I just wanted to say, I couldn't imagine life without my dogs. They bring alot of joy. Perhaps instead of banning a dog from your home, you and your boyfriend should sit down and outline all of the responsibility of dog ownership (for both of you, if he has a dog, so do you). Figure out who will walk, feed and play with the dog and when. Never let the dog out unsupervised, always set your dog up to succeed. Having a well trained dog is very rewarding, but it requires constant work. You can't just leave a dog to its own devices (so to speak) like you can a cat or chicken. They need interaction and they need you to teach them how you expect them to behave.
Good luck, I hope you 2 can come to an agreement.
And by the way, growing up our family dog was a teacup Poodle named Punkin. He was a very tiny guy, but in no way sickly. He also didn't put our family into debt. He was a great rat hunter and often went on outdoor trips with us. A normal dog in a teeny tiny body.
My ex and I didn't work out due to differences, one of them was him saying "yes" to dogs but "no" to chickens! Yes to everything BUT chickens, he said yes to rats, ferrets, reptilians, rabbits, cows, pigs, etc.(he even said yes to a coyote!) I always thought he was racist towards chickens. That doesn't fly by me. If I can't have chickens then you can't have anything either! Ha! A well trained dog makes excellent target practice for brave and bold broodies!
