As lovable as both dogs look, they can be pretty devious. Both dogs are at times the most adorable animal you could ask for, but each also has moments where they are clearly just playing with my mind.
Jack is very... rambunctious. When he is outside, he goes mad for sticks, twigs, branches and small trees. There was a very small maple in the back yard, but every time Jack would run past, he would jump through the tree, most often taking a limb off in his mouth as he went. Inside the house, Jack prefers stuffed toys. Well, really he prefers to un-stuff toys. The average stuffed toys last less than five minutes. The cheap ones last about 30 seconds, and the really nice expensive ones last over multiple play sessions (as long as the toy is hidden in between). One evening before Aleece and Max were in the picture, Jack escaped from his crate while I was out to dinner. When I walked in the front door, stuffing from at least ten different toys littered the floor. It looked like a white fluffy bomb had gone off! Needless to say, Jack doesn't get the option to play with stuffed toys very often, even though they are his favorite kind of toy.
The other main problem with Jack is, he is big. I mean, BIG. Roughly 85 pounds, and tall. His head is roughly table height. We went out and bought a bar height table in December so that he wouldn't be able to rest his head next to our dinner plates anymore. As far as having an impact on being married goes, the table was nothing. The big problem with Jack is the amount of space he takes up in a bed.
At the end of the day, Max is a good dog too but he has his own set of issues. Very early in our relationship, I had about had all of Max I could stand. We could not do anything without Max having to be right next to Aleece. Going in the pool or hottub was impossible. Sitting on the deck was ok, as long as the dogs were separated (Max has little dog-syndrome and for the first few months of his friendship with Jack was determined to draw blood; he succeeded). Furthermore, Max wasn't completely potty trained and needed doggy diapers anytime he was going to be left alone for more than thirty seconds. One night, Aleece took his diaper off as he sat on the foot of my bed and he "leaked" a little bit. I was not impressed.
Regardless of how frustrated I was with him, I knew that Max and Aleece were a package deal. I couldn't have her without accepting Max too. Instead of wasting time and energy staying frustrated, I decided to accept Max, just not his behavior. Of course with time, he got better. He can now be left alone for minutes at a time without peeing on something, he enjoys being crated while home alone (no more diapers!) and can even survive when Aleece leaves the room without crying. In fact, I downright love the little fluff-ball.
If I hadn't wanted to put up with Max, I can easily say that my relationship with Aleece never would have had a chance to progress to the point of getting married. Looking back on it, I wonder how many potential marriages get ruined because of issues like this. Or how many marriages get ruined because one or both of the partners cannot let something go. My piece of advice for anyone married or wanting to be married, work on these things. Maybe the dog isn't the problem, but there is something your partner does that you don't like. If you don't compromise and communicate, the issue will fester until it destroys your relationship. Do not allow this to happen. Issues like dogs that are bed-hogs or poorly potty trained may seem small, but over time they could become a much larger issue. Take a stand and say, "No. I love this person to much for something this small to affect me," then go out and make something change for the better!
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