Dog can go anywhere he likes in the house!

First of all, this is no ordinary dog, a Newfoundland dog is probably one of the hardest dogs to maintain and keep clean… I’ve lived it, I know. They are enormous and have a long haired double coat of fur that sheds constantly. You need to brush out the undercoat twice a week with three different kinds of brushes, it takes a LONG time, and the amount of loose hair you get out is ridiculous. You don’t have to bathe them often, but using a dry shampoo regularly will keep them clean. To bathe them you have to use loads of liquid soap and a freaking high pressure hose outside. When you do bathe them, you have to brush them out beforehand and dry them ASAP with a hair dryer or reversed vacuum cleaner to avoid matting. Bathing them sucks in the winter… for you, not the dog. Whenever you find mats you have to hack them off with scissors and mat rakes; if you don’t, they turn into monster mats. Then there’s taking care of their ears so they don’t get infected and stinky, that’s ear cleaner and cotton balls, plus even more trimming around the ears. Plus general trimming helps to avoid matted fur and reduce shedding. On top of all that, the dog replaces its entire coat twice a year, so twice a year the shedding increases exponentially and you have to brush it out A LOT more. I’m willing to bet OP isn’t grooming their dog properly, I’m willing to bet this dog REEKS.

It’s all nice and fuzzy that your dogs supported you through the hard times while growing up, but you’re a fucking adult now. If you don’t grow the fuck up and start making an effort to preserve the relationships you have with people, it’s just gonna be you and your dog for the rest of your life.

So what do you do? First of all you stop acting like a child and compromise with your partner like every other person in a successful relationship has to do. This includes refraining from using juvenile personal attacks when arguing.

Second of all you need to understand that you, having grown up smelling horse shit everyday, have a much higher tolerance for animal smells than the rest or the world does. The dog really does stink, you just can’t smell it.

Seems like your partner doesn’t even want the dog, but is willing to compromise by keeping it out in the yard or in the basement. Now it’s your turn as a dog lover to suggest a better compromise. If you promise to keep the dog clean, your partner might be willing to let the dog stay in the house. That’s clean to your partner’s standards, not yours. This means a lot of work doing everything I detailed above. You need: dry shampoo in bulk, a mat rake, thinning shears, a pin brush, a metal comb, a slicker brush, ear cleaner, scissors, hairdryer/reversed vacuum cleaner, liquid soap, a garden hose, and lots of extra time. You have to make good on your promise.

Twice a week do what I did, put on a couple of hours worth of classic film/documentary/podcast/audio book, sit on the floor and brush the dog out. Turn your dog grooming time into expanding your knowledge of the world time. Maybe your partner will watch/listen with you sometimes.

Buy the dog a couple of dog-beds for god sakes, and train him to sleep in them. Even the cleanest Newfoundland dog still takes up at least a third of a queen sized bed, it’s really not unreasonable for your partner to not want an animal THAT big on the bed. The compromise could be that the dog can sleep in your room as long as it’s sleeping on the dog bed. Keep the dog out of the master bedroom for the rest of the day, so it doesn’t jump up on the bed and reject training.

As for sofas and chairs. Either train the dog not to jump up on the furniture (dog bed in the living room?), or buy some fuzzy blankets to cover the furniture with. That way the fur gets only on the blankets, not the furniture. So you can choose to move the blanket if you don’t want to sit in fur and whenever company comes over stuff them in a closet or something. Keep a lint roller under the sofa for easy access just in case.

To keep the peace in the household, I recommend stocking up on packing tape and those magic lint roller things for the shedding fur. Also, stock up on Fabreze, Air Wicks, and Scented Candles. NOT to cover up your dogs stink (because you’ll be keeping the dog clean) think of it as odor insurance. And if you can afford it, get hardwood floors with a few rugs as opposed to carpet, sweeping up hair is a lot easier than vacuuming it.

It doesn’t have to be exactly what I’ve suggested but if you’re not ever willing to compromise at all, you’re going to be alone for the rest of your life, and you’ll deserve it.

Thanks, longwalker.

Also, I forgot leather sofas and chairs in the living room. Not everyone likes them or can afford them, but they are a shedding dog owners best friend as the fur doesn’t stick to them. You just have to be careful about keeping the dogs nails clipped so that they don’t scratch the leather, smaller dogs not so much.