For many people, dogs are more than just pets.
For some, dogs are full blown members of the family, and are seldom without their dog at their side, be it at home or out and about.
Not everyone fully comprehends this lifestyle though.
Redditor Comfortable-Ad7073 found himself defending his decision to keep his dog in the house to some very important houseguests.
And things got heated when these guests went deliberately against him.
But after finding himself at odds with his girlfriend over his behavior, the original poster (OP) took to the subReddit “Am I The A**hole” (AITA), where he asked fellow Redditors:
“AITA for kicking out my GF’s family for tying up my dog?”
The OP first shared that while he and his girlfriend grew up with different views on dogs, she would eventually develop a strong relationship with his dog, Boots.
“I (M[ale] 48) have a girlfriend (GF) “Mariah” (F[emale] 40) that I’ve been seeing for two years.”
“I live in the northeast USA.”
“I also have a dog “Boots” (M3).”
“Boots is a working dog breed, but is well behaved and loved by my friends and neighbors.”
“He has the run of the house, and I also have a big fenced in backyard for him to run around in.”
“Mariah grew up in the south on a farm.”
“She’s been around dogs before, but they’ve always been outside dogs that worked the farm and slept in the barn or kennels.”
“She never had an ‘indoor’ dog like Boots and it was an adjustment to get used to him, but she loves him now.”
“She did mention to me that her mother would never get used to an indoor dog, and would absolutely not allow a dog in the kitchen.”
Mariah’s mother’s opinion of dogs would prove to be something of a problem when she paid a visit.
“Mariah’s mom and brothers wanted to visit her, but Mariah lives in a small one BR apartment and doesn’t have the room for them.”
“Their family also can’t afford a hotel.”
“Mariah asked if the family could stay in my house.”
“My house has plenty of space, so I agreed.”
“They came, and things mostly went well, but as expected, Mariah’s mom kept making comments about Boots being allowed indoors, and how that wasn’t right.”
“I told them (gently) that I’ll keep Boots from bothering them (not allowing him in their bedrooms, trying to keep him underfoot), but this is my home, with my rules and Boots gets to hang indoors with me.”
“Aside from being around, Boots didn’t do anything provoke them.”
“He generally chills in whatever room I’m in, unless someone is actively playing with him.”
While the OP hoped that Mariah’s mother would respect his house rules, he instead made a most unpleasant discovery.
“One morning, I woke up late and came downstairs to see Mariah’s family making/eating breakfast.
“I noticed that Boots wasn’t around and I asked where he was.”
“Mariah’s mom said ‘dogs don’t belong in the kitchen, so we put him outside’.”
“I was slightly annoyed, but Boots likes being outside, so I figured it wasn’t a big deal.”
“I looked out the window thinking I would see him on my back deck (his usual spot) but he wasn’t there.”
“I stepped outside to find him, and still couldn’t see him.”
“I went around the corner of the house and found Boots tied up to the fence using rope from kindling bundles I have for my fire pit.”
“After untying Boots, I went back inside and asked Mariah’s mom why they tied up my dog.”
“She said that dogs shouldn’t be allowed to run around, and she was just treating him like a dog should be treated.”
“I told them to pack their shit and get the f*ck out (GTFO).”
{Mariah and her mom called me an a**hole because they had nowhere else to go.”
“I said that was their problem, if they couldn’t respect me and my dog, they had to get out.
AITA?”
The OP also clarified that as angry as Mariah was at the way the OP treated her family, she was also angry by how they treated Boots.
“Mariah didn’t know about or condone Boots’ treatment, she was worried about her family being put out.”
“Mariah loves Boots and spoils him worse than I do.”
“For example, she often takes him on long walks, and she insisted on holding a birthday party for him complete with pupcakes.”
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
The Reddit community was in agreement that the OP was not the a**hole, and was well within his rights to kick Mariah’s family out of his house.
Everyone felt that the OP’s actions were more than justified as Mariah’s mother deliberately defied his rules regarding Boots when he opened up his home to her, with many finding what she did to Boots inhumane.
“Oh but they do have somewhere to go: right back where they came from.”
“If they can’t respect that Boots is a resident of that house then they can gtfo.”
“NTA.”- Megmca.
“NTA.”
“You clearly explained your house rules to them, those were ignored.”
“Plus actually mistreating the dog is an insta-ban in my book.”- PlatypusDream.
‘NTA.”
“Lets be honest- putting him outside would have sufficed.”
“They tied him up to ‘prove a point’, and you proved your point by kicking their a**es out.”-Scott13Pippen.
“NTA.”
“Your house, your rules.”
“He’s a working dog breed but not an actual working dog.”
“You don’t keep house pets outside.”
“Plenty of people on farms have the working dogs in kennels outside and the pet dogs inside.”
“No offense but f*ck ‘Mariah’s’ mother for being so blasé about deciding what’s good for your dog in your house.”
‘I HATE when people think they can come in and just change stuff.”
“I’d never do anything like that in someone else’s home.”
“Please ask Boots about who might be a good boy because that I think he might be one.”
“I just want confirmation for my files.”- Lupin13
“NTA.”
Y”our home, your dog, your rules.”
“I can dig putting Boots out in the yard while cooking, (I wouldn’t unless the dog was being a PITA, but I can accept that some folks have strong feelings about pets being around while preparing food) but tying Boots to the fence with a makeshift tether (that I have to assume was was way too short, on top of everything else) was a bridge too far and showed clearly that these people couldn’t be allowed to be near your dog for one more minute.”
“I find their attitude about dogs really weird because most Southerners I’ve known either treat their dogs better than their kin or with a sort of benign neglect, letting them have the run of the place outside because their job is to chase off varmints and bark at revenuers.”
“Give Boots an ear rub for me.”- rapt2right.
“NTA.”
T”hey disrespected your house rules.”
“What would they have said, if you visited them and took your dog into their kitchen and just told them: “
“Dogs are family members and should be treated accordingly?”
“They disrespected you, which is the important issue here.”- NyotaHikaru.
“NTA.”
“Your house, your dog, huge favor you were doing them, your rules apply.”-snootnoots.
“NTA.”
“You gave guests the ground rules for how to treat your dog: they failed to meet the minimum requirements.”
“Removing them from further influence is appropriate.”
“Mariah’s mother can get f’d.”-tosser9212.
“NTA it’s dangerous to haphazardly tie dogs to fixed objects, lots of dogs have had fatal accidents this way.”
“Don’t let those people back into your house.”- perse_hallorann.
“NTA.”
“I can’t stand it when people try to make up rules for other people’s pets.”
“You were nice enough to invite them into your house, they should’ve abided by your rules.”-xs*umf*cx.
“NTA Boots is the resident, Mariah’s mom is the guest.”
“Guests don’t make the rules.”
“Blows my mind that he ‘had’ to be tied up when you have a fenced backyard for him, sounds extra torturous to me.”- glauck006.
“NTA.”
“Your house, your rules.”
“And also no dogs shouldn’t be tied up 24/7 or outside all the time.”
“Like depending on the weather where you live, that’s borderline abuse.”-PanickedLlama2000.
“NTA.”
“It’s YOUR house, where you live with YOUR dog, and by extension it’s your dog’s house too.”
“They are guests in your home and should treat ALL the occupants there with respect.”
“Any and all issues they have with how you choose live in it is their personal problem, not yours.”
“So if they have that much of a problem with how you live your life with your dog, then they can just go and sleep on the floor of GFs one bedroom apartment then.”
“And even if your GF moved in with you, your dog was there first, so she still doesn’t get a say.”-Careful-Listen2277.
It would have been one thing if Boots appeared to pose some kind of physical threat to Mariah’s mother.
But that was not the case, and the fact that she took it upon herself to tie him up, rather than simply leave him outside is pretty shocking.
Here’s hoping the OP’s relationship with Mariah can recover from this.