK TO YOUR WIFE.

Will this be a fun conversation? No. Will it be so much better for BOTH of you afterwards? Yes.

If you can't compromise over a pet, household chores, and figure out the best way to communicate with each other... then yeah. Y'all need to bow out of this one.