u/Conepines

I'm really struggling. My husband and I bought our first house in April of this year. Our main goal in buying a house was so that we had the freedom to garden and have a dog finally, something we have each wanted for a long time. We had discussed wanting to adopt an adult dog because we didn't think we had puppy life in us.

Then I saw the puppy we ended up adopting. He was described as having a perfect temperament for our lifestyle and good with cats, and so we decided to apply and see what happens. We did and we were approved that same weekend. We made arrangements to meet him and bought things to prepare. We met him and fell in love and took him home.

He slept through the night, handled being crated well, and is a total sweetheart. He is just a baby so taking walks is challenging and he takes forever to go to the bathroom and sometimes pees inside. He is a really good dog but the constant need to make sure hes not chewing something dangerous and that hes getting outside at regular predictable times to potty is taking a harder toll than we expected.

Last weekend I had to go out of state and left my husband home with the dog, and he threw up a bunch of times and peed inside. My husband was trying so hard to keep up with him and was so burnt out and anxious he didnt shower while I was gone bc he didnt want to leave the dog alone to make a mess.

He doesnt come when he's called and while he understands sit, come, stay, he gets stubborn when we take him out and wont come down the deck stairs. I end up carrying him bc otherwise he just tries to go back inside even if he has to pee. He doesnt have trouble navigating the stairs when he wants to, theres just some mental block when I have the leash and am asking him to.

My husband has a very stressful job and we are back to work on Monday after a zero rest weekend and Im finding myself wondering if this is right for us. I feel so guilty and he is a really cool dog and I really do like him and want him to succeed, and he seems happy! But we are child free for a reason and I feel like I just locked us into a lifestyle we werent ready for, even though we really thought we were. I emphasize what a good dog he is because I think he'd get adopted quickly if we rehome him but I feel like such a dick for putting him through another transition. But it almost feels like sooner is better than later.

I have reached out to doggy day care and an obedience class, since that was always part of our plan, but now Im trying to decide if we should rehome him before investing even more money because I have an enormous car repair that just came up and Im so stressed about how I've kneecapped our ability to save money with this choice. I keep saying I, but we did make the decision together. I just feel so stupid for diving into this right now. I am also just nauseous at the idea of the judgment ill get no matter what at this point. I feel like I want to do right by him but my freedom is so valuable to me and idk why the fuck I gave it up like this.

I feel like i want to reassess long term goals and decide when having a dog would make more sense and get an adult dog at that point. But at the same time I really do love the little guy and I know surviving puppy phase makes the bond so much stronger. But im also not getting much if any quality time with my husband as a result of this, and my cat who I love so much never hangs out downstairs with us because shes scared of the dog! shes gaining weight bc she hides all day.

I just needed to vent to people who get it.

My husband and I bought our first home in April and we love it so much! Now that it's getting hotter, there is a gross ammonia-like smell that we are having a hell of a time troubleshooting. You don't smell it much unless its crazy hot out or youre in the basement, where this smell did not exist in colder months.

We thought it was a litterbox on the main floor, but we moved the litterbox upstairs and it still smells on the first floor. My prevailing theory was potential rodents in the insulation in the basement, since that is where the smell is the worst and all the insulation is all fiberglass. Would that smell so strongly upstairs from the basement if so?

We had to remove a wall before moving in to give access to plumbers to fix a cracked pipe that was leaking onto the concrete basement floor, so I thought maybe the exposed wall was making the draft from the basement stronger. Husband dry walled it and we haven't smelled the smell on the first floor in a week, but today it's in the 90s and we had the house closed up with the AC on and the smell was VERY strong when we got home. Always seems to be inescapable on really hot days but I was hoping the wall being up would fix it at least on this level for now.

The smell also occurs upstairs only in the bathroom, where the cabinets are kind of uncovered inside and pipes going down to the basement can be seen.

It feels obvious thats where the smell is coming from, but how can I diagnose wtf this is? I dont even know the correct professional to call and I dont want to spend a bunch on one just to find out it was the wrong issue. What kind of professional could diagnose this, if any?