Want to rehome our puppy, boyfriend doesn’t agree.
3 weeks ago, my boyfriend and I irresponsibly bought a Jack Russell puppy from the pet store. I am against buying from pet stores, but we visited one across the street from our house and met the cutest little JRT. He surely won us over. All it took was a big fat $4900 and a “no returns” contract to bring him home. The first few days I started to have anxiety here and there over worries that I am not equipped to care for a Jack Russell due to their high energy and strong prey drive but I brushed it off.
Fast forward to now, my boyfriend is back to work. He travels around the country for work and does 12 hours shifts 7 days a week. I am a full time student and usually tag along, staying in the hotel while he is working and I do my school work/walk around to explore the area we are in. We brought our puppy along and it is not going at all how I expected. Things were less hectic when my boyfriend was home helping me care for this little guy but now that the responsibility is solely on me to navigate school work and meet this puppy’s needs at the same time, I am experiencing debilitating anxiety and even suicidal ideation. I have no motivation to do anything whatsoever and am overwhelmed by enforcing crate naps, taking him out to potty after, playing with him while he’s up, and doing it all over again for the entire day. Every. Single. Day.
I have voiced how miserable I have become with my boyfriend and explained to him that I don’t think it’s right to keep this puppy when I am feeling this way and he is unable to step in since he is always working. My boyfriend absolutely adores the puppy and thinks that this is wrong and we should not rehome our puppy after making the final decision of getting him. I feel like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place, like I am trapped and being forced to care for a puppy that is causing me to lose my mind.
Please no harsh criticism as I am fully aware that getting this puppy in the first place was a terrible decision. Just looking for any advice or thoughts on my situation.