Dear Prudence,
My boyfriend “Ryan” and I are on the verge of breaking up over a “gift” he gave me that he knew I didn’t want.
Ryan and I have been together for a little over two years, and in all that time I was always very clear that I never wanted any surprise gifts in the form of animals without being consulted first. Ryan is a dog person; I am not. For my 27th birthday last month, I woke up to find his gift for me in our bed: a husky puppy. I have a friend who owns this breed of dog, so I know how much work they require. We ended up in a big fight that culminated with me telling him I was leaving that day if he didn’t return the puppy to the breeder. He grudgingly complied, but things have been chilly between us since. Ryan claimed that his expectation was that I would see how great having a dog is once I’d “had a chance to live the experience.” I feel like what he did was a major betrayal since I was up front with him from the beginning. Is this something we can work through, or would it be better to move on without him?