Love this!

I agree. I think a relationship is a package deal, much like if one of you had children.

It's just a good thing when your SO respects your passions. So, if you love, love, your dog, then your SO should care about that. I agree that you can't expect him to be as crazy about your dog as you are. You can expect him to support you.
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Be careful what you wish for! With my first yorkie, my ex-husband listed my yorkie in our divorce papers and asked for visitation with my yorkie :eek:

of course, he didn't get it :D

When he stopped by the last month, he met ZoE for the first time and asked if he could hold her. I just glared at him. He laughed & said, "don't worry, I won't ask for joint custody". Men! :rolleyes:

LOL, this is a great question for me. Yes, been there, but the SO adjusted, very well might I add:D. My dh and I have been together for almost 8 yrs., married for almost 1yr:rolleyes: and living together for 7yrs. When we first moved in together, he didn't want my Beagle (who was about 5 at the time and I've had since she was 8 weeks). Well, I said "That's my dog, she's MY responsibility and she WILL live with me till the day she dies. I had this dog WAY before I had you!" LOL, long story short, he learned VERY quickly how much I love animals and we now have 5 pets lol.
He didn't want either of the cats (supposably he's not a "cat person") but where can you find him every time he goes to bed - petting our cat Summer and "baby talking" to her, telling her she's a "good kitty" LOL. He taught our cat Chooch how to fetch too. He also was against me getting Alice, but he pets her all the time, even lets her lick his face. I wouldn't say he LOVES them as much as I do, but he definatly does more than just "tolerate" them. That would have been a deal breaker for me, yes. ;)

When I met my DH he was not a dog person and at that time due to circumstances I did not have a dog but I did have a 7 year old son. After we were married for about 4 years I got a mini-schnauzer and was surprised that my DH not only tolerated him but loved him. For the last 2 years he has said NO MORE DOGS. Well about 3 months ago a little yorkie showed up in pitiful condition and we kept her and soon to find our she had 5 puppies. He not only LOVES her we also kept a puppy and since I work and he is retired he is their primary caretaker. He is AWESOME with them. I was talking to him today about how he needed to have a little more discipline with the puppy and he looked at me and said "how in the world can I discipline her all she has to do is look t me with those beautiful eyes and I forget what she did"!!! I would never have thought that he would be willing to live in a 3 dog household let alone be the primary caretaker and they all three sleep in our king size bed with us. He came around although slowly at first but he now is in love with them as much as me!!!! He is an AWESOME DH and I am so LUCKY!!!!! I have 3 furbabies whom I adore, a 19 year old son who came home today from college to surprise me for Mother's Day and a wonder DH!!!!! It doesn't get much better than this!!!

Well Gatsby is hard to love, he is spoiled rotten.
I am crazy about him and so is everyone else in my family but he is spoiled rotten
I did break up with a guy because he did not like that i spoiled Gatsby.
I think in a future SO They would have to respect,tolerate and like Gatsby, the cats(even the mentally retarded one)and the guinea pigs and the turtles.
For someone to love my pets as i love my pets is a hard thing to ask a person who did not raise them from babies (I even raised my turtles from little one inch babies)
however they do need to like and respect them and my relationship with them

I think they'd have to love my dogs. My husband was a BIG dog person, my family always had little dogs. We argued back and forth for years on what kinds of dogs to get. The first were the GS mix as she was abused and we rescued her. The second was the lab we adopted from a deploying soldier. Then came Sarge, my pom baby, the DH couldn't stand the thought of a small dog at first but now they are bosom buddies. (go figure!) Then came Teddie...DH bought him for me for our 18th anniversary because he knew I always wanted one. He sleeps with us, so that should say something about the DH learning to love my small furbabies. Not to mention he says we should have a herd of them upon retirement. :eek:

lol... I grew up with the english version of that saying. I was alway told beware of the person that animals or children don't like!! Truth to that too.


My dh says he doesn't like animals.. but where ever we go he is the goofy person playing with the dogs and sometimes the kids!!! Dogs and kids love him... oh and he loves his fur kids!!

I always loved the saying "Love me, love my dog". We got our fur kids together but he knew right away dogs were part of the package. He has put up with a lot of my animal hobbies, I work with animals so bringing them home every once in a while is a hazard. I think your SO maybe doesnt have to love them as much but with anything they should respect your passions about them and at least treat your furr kids with love and kindness.

Definitely a deal breaker if my SO, didn't love animals. But it is not only loving them, but as I spend a great deal of my free time with my dogs, training, walking, competing, he needs to accept that this the way I spend the bulk of my free time.

He enjoys some aspects of "doggy" life more than others, particularly showing off a well trained dog..lol. But he doesn't have the patience to train them himself, although he doesn't sabotage their training, and has come with me enough to learn the importance of consistency of commands and correction.

He knows and accepts that 99% of the time our vacation time will include our animals, and that precludes many different vacation opportunities.

He will help groom them, and at times will take them to the vet. He was never a small dog person, but now is totally admiring of and loving Razz man. In fact one of Razz's fav spots is ontop of Daddy's lap.

Well my current BF who I do believe will be my spouse some day soon is not an animal person. We've had this conversation and what I do know is that he understands that since I am an animal lover I'm a package deal. But with me I do understand that I have to be somewhat accomodating to him because I love him. It's give and take.

I know his limits and he knows mine. With Troy, he helps out (food, babysitting if needed, clean up, etc.) but I know that if there was more than 1 it would be difficult and stain the relationship.

I think for anyone dating, establishing your limits and compromises is important. I like that my BF is willing to go to the Dog Park with us and be a dog owner. I know that he won't necessarily pick Troy up and allow him to snuggle with him but I do know he'll never harm him or let anyone harm him. He does understand that Troy is family and that's all I can ask for.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Your mother was a very wise woman! I could NEVER be with someone who didn't love my pets! That would be like being with someone who didn't love my son. Especially when it gets to the getting married/living together stage, for me it is not enough for him to simply like them. He must love them. I don't require him to love them as much as I do, but he must love them if he's going to live him them. Otherwise, I think it just leads to multiple problems down the road.

You can't love me if you don't love my furkids. Of course, we got all the girls together so they're ours.

100% yes. Without question. I'm married...and me/hubs got all 3 of our furkids together. But, if he hadn't loved animals/my pets before we married -- no way. He adores our babies to no end. :)

I wouldn't insist that he love Ellie. He would have to be very kind and compassionate to her. I'd say he would have to love animals in general though, or he is going to get really bored talking to me. lol.

Also, more than loving my pets, I retain control of medical and behavioral issues. None of this, "My husband brough home a shock collar for my Yorkie and I don't want to tell him no". Or, "My husband wants to wait XYZ sickness out. He doesn't think we need to go to the vet/doesn't want to spend the money". Absolutely would never tolerate those types of things.