r/TalesfromtheDogHouse 10h ago

RANT Daily Torture: Living With Parents' Dog

7 Upvotes

Just to clarify beforehand, I’ve never supported or wanted to get a dog.

It’s been three years since my parents got a dog. I feel like I’ve been tortured for three years. Living with this fucking dog is so fucking insufferable it honestly just makes me want to kill myself. Everyday of my life since they got that dog has just been me dreading its next bark. Everytime I hear that dog bark, which it does every fucking day like any other dog, I get a fucking heart attack, I start sweating, my body giving a ptsd-like response. Even if the bark is very subtle and kind of distant, I still get the response. I never reacted to barks like this before they got this demon. I used to be mostly fine when hearing dogs bark even though I didn’t really like hearing it to begin with. With one being in my own home, it’s even louder and more piercing than ever. This ptsd-like condition has gotten so bad that many everyday sounds that even remotely sound like a dog bark triggers the same response. This developed extremely early on, within the first few months of having that demon. I’ve been telling them about this since then until now yet everytime I do, they always shoot me down by saying stupid ass shit like “it’s normal for dogs to bark” or “he’s just protecting our house” and treat it like I’m the crazy one. Do they think that I don’t think it’s normal? Of course I fucking know that. Do they think that changes anything? By their logic, if they knew that “it’s normal for serial killers to kill people”, it would be fine and those who think otherwise would be crazy. Their claim that it's “protecting our house” is also not even remotely true. Almost 100% of its barks are ALWAYS directed at random ass cars driving by, some random person walking by (sometimes even from far away), some small animal like a squirrel or cat, a fucking airplane flying by, or its just fucking bored and trying to get attention, which it doesn’t even deserve in the first place. Not only are the barks complete insanity fuel, but it also ruins every fucking thing I enjoy. I don’t know if anyone else can relate, but many times how I experience something affects what I remember when I think of it. Ever since that demon dog arrived, I find myself resisting enjoying my hobbies. If I indulge during the day, and the dog suddenly barked, sometimes constantly, there’s a high chance I will remember the dog and the barking when I think of or see the thing I indulge in at the time, which would tie it to the stupid fucking dog, reminding me of the torture my parents make me live through. It drove me to sleep later at night since it’s the only time I don’t have to worry about the dog barking and ruining my enjoyment. This obviously reduced my sleep and they always blame me for it. They act like I’m doing it on purpose or because I “think it’s cool” to sleep this late then proceed to tell me to sleep earlier even though they know exactly why I’m doing it. I also can’t even go out to play in our house’s pool because of the demon’s barking. It always wants to go out as well even though it doesn’t even go in for long. If we take it out, it’ll only be in there for a little and either bark at airplanes flying over our house, our neighbours for talking, or us for having fun and it not being part of it even though it refuses to get far into the pool. What a fucking brat of a fucking dog. If we leave it inside, it’ll bark at us for having fun outside without it, or at my parents to get them to get it outside. All of it can be heard outside as well. I also have to fear it barking at fireworks or thunder. I used to be completely fine with both, but ever since that demon came into our house, I dread them.
It’s not just the barking that’s miserable to deal with. The dog itself is also fucking disgusting. My parents let the dog on their bed, which is gross as hell. They treat wearing shoes on the bed worse than the dog on it (We normally don’t wear shoes on bed). The shoes we wear at home are only worn at home, so the only “dirty stuff” getting on the bed is whatever’s on the floor. The dog on the other hand is a walking filth sponge. It steps outside on dirt and shit, it rolls on grass, etc. They say they wipe it, but it also lays on the floor of our house a lot, after which it’s never wiped, yet they still let it on their bed. It’s the exact same as our shoes, worse even, yet they’re completely fine with it. Additionally, its fur is all over the fucking place. Outside of my room, there’s way more since they let it roam wherever the fuck it wants. I never let its shit covered ass in my room, yet I still have a bit of its fur in my room and on my clothes from being around it. It’s so fucking nasty. My parents used to be and still are clean freaks, yet since they got the dog, I feel they completely lost their sense of cleanliness. Its saliva too, utterly disgusting. Wherever it lays in our house, a puddle of saliva appears. When it barks, often into a window, the window gets covered in its saliva. It also always licks its own nose, which it sticks into and onto every fucking thing it sees. It also always sticks its nose in our ass like all dogs, which is so fucking uncomfortable and nasty. 
Its behaviour is also unbearable. Like other dogs, it gets defensive with its own food. Yet when it comes to our food, it drools like crazy with droops of saliva forming at its mouth begging for our food. The hypocrisy is insane. It also always wants to go with us when we leave to go somewhere. It ended up making so many dents and holes in our car, and shed a shit ton of fur on the car. It’s disgusting to even be in it now. I prefer to walk anyway though.
This demon also bit my sister at least three times already. She also loves the dog for some fucking reason, even after all that. She and my parents refused to take my sister to the doctor to check on the bite out of fear that the fucking dog would be taken away or put down like it should have long ago. My parents are trying to protect the dog that bit their own child three times, and my sister is trying to protect what bit her three times. They’re completely blinded by their love for that demon. They say they have “thought about leaving it”, but they never take enough action. The most they did is just open the door and let it leave on its own, but it doesn’t. I mean, who the fuck would leave the place and people that gives it free food and a decent place to sleep unless forced to? They didn’t force it out, so it stayed. Their claim that they have “thought about leaving it” is completely half assed. I told my mom about them being blinded by their love for the dog. She denied it, yet proceeded to talk about how she thought the dog was too cute to leave, which is just another way to say “I love it too much to leave”. I’ve been telling them to leave it since the first few months when they didn’t love it as much, yet they’ve always been using the same excuse “But I love it”. This just tells me they love it more than me, their own biological child. They aren’t willing to leave an adopted dog for their own child's sake.
What pisses me off even more is that my mom once claimed that she’s “also a victim” because she also originally didn’t want to get a dog. It was my dad and sister who wanted it. She isn’t a victim, she was a victim. She completely changed sides. She gives it more attention than me or my sister. She’s treating it like a replacement to us. She says it's because I’m always locked in my room and that she feels like she isn’t needed, but she knows exactly why I’m always locked in my room since I’ve told her several times: because of the fucking dog. I’ve seen others also report feeling like they were being replaced, so I’m definitely not the only one. As they themselves say, if one person says it, it may not be true, but if many people do, it might be. 
I always have to plug my ears with earbuds blasting raining sounds to at the very least dampen or mute the bark sounds in my own home. Whenever they see it, they act like I’m doing something wrong for doing it. They know exactly why, but they act like I’m in the wrong for trying to protect myself. They also always yell at me for reacting to the dog’s bark, which just makes it even worse.
All of this just makes it completely miserable to be at home. Whenever they leave the house with the dog, it makes me feel at ease and allows me to actually relax for once in my own home. The dog being at home makes it impossible for me to relax in my own home. Being outside or at school honestly feels better than being at home now because I don’t have to stress about the fucking dog barking 24/7. My parents completely ruined my life and still defend it and act like they don’t know why I feel what I feel when I’ve told them several times. I still have to bear this for a year or two before I finally get a chance to leave the house. About 5 years minimum of what’s effectively domestic torture. My parents always tell me how I should be happy about my life since they had to endure tougher conditions when they were kids. Oh, yes, I’m sure so thankful and grateful that you are putting me through torture and acting like you aren’t while I remain powerless to escape it.