'AITA for telling my boyfriend he has to sing to my dog?' 'He won't eat.'
"AITA for telling my boyfriend he has to sing to my dog?"
Hello! Me and my boyfriend (both 30M) have been together for a few years and have started to live together with my dog, Lucky (8M). Lucky is a very sweet dog, who responds to singing. When I feed him at meal times he'll only eat it if I sing "The most important meal of the day, serving it up Lucky's way" like from SpongeBob.
If you don't sing this he'll leave his food and cry until you sing it. I'm going away for a few days this weekend and my boyfriend is looking after Lucky, and I told him he's gonna have to sing that or he won't eat.
He says I'm being an ahole and that he's not going to embarrass himself in front of the dog, if he's hungry he'll eat and he shouldn't have to sing to him. AITA here? I get that it's a little bit silly, but dogs like routine and he's going to be upset enough that I'm away. The least he can do is sing to him.
Later, OP edited the post to include:
I get people thinking I'm an ahole for telling my boyfriend he should sing to he dog, however I strongly disagree with the people making out that I'm treating Lucky badly or that he's not well trained. I rescued him when he was 1 from a family who would lock him in the kitchen all day while they were out, and then would shout at him if he came to them for attention.
He's come out of his shell a lot since I adopted him, and he wags his whole butt when I sing to him. Other than a couple of quirks he's a very well trained dog who goes to weekly training classes, and he gets plenty of mental and physical stimulation as well as all the cuddles and attention he needs. He's a happy boy and I wouldn't have him any other way.
Here's what top commenters had to say about this one:
Outrageous_Sink_6965 said:
I don't think you're an AH but I'm am concerned about the Pavlovian training you instilled (most likely unknowing because this is actually really set as a pet owner) might come back to haunt you in the long run.
As a fellow pet owner, I'd suggest finding ways to lessen the amount that is needed like weaning a child from bottles to solid foods. That way Lucky doesn't feel any confusion on when he is supposed to eat.
IrrelevantManatee said:
YTA, this is ridiculous. If your dog is really willing to starve himself if you don't jump through the hoops, you clearly trained him pretty badly. This dog needs to learn to be less dependant on you. This is not healthy.
Silver_Narwhal_1130 said:
NTA. I’m not sure who sh%^ in everybody’s cheerios here. Sure is it weird that your dog needs a song to eat? Yeah. Should you work on it so he doesn’t need a song? Probably. I’m not quite sure how it’s embarrassing for the boyfriend unless he posts it on Instagram live.
I mean the dog likes the song so I don’t think he’s laughing at him lol. If my girlfriend told me I had to be a little silly for her dog I would gladly. IMO your boyfriend should be willing to be a little silly for you. His masculinity and ego should remain intact for such a simple task.
anothertypicalcmmnt said:
YTA Your boyfriend isn't responsible for your dog and is free to refuse to dogsit if there's a requirement that he's uncomfortable with or unable to do. You'll have to find someone else or pay to have your dog boarded.
Also, out of curiosity, why did you chose a cartoon jingle as the verbal cue instead of something appropriately short and to the point...? Personally, I'd sing the jingle cause I don't care if a dog and an empty room hears me sing, but even while I was doing it I'd be thinking "This is so dumb." lol.
campinhikingal said:
NTA. Everyone here is saying you’re the asshole and I disagree. It’s a silly way to train your dog absolutely, but your boyfriend is the huge ahole for refusing to do a small request because he’s “embarrassed” in front of the dog?!
Travel8059 said:
Yta Youre spoiling the dog and this could actually be horrible for the dog... If no one else can feed it...what you're teaching it is a bad thing. It's like giving into a toddler tantrum. Just feed the dog like normal.
A dog won't starve itself if food is available. Just like people won't. Expecting other people to sing to your dog is utterly ridiculous . See you've already got yourself into a situation. The dog will only eat if you sing to it. Now you want to go away. I guess you either don't go away or you bring the dog with you.
a_weird_pickle said:
YTA. This is kind of ridiculous to request that. I know you love your dog and everything but expecting people to do that is a little unnecessary. How can your dog only eat if you sing? Your boyfriend is right, if your dog is hungry he will eat. And if he doesn’t eat without a song I’m afraid you failed as a dog owner.