What To Do About Bowser When You’re Breaking Up

Jennifer Keene learned firsthand the importance of how to facilitate a dog-friendly breakup after successfully navigating her own divorce. It seems at the time, there were no books available on the subject. So she set out to do something about that.

The divorce rate continues to hover at around 50 percent, and marriages ending within the first five years often have dogs, not children; and statistics show that dog ownership is at around 43 percent nationwide. This breakup guide, We Can’t Stay Together for the Dogs, is for both dogs and their humans, and explains how to choose dog-friendly solutions and make compromises during a split.

By integrating training tips, success stories, expert opinions, checklists, and a bit of humor, this self-help guide shows that breakups can be dog-friendly. As the first book on the subject of dogs and splitting up, it features simple step-by-step directions and offers a dog-centric point of view. Figuring out who gets the dog and whether to have joint custody, split the pack, have sole custody with visitation, or place the dog with a new family is only one of the many decisions couples face. Sections on deceptively simple subjects like housing, finances, training, food, and grooming make the transition into the new lifestyle much smoother. Quizzes and checklists are provided to help determine the need for additional assistance, and the book also offers resources to find professional help.

Whether you are going through a divorce, ending a long-term relationship, or splitting with a partner, We Can’t Stay Together for the Dogs can help you. Dogs are family members who have no say in the breakup process, so dedicated pet parents need to learn to be their dogs’ own advocate and respect the unique human-canine bond.

Jennifer currently lives in Beaverton, Oregon with two dogs – and has visitation rights with a third.