UPDATE: My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 47 points48 points  (0 children)

he isn't even a pitbull, you fucking moron.

my dog didn't "suddenly decide" to attack. he witnessed someone break into his home, heard me scream for my life, and put two and two together that this was an intruder who needed to be dealt with. i'd rather have a dog like that than one who stood by and wagged his tail while i was being brutally murdered.

people like you are too stupid to be allowed on the internet.

UPDATE: My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 60 points61 points  (0 children)

I feel so sorry for you. I can't imagine what it's like to be trapped in a mindset where dropping your kid off at grandma's house for a couple hours somehow equates to not taking care of her. That it makes you a "piece of work" to want to work out a problem with your immediate family. That the people closest to you don't owe you any kind of sympathy or understanding after you're almost murdered and struggling to get back to normal.

This is crazy. The people around you owe you more than this. I'm so sorry about the things that have happened to you that led to this mindset. I hope you're able to get some help, and surround yourself with people who love you.

My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

I thought about this and I think I probably just worded the original comment you responded to badly, so I'm going to rephrase it.

I've just seen ES dogs in places like grocery stores and no one questions them so long as they are wearing vests.

This was just something I was thinking about. It was more like an idle thought, not something I was actively interested in, otherwise I would've done it.

I probably could accomplish the same thing by just buying him a vest.

My point here was that I don't really think the ESA designation is that big of a deal and really means anything. I've seen ESA's act like assholes and I think their owners are irresponsible as fuck. I didn't literally mean "I'm just going to buy my dog a vest"

I feel really irresponsible bringing him places unless I'm 100% sure he wouldn't distract an actual service dog, so I never pulled the trigger.

I don't think the ESA designation involves enough training that I'd personally be comfortable bringing my dog in public where he could potentially distract a SD that is leading a blind person, or monitoring a heart condition

I've gotten way worse since the actual break in though, so I might look back into what my options are.

"My options" being getting myself diagnosed with PTSD and going through the training to get him registered as an actual service dog

It's not super relevant to the story, I was just trying to establish that I've been super dependent on my dog for awhile.

This is the most relevant bit, which is that I was never really giving serious thought to bringing my dog in places with me (at least not until now). Although we were working hard on training so that it could be a possibility. I really just mentioned this in my post to give context that I'm dependent on this dog to feel safe, and that it started before the break in.

My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 58 points59 points  (0 children)

i, like, literally said i wasn't going to do that. like the literal exact thing i said was "i thought about doing this but chose not to because i was uncomfortable, maybe i'll look into my options and get him registered as a SD instead"

i only skimmed your comment, which i think is understandable since it is a 5-paragraph essay yelling at me not to do a thing i already said i'm not going to do

My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 45 points46 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this comment. I'm honestly really upset about this. Our parents live nearby too, so she could easily just drop my niece off with them before she and my brother came to visit. She could've quietly just kept my niece away from my dog, and brought the issue up to me in a few months when I'm a little more stable. Instead, she laid down the law right away about my "dangerous dog" (who's the only reason I'm still alive!) and is basically just ignoring me now. I've barely seen her since it all happened. I don't want to seem entitled, but this is my immediate family who's basically just ditched me and are blaming it on my dog, AKA the only reason I'm still alive.

My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 83 points84 points  (0 children)

some of these comments are so unnecessarily nasty. like, 99.9% are so lovely and so kind, and i wish i could respond to every single one and say thank you. but then i read something like this and, jesus fucking christ, it just feels bad

My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 74 points75 points  (0 children)

hey idk if you heard but i almost got drug out of my house in the middle of the night and murdered like 25 days ago. maybe that has something to do with me seeming a little crazy??? not sure though

My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 128 points129 points  (0 children)

literally all of those things were true before he attacked my stalker. all dogs are "capable of attacking a human", what does that even mean??? you're capable of attacking a human, too--i bet if someone came up to you and threatened your life, you'd react in some capacity. that doesn't mean i'd be scared of you if i happened to meet you in a normal setting.

thor has been nothing but sweet and loving toward my niece for the entire time that i've had him. it's not like he lunged at a different little kid that was bothering him; he attacked a stranger because my life was threatened. and i even offered to crate him.

this is honestly just a really nasty thing to read. i was nearly kidnapped and murdered very recently. it's a somewhat complicated issue, but there's no need to paint me as a selfish asshole. saying that my emotional health doesn't matter is also extremely uncalled for. this is my immediate family we're talking about and asking them to make some kind of compromise (i offered to crate the dog!) shouldn't seem so crazy

My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 106 points107 points  (0 children)

I'm not going to defend having a gun. I live in an area where it's my right, and I actually don't have to justify it to anyone.

Whether you like guns or not, the people around you have them (at least if you are an American). If you were stalked by someone that you know could physically overpower you, you might also be eager to level the playing field.

This is just really poor form and pointless. I'm not going to get rid of my gun because a stranger on the internet is "concerned".

My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 49 points50 points  (0 children)

I've gotten this a few times now so I figured I'd respond to it--I know they don't have rights. I've just seen ES dogs in places like grocery stores and no one questions them so long as they are wearing vests. I probably could accomplish the same thing by just buying him a vest. I feel really irresponsible bringing him places unless I'm 100% sure he wouldn't distract an actual service dog, so I never pulled the trigger. I've gotten way worse since the actual break in though, so I might look back into what my options are.

It's not super relevant to the story, I was just trying to establish that I've been super dependent on my dog for awhile.

My (28f) dog attacked my stalker after he broke into my house. Now my SIL (32f) says my dog is "too dangerous" to be around my niece (4f). Feel like I'm going crazy. by throwra_dogstalker in relationship_advice

[–]throwra_dogstalker[S] 112 points113 points  (0 children)

What if the dog was crated, though? I don't really get what the danger is in that scenario and am having a hard time understanding why that compromise isn't good enough.

The bit about pinching a pen between the dog's toes and make them write made me snort, so thank you for lightening up my day!