Ex-wife abandons golden retriever Isabella after years of shared custody, then flaunts a new puppy online, leaving Isabella waiting and her ex furious: ‘It’s been a year since my ex-wife has come to see Isabella’

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Dec 21, 2025 5:00 PM EST

As we all know, getting your heart broken hurts a lot, but this guy found out that heartbreak can get a sequel. His sequel was in dog form when his ex-wife ghosts not him, but their shared golden retriever, Isabella. 

They had built a life around this dog, treating her like family through twelve years together, eight of them married. Even after multiple affairs and a cross-country move, they agreed on joint custody because Isabella was the one thing they both loved without complication. That worked until the ex stopped showing up, first missing weeks, then months, and finally disappearing completely, leaving both man and dog waiting by the door.  

In this story, loyalty runs only one way. The ex's pattern repeats itself in softer form—a slow fading, an unreturned message, a new distraction. Except this time the heartbreak belongs to a golden retriever who doesn't understand ghosting culture. The image of Isabella watching for that familiar car captures a kind of cruelty that goes quiet, the kind that's measured not in yelling but in absence. 

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  • My ex ghosted our dog, and now I hate her

    Smiling man with cute Golden Retriever dog taking selfie
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Back story: I, Male, 31 am originally from Texas. Married my highschool sweetheart right after graduation.
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  • At 24 we moved to Boston for a job opportunity for her. She gets job, I get a comfortable job working from home, life is grand.
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  • We decide with me working from home and with us making good money to adopt a dog.
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  • We adopt Isabella, the sweetest golden retriever you'd ever meet. We have known since highschool that we never wanted kids.
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  • Isabella was pretty much our version of a child together. We do everything together with Isabella.
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  • Man with cute Golden Retriever dog
    via New Africa

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Like i'm talking both of us taking the day off work just to both be at her routine vet appointments.Including her in date nights by going to outdoor seated restaurants, and if not that, bringing her home a doggy bag and cuddling with her for a movie.
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  • We truly were operating as a family. Fast forward 2 years and i find out my wife is cheating.
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  • Not only is she cheating but it was with 2 different men. I was already planning the divorce in my mind when i went to confront her.
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  • She was hysterical and apologetic and begged me to give her another chance. by this point we've been together for 12 years, married for 8, i truly loved her and didn't want throw that away, i told her i would try.
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  • A year goes by, just as I've started to feel more "normal" she becomes more distant.
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  • Working later than normal, not wanting to spend time together, not even being herself with Isabella.
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  • I ask what's going on and she says she's just depressed and needs some space. She's dealt with depression since we were young so I immediately backed off and respected her wishes.
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  • A few weeks go by and I had a gut feeling something was up so i went through her phone and there it was, cheating once again. with a shiny new guy.
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  • I confront her immediately and tell her divorce is the only option. She stayed with a coworker for a couple nights and then we met up at lunch to discuss it all.
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  • I told her my plan was to go back home to Texas, as I had never gotten over the homesickness i got when we first got to Boston.
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  • She begged me not to go and said she couldn't stand the thought of never seeing isabella again.
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  • After some emotional back and forth from both ends, We decided i would move to a smaller town just outside of Boston and share custody of Isabella.
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  • Two weeks on, Two weeks off. THAT. Is how much we BOTH viewed Isabella like our child.
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  • We share custody of Isabella for 3 years. after the first 2 months of splitting the month, We switch to one month on, one month off, which I didn't enjoy, but ex kept having "something come up" after a month or so of that it turned into, Isabella is with me for 3 weeks, Isabella is with my ex for one week.
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  • And after that it turned into just dropping by once a month, driving Isabella to a near by dog park for a few hours, and dropping her off back to me.
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  • This is how the routine stayed until the end. Current day: It's been a year since my ex wife has come to see Isabella.
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  • Last i heard from her she was on the way to come get Bella and never showed, never answered texts and calls, just ghosted.
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  • It broke my heart for my girl, as she did love my ex wife so much and would just get overwhelmed with joy when she would pull up in the driveway to pick her up.
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  • She still sometimes sits at the front door once in awhile like she's waiting for someone.
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  • And it breaks my heart to think she's waiting on my ex wife. I'm posting today because this morning i saw my ex wife posted on instagram (never thought to take each other off social media) A photo of a puppy she just adopted with her latest boyfriend.
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  • When the ex resurfaces online with a new puppy and a new boyfriend, the punch lands deeper than any breakup could manage. Closure evaporates in the comment section, replaced by anger worn as grief. The betrayal feels so small on the outside, yet devastating for anyone who’s ever watched loyalty confused for loss.  

  • (i don't say that to shame her, it's not my business, but she really does have a whole new boyfriend every other month and is quick to update her social media about it) It felt like a punch in the stomach.
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  • What happens to that poor dog when they break up? Will it go with her, will it go with him?
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  • Will she abandon this one like she did Bella? I understand shared custody of a dog after a break up isn't the most common, but she didn't even tell Bella good bye.
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  • Just said she was on the way and never showed. After everything my ex wife did to me, i never hated her.
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  • I remained civil, and exchange of Isabella was always quick, small interactions with small talk. But after seeing that post, and looking over at my sweet Bella, I hate her.
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  • I hate her for abandoning such an innocent creature without so much as a goodbye. I hate her and don't think i would ever forgive her if she ever tried to reach out again.
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  • Sorry for the novel, I just really needed to get this out. When I try to talk to friends about it, they think i'm just not over my ex, which can't be further from reality.
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  • I'll admit the first year after the divorce i struggled with moving on, as i had spent so much of my life with her, but those feelings moved on very quickly when i remember what she was capable of doing to someone she had spent so much of her life with.
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  • And if they're not accusing me of still wanting her, they're calling me over dramatic. AIO?
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Dating-Relationships dogs relationships divorce texas golden retriever boston
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