The beauty of having pets is that they turn into your family very quickly, but then, it can hurt like hell when they pass away. I remember how miserable I was when I lost my first dog, and found the whole cycle of life quite heartbreaking.
Reddit user Ok-Support-7335 is shattered after his girlfriend suffocated his dog with a 25-pound blanket, but she refuses to take responsibility for it and blames him for giving the dog gabapentin. Now he refuses to get back with her until she admits to it, but she just won’t budge!
More info: Reddit
The bond that we develop with our pets is so pure, and it's heartbreaking when they pass away
Image credits: Helena Lopes / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The poster's dog tweaked his back and got a 400 mg dose of gabapentin as he wasn't supposed to move so his back could heal
Image credits: Ok-Support-7335
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The poster's girlfriend put a 25 lb blanket on the 27 lb dog, and he was devastated to find that she suffocated him
Image credits: Ok-Support-7335
Image credits: Samson Katt / Pexels (not the actual photo)
After the dog passed away, the girlfriend refused to apologize or take responsibility and blamed the poster for dosing him with gabapentin
Image credits: Ok-Support-7335
He refused to get back with her until she takes responsibility, but she won't budge, so he's contemplating ending things
Today, we dive into the original poster’s (OP) world as he talks about the conflict he is stuck in with his girlfriend. It all started when his dog injured his back, so the vet gave him 400 mg of gabapentin, which is a heavy dose, so he wouldn’t move while his back healed. When OP was away, his girlfriend put a 25 lb blanket on the 27 lb dog, thinking it would comfort him.
However, when the poster came home, she informed him that his dog “looked strange”, and horrifyingly, that was because he had suffocated under the blanket and passed away! Now, instead of admitting what she had done wrong, she blamed OP for giving him gabapentin, and since the argument escalated, the couple broke up.
The thing is, they were in love, and after 18 months, they started talking again, but the poster refused to move forward until she took responsibility for her actions. Well, the woman just refuses to budge, for she still thinks it was the gabapentin. Now, our guy feels stonewalled as she says he’s going round in circles, so he is wondering whether to end things.
To get deeper insights about the couple’s situation, Bored Panda reached out to counselor Faizan Maniyar for an interview. He mentioned that it’s very common for individuals to rewrite or reinterpret events to avoid guilt, and it’s a defense mechanism known as cognitive dissonance reduction.
Image credits: Drazen Zigic / Freepik (not the actual photo)
“When people do something that doesn’t align with their self-image (e.g., “I’m a good person” vs “I hurt someone”), they may reframe the situation (“It wasn’t that bad”), deny responsibility (“It wasn’t my fault”), or minimize the other person’s pain (“They’re overreacting”). This blocks accountability and emotional repair and keeps the harmed partner stuck, always seeking justice or clarity,” he added.
Our expert also stressed that stonewalling and deflection can be deeply invalidating for the person seeking acknowledgment. He believes that this can lead to emotional isolation, hypervigilance, lowered self-worth, or increased anxiety. Faizan explained that in counseling, this is often described as a form of emotional neglect, not because it’s always malicious, but because the impact can be just as damaging.
Speaking about the relationship, he commented that rebuilding intimacy can be psychologically damaging, especially if the harmed partner is continuously seeking validation, repair, or accountability that never comes. When someone you trust deeply refuses to acknowledge a betrayal or hurt, it creates a kind of emotional gaslighting, as your lived reality is being dismissed, Faizan added.
Lastly, he concluded, “Staying close to someone who refuses to acknowledge such a painful reality is like reopening a wound every day. The brain craves resolution, especially after trauma. But he’s getting gaslit instead—left to carry all the pain while she moves on like nothing happened.”
“Can this kind of relationship work? Only if the partner eventually owns the mistake, even partially. But based on the post, she’s doubling down on avoidance, and when someone does that, intimacy becomes impossible—because intimacy is built on truth, not pretending something never happened.”
Looks like ending things would be what’s best for them, doesn’t it? What would you do if you were in the poster’s shoes? Let us know in the comments!
Most folks online advised him to end things with her, as she simply refused to admit her mistake
