When Pets Come Between Partners

Book excerpt: How to Keep Love—And Romance—In the Human/Animal Kingdom of Your Home When you're fighting about the dog, is it really about your in-laws? When your boyfriend says, It's either me or the cat," isn't there a way you can keep both? And what can you do when your girlfriend's Chihuahua can't get along with your Boxer, but you want to move in together? Dr. Gold to the rescue, with a practical guide for couples who just want a peaceable kingdom. Sometimes animals take the place of people in relationships, so when we argue about the hamster, we may really be arguing about the children or an old boyfriend. Feelings of jealousy, anger, control, guilt, and fear can all play themselves out through our pets. Dr. Gold explains how conflicts over pets are often signs of deeper conflicts between couples, and shows how you can get at the root of these conflicts, bring them into the open and resolve them."