What Started As A Simple Rescue Turned Into Two Years Of Chaos, Love, And A Dog This Redditor Can’t Imagine Giving Up
When a Redditor found a dog abandoned at a local dog park, she didn’t hesitate to stay with him until nightfall and then bring him home. The dog, later named Dave, had no collar or microchip, but it was clear he’d once been someone’s pet—he was neutered, housebroken, and instantly friendly.
Despite posting on lost pet pages and searching for an owner or a rescue, no one came forward. The Redditor wasn’t willing to take Dave to a kill shelter, so he stayed with her family instead.
At first, her husband wasn’t thrilled about the new addition, but almost two years later, Dave had fully integrated into the family. Their other dog bonded with him, the Redditor had fallen in love, and even her husband had grudgingly accepted that Dave was part of their household.
Things became complicated when her brother-in-law and his family moved in temporarily. Their 8-year-old autistic son instantly bonded with Dave, sneaking out of bed to sleep in the dog’s bed and becoming deeply attached to him.
Before she even knew, her brother-in-law thanked the Redditor for “letting” them keep Dave once they moved out. This caught her off guard and sparked a fight with her husband, leaving her feeling outnumbered.
Her husband argued that since Dave was initially “fostered” rather than adopted, it was fair to give him a permanent home with his nephew. He saw it as a win-win: Dave would be loved, and their other dog could still have companionship.
But the Redditor couldn’t shake the feeling that Dave had become her dog over the last two years. The idea of giving him away, especially with her nephew’s attachment being used as leverage, felt wrong and unthinkable, making her question whether anyone could truly replace him.
The little boy instantly bonded with Dave and became deeply attached to him.
Here's the original post by Reddit user 'buthesmydog'.
I found a dog (Dave) that had been abandoned at a dog park. I waited with him until it was dark and then took him home with the intention of trying to find an owner or a rescue that would take him. He had no collar and when I took him to my vet the next day, we couldn’t find a microchip.
He was clearly someone’s pet at some point—he’s neutered, housebroken and very friendly. Re-homing him never really panned out, no owner ever turned up despite searching and posting on lost pet pages, and I wasn’t willing to take him to a kill shelter.
My husband was annoyed at first, but it’s been almost two years now. My other dog has bonded with him, I’ve fallen in love with him, and even my husband has grudgingly accepted him. As far as I’m concerned, Dave’s part of our family.
My brother-in-law and his family relocated to our city and moved in with us while they were closing on a house. My 8-yo nephew has autism and it’s caused him some struggles. His parents had talked about trying to find him a pet but I guess they never found a good fit, at least until they met Dave. He really bonded with Dave, to the point where he sneaks out of bed at night to sleep in Dave’s dog bed with him.
Dave is all he talks about and he gets upset whenever we leave the house and don’t take the dogs with us. I guess my SIL talked to my husband about keeping Dave when they move out and my husband told her he’d have to talk to me but I guess there was a strong insinuation that it would okay.
I only found out about this proposal when my BIL approached me and thanked me for letting them keep Dave before my husband ever even mentioned it to me. My husband and I had a fight and when the dust settled, it’s the 3 of them against me.
My husband feels that because Dave was living with us more by accident than design so we were really fostering him more than keeping him, and so it would be selfish to keep him when my nephew clearly loves him so much.
He says we can go to the shelter and get another companion for our other dog, so that’s like a win-win—Dave gets a home and another dog gets out of the shelter for Christmas. And Dave would certainly be very loved and spoiled with my in-laws, and yet…after two years, he feels like my dog.
The thought of giving him away after all this time hurts and the idea that my in-laws are using my nephew’s autism as some kind of trump card to prove they’re entitled to have him really rubs me the wrong way. And I don’t see him as interchangeable, like I can just pop down to the shelter and score a perfect replacement.
ETA: My husband doesn’t hate Dave. He still plays with him, pets him, gives him treats, etc. just like he does with our other dog. He just had a feeling that if we took him in, we'd be stuck with him and that’s what happened. We both tried to find a new home for him but it became clear after a few months it wasn’t going to happen. But we DID try. I didn’t strongarm or bully my husband into keeping him.
And while we never formally sat down and said, “Okay, Dave is officially our dog from this day forward,” a lot of things strongly implied that, from the time my husband came home from Petsmart with an engraved bone-shaped ID tag for Dave’s collar that matched our other dog’s to agreeing to get him microchipped with our address at his annual vet visit last year.
He jokes that Dave was an “accident” and that he’s useless because our other dog is a purebred that he got and trained specifically for hunting, while Dave is just a mutt that sometimes plays fetch and sleeps on the couch. I think my in-laws heard Dave’s backstory, picked up on the jokes, and assumed maybe we would be willing to part with him since we'd tried to re-home him before.
And I’m not going to divorce my husband because he’s willing to part with Dave because I’m almost certain his desire to give Dave to my nephew is coming more from a place of wanting my nephew to have something that gives his childhood a sense of normalcy rather than dump a dog he doesn’t want off on someone else.
And I think he really meant to talk to me about my SIL's request, it's just my BIL was so excited at the possibility of keeping the dog that my BIL beat him to it. 2ETA: Dave reacts to my nephew the same way he reacts to everyone—he wags his tail and loves to take treats, but they don't have this transformative connection that transcends all time and space.
It's not like we all encouraged my nephew to get so attached to Dave because we thought it would be adorable or funny—it happened rather quickly and organically.
Here’s how the Reddit community reacted.
Give hubby away instead.
“A dog is not a toy.”
Dave isn’t an object to be passed around.
NTA.
“Keep Dave!”
“He is your dog.”
Don’t let them force you.
Hubby is the AH.
“Dave already found his home.”
Autism isn’t an excuse.
“Two years is a long time.”
“That dog has bonded to you.”
They should adopt a dog from a shelter.
Dave may have started as a stray, but he’s left paw prints on everyone’s hearts. One thing’s for sure—this dog isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
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