Boyfriend (24 m) expects me (23 f) and my family to take care of his puppy, don’t know how to handle the situation

Sorry if this is long and bumpy, but basically my boyfriend of 6 months adopted a puppy this week without thoroughly thinking it through.

He is broke, and can barely afford feeding himself, let alone his $700 per month rent in a really bad area. Now he has to provide for a dog. He works at a pet store so he gets discount on foods and supplies, but it’s still an expense.

We currently don’t live together, I live at my moms place. I knew he was planning on getting a dog for a long while, but I kind of kept my mouth shut about it, which in retrospect was a bad idea. I have a serious medical illness, so I’ve been having to work from home and take classes at university part time. I think he knew how available I was during the day, so just assumed that I would be totally on board for taking care of the puppy while he is at work day after day.

I know it’s my fault for not discussing his specific plans for the dog before he adopted, and also encouraging him to adopt a dog. I just didn’t realize or anticipate just how much of the responsibility would fall on me. He made it sound like the puppy come even come with him to work, since he works at a pet store. Foolish of me not to realize the impracticality of it all, and call him out on it sooner.

Now that the dog is here, I’ve been the one taking care of it pretty much 24/7 while he sleeps at his apartment and goes to work during the day. He offered to stay at my house overnight with me and the dog, but my mom doesn’t want him in our house, and is already angry about having a puppy here without warning.

Yesterday we brought her to the pet store, and we were collecting more puppy supplies. I thought he was going to pay, but when we were at the register, he ended up asking me to pay for it. I’m so angry. It feels like he doesn’t respect me or my time at all, and I feel used.

TL;DR: , Boyfriend got a puppy, and expects me to be taking care of it while he’s at work because he knows I’m available. I didn’t realize it meant that he basically wanted me to keep the puppy and have 24/7 of the responsibility, which is what it has turned out to be. Maybe it is also my fault for seeming encouraging about him adopting a puppy, so I’m not placing sole blame on him. I just feel like I’m being used and taken for granted, and I also feel guilty because I love animals and the puppy seems happy in my home now.

Submitted April 27, 2019 at 11:41AM by howdoiknow818 http://bit.ly/2UYkKgQ