tl;dr: My ex says that my dog thinks I abandoned her. Is this realistic?
Longer version: I went through a messy divorce with an abusive person. Luckily never had human children together but we shared a fur baby. We agreed to share custody, traveling with her between Texas and Florida every few months. After 4 years of this I decided that it was getting to be too hard on her to not only make the journey back and forth but to be uprooted from her comfort zone as well. She should have stayed with me permanently since I am more stable, more responsible, have other dogs, etc. but there was no way my ex was ever going to agree to that. So last year I made the incredibly gut wrenching decision to let her stay with him permanently.
In theory I was going to go visit her every so often, but I wasn't sure if that would just be more confusing for her, seeing me for a week or so in an airbnb or something and then I leave again. I know for sure it would be heartbreaking for me to see her for such a short time and then have to leave again.
My ex, still abusive (people don't change) has sent me text messages asking why I haven't come to see her and telling me that she thinks I abandoned her. I know he is just being shitty, but I am genuinely curious how she, as a dog, might be experiencing my absence. At the end of the day I want to do what is best for her, even if it is what is hardest for me (which is why I stopped making her do custody transfers in the first place), but I genuinely don't know how her precious little doggy mind works.
Any advice?
submitted by /u/tx_tmbysh
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