Ways to convince my mom not to get rid of my dog?

I think you may end up having to meet her halfway here. Twins are a lot to handle and your mom must be exhausted especially with her hormones still acting up. Why don't you look into getting someone, a friend or someone to watch Maggie in the day while you are at school and pick her up on your way home. Give your mom a rest from the stress and when you are home with her, reinforce toilet training like you did when she was a puppy. It is a problem that has to be dealt with, its normal in the circumstances but it doesn't resolve itself. Give her lots of attention so she gets used to the babies being around. You need to be a little understanding here, she didn't want a dog in the first place and Maggie was sprung on her. She shouldn't have to deal with this now. My mom wouldn't have let me keep her. Took me ages to convince her to take Sophie (my dog) on and I had to do everything for her as it was me who wanted her so I know how you feel but being a new mom is SO hard. Try and be understanding and realise how she is feeling.

You don't. It's her house, her rules, live with, it's also her dog, as minors can't own property, dogs are property. Your dads' fault for bringing in an unwanted dog. The one that will suffer the most from this indiscretion is the dog.

"when there is a new addition to a family, dogs start to act up (pee in the house, get into trouble, act weird, etc.)" Not true at all, they do this because no one has the time to train them properly again you're blaming the dog when it is a family problem.

" If you have a dog you probably understand my feeling." I've had many dogs over my life time and many losses and never get easy, but life does go on, so get over it.

When you move out to a pet friendly place, after you finish your education, then you may get whatever you want but only if you have the time and money to care for it properly. Don't repeat what your family has done. A dog is a 10-15 year commitment.

Sorry nothing we can do to change her mind, the dog may actually be better off with someone that Really Cares.

I'm sorry, wish I could tell you a way but I can't, it is your Mother's house. You said your Mother didn't like dogs and she isn't going to pay attention to Maggie. That is what Maggie, your dog, wants is attention and she is misbehaving because of that and because she is jealous of your siblings. If I were you, I would let the person willing to take her and care for her and at least you would be able to see her at times. I'm just saying this, not judging that if you do keep her, your Mother might get rid of her to where you would never see Maggie again or even worse, maybe hurt her if she doesn't like dogs! BTW, you have to give up something for its own good even if you don't want to, think of the dog's well being.

Acting like a overzealous little brat of a child is never going to make any situation better. And "lakelady" has a bit of a sick view to say that taking a pet away is worse than beating a child. "Nona" summed it up nicely, your mom is probably stressed watching and caring for your new siblings, an anxious dog that is acting up and pottying everywhere is not making the situation any better, and your mom most likely recalls that she never made a choice about the dog, you just brought it home. If you want to keep the dog, something that might go more in your favor is helping out as much as possible, taking responsibility for the dog, taking the dog out often, cleaning up any mess, etc. It's a lot of work for your mom and hopefully something works out.

Update-- I want to add that I do not agree with your mom, I don't think that just because you have a child the family pet should suffer and have to be sent away, but I do understand how much a handful a child can be (never mind two!) and having a dog, my son is a little under 2 years, we have a well-trained terrier mix and I handle the training for my show puppy who stays about a week a month. It is a lot of handle but I love dogs more than anything, your mother does not and it was incredibly rude of your father to go behind her back on bringing a living creature that she did not want into the house. I would discuss with your mom and dad how much you love this dog, try to take as much responsibility as possible when your home and help your mom out, that will get you far better results and show that you are becoming a mature adult versus acting like a little brat till either your dad gives in and keeps the dog, or your mom gets really angry and makes the decision to get rid of the dog. Be patient and kind.

There are a lot of people that have commented to your post, other conversations started etc. My question your siblings are 10 months old, What have you done to convince your mom that you love this dog and it should stay in the house?

Okay so. When I was your age, I found myself in nearly the exact same situation and I was furious with my mother. However, now that I am a responsible adult, living with my husband with our own dog, I get it.

You mom DID NOT want a dog. I don't care if the dog grew on her, she didn't want it to begin with. Probably because she knew as my mom did with me, that you wouldn't properly take care of or train the dog.

From your comments, it sounds like you're spending a good deal of time at school and doing other activities and only walking the dog 2-3 times a week. This shows gross irresponsibility. You obviously have no idea what the dogs needs are if you only walk her 2-3 times a week.

You've also shown no indication in your question or comments that you are willing to WORK with the dog. Dogs are work. They take time and effort to train to behave. If she's peeing inside because of the babies, she's not house trained and doesn't feel secure in your home. That's due to lack of training.

Unfortunately, I do not think we can do as you've asked. I do dog rescue work. We've found that it NEVER works, to bring a dog INTO the home unless EVERYONE is "on board" & agreed to get a dog.

You & your Dad ganged up & your mother & brought the dog home, forcing her to accept her, even though she hated dogs. (That was exceedingly foolish, and downright irresponsible, at least on your Dad's part - who should know better.)

To make matter's worse, nobody seems to have made much (if any effort) to properly train the dog.

1) Was the dog ever 100% housebroken? (I have my doubts.)

2) Was she ever crate-trained? If so, then you should have been able to solve the peeing in the house problems very quickly - by breaking out the crate again. Did YOU clean up the accidents?

3) Was she ever taken to obedience classes? (Nope.) So she has no real training or manners. I suspect she may NOT be safe behavior-wise around the new "rug rats". (That's direclty due to LACK of training & socialization.) = YOUR BAD.

4) And how often does she get serious exercise & walking outside? (TIRED dogs tend to be better behaved dogs, because they have no choice.)

Yes, dogs often do act-up, when things in the home change. Which is WHY you (the dog's OWNER) should have done MORE to counter-act that. So, you had 6 or 7 months warning to get things in order (or improved) BEFORE the little rug rats arrived, since in all the time beforehand, you had NOT mannaged to do "right" by your "beloved" dog with training. It is only now the dog has become truly obnoxious for your mother (and she's found a new and MORE RESPONSIBLE home) that you are sorry... and wish to pen "a magically worded letter" to change her mind, but sadly do not really wish to do anything else. So of course, no letter WILL work. (Actions speak louder than words.) Your lack of actions & responsibility in this matter, speaks volumes. You've had 3 YEARS to make your dog into a nice, mannerly pet.

This may not be what you want to do, but it may be the answer in the long run. If you have anybody living close by, family or friends who could keep your dog for awhile until it adjusts. You could still see your dog and bring her over at times to get use to the babies gradually. Most dogs will actually start getting over protective toward babies given a little time.

Letting you dog go for a short time may save you from having to lose it all together. Good Luck

Since you obviously don't have much time to take care of your dog and have failed in any efforts (if you even made them) to correct your dog's bad behaviors, then just accept that your mom has more than enough on her plate taking care of two active toddlers. Be grateful that at least you'll get to see the dog once in a while and know she lives with a family that wants her.

This is what often happens when husbands and/or kids bring home a dog that MOM doesn't want and then expect her to be the one that takes care of it.

Well, it seems that your mother did not eventually start to love the dog that you brought home for her to look after. It also seems that with two new babies to look after she has finally had enough of the dog and decided to surprise you with her own decision about the dog. Deciding to make your mother pay by being a child from hell is not going to help with the dog. You need to convince your mother that you will take over all the care of the dog. You will make sure that it goes outside to pee and gets plenty of exercise and you will play with it and make sure that it still feels loved and not neglected. If the dog should pee in the house - you will clean it up and if the dog gets into something - you will clean up that mess and make sure the dog does not have access to things to cause problems with. You can turn this around but you need to truly work at it - promise your mother you will do this for a one month trial - then see if she still wants to get rid of the dog. As a child you have no grounds at all to tell your parents what they can or can't do - you can only try to bargain with them and hope for the best.

i can relate to your mom. she is right in this situation, she didn't want a dog because she was already stressed with everyday life of a mother and wife and then adding a dog without her consent was a low blow. she knew the work would be dumped on her, which it has. she has new babies to care for that is a full time job with overtime. you being so young living under her roof, there isn't much you can do. maybe if you devoted much more time to your dog, walk it, pick up after it and all that dog stuff, your mother wouldn't feel the need to get rid of "your" dog. i bet she juggles being astressed out house wife, mother of new babies, makes all the meals, runs all errands, does all the cleaning and takes care of "your"dog because you cant find time for it. im in a similar situation, although im not married nor have kids, the idea of a puppy was dumped on me, i do 100% of the work, get no sleep, train train, train, get stressed to the bone, deal with all her meds and medical issues, yet here is my boyfriend whose idea it was to get a "puppy" sitting back while i do everything. the worst part about this is our dog is ten months old, we have had her since ten weeks old and she favors him more than me which fills me with resentment and emotional strese. i spend 24/7 with this dog, spending money, time,effort, sleepless nights yet she LOVES him sooo much, for what, i cant understand, im basically taking care of his dog. its not right and it doesn't make me happy. your mother deserves to be happy and deserves help with everything she does, if you dont like it, you should hav taken care of your own dog..