DIRTY DOG! MY POOCHES SNIFFED OUT A LOVE RAT

Anita was shocked when her dogs revealed her Keith’s seedy secret, so she banished him to the doghouse…

Snuggling up with my partner, Keith, and my three beautiful dogs, I couldn’t help but smile to myself. I felt so lucky. 

I had met Keith through a friend on a night out 14 years earlier and we had instantly clicked. Keith was charming and sweet, and when I introduced him to my precious pooches I knew it was more than puppy love.

‘They’re beautiful,’ Keith beamed as he ruffled the fur of my miniture jack russell, Ollie, and my two huskies, Ruby and Roxy.

We instantly became a couple, and I was over the moon when Keith hit it off with my three kids too.

After a few months I was ecstatic when Keith agreed to move in. We were the perfect family unit, and Keith became a permanent fixture in our lives.

We even started to foster huskies as well as looking after our three pooches. Keith was my world.

I always thought dogs were a man’s best friend, but Keith was becoming a close second.

I loved nothing more than snuggling up and watching telly with my perfect man and pups, but one evening I was just getting cosy when I realised it was time to walk my beautiful dogs.

‘It’s ok, I’ll walk them tonight,’ Keith offered as I started to haul myself up off the sofa. ‘Really?!’ I asked as I eyed the grim weather outside.

But Keith was adamant. ‘Yeah course, it’s no problem, you put your feet up,’ he insisted.

‘Thanks love, you’re a star,’ I said, curling back into the sofa. I felt bad leaving Keith to face the winter weather on his own, but he seemed happy enough to do it.

Soon, walking the dogs each evening became Keith’s daily chore. ‘I don’t mind, I like a bit of fresh air,’ he shrugged, pulling his coat on and grabbing the dog leads.

I felt so blessed to have a partner who was happy to muck in with the pups. But in September 2015, I noticed that Keith’s walks were taking a lot longer than usual.

‘Which way did you go?’ I asked, as Keith pulled his shoes off and sank down into the sofa.

‘Oh the usual route,’ he sighed. ‘Just took a bit longer, that’s all.’

I tried to put my suspicions to one side, after 14 years together I felt sure Keith would never stray. But as Keith offered to walk the dogs more and more, I wondered what he was playing at.

‘I’m sure they don’t need walking again, Keith,’ I said as he headed for the door, announcing he was going on yet another walk.

But Keith was sure. ‘They need the exercise,’ he argued as he pulled on his coat.

‘Ok, well how about I come with you?’ I asked reaching for my jacket from the bannister.

But suddenly Keith bristled and became defensive, ‘No, honestly, it’s fine. You stay here and relax,’ he encouraged. And before I’d even had a chance to put my coat on, Keith had grabbed the dogs and dashed out the door.

I tried to ignore the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was wrong as I busied myself around the house.

But once again, as the minutes ticked by, I couldn’t help but notice how long Keith was taking.

Was my Keith being a dirty dog.

Unable to shake off my gut feeling I rang Keith. When I got the engaged dialling tone, I felt a nervous knot tighten in my stomach.

Who’s he talking to? I wondered. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, reasoning that maybe he had lost signal. So I tried him again - still engaged.

For the whole of Keith’s dog walk, his phone was busy. But when I dialled his number as he stepped in the front door, his phone rang. There was no problem with his mobile then...

‘You talk to anyone on your walk?’ I quizzed Keith when he’d got in. But he seemed confused. ‘Who would I talk to walking the dogs?’ he laughed.

Keith was lying and in the following weeks, Keith’s dog walks took longer and longer. At home, he became secretive and protective over his phone too, even turning it off before bed each night.

I couldn’t ignore my suspicions any longer. Every time I rang him when he was out on a walk, his phone was always engaged.

I couldn’t bear the thought of my man of 14 years betraying me, but I knew I had to discover the truth.

So one morning, whilst Keith was asleep, I seized my opportunity to discover the identity of his mystery caller. I needed to know who he was talking to on his endless walks.

Scrolling through his messages I felt the bile rose in my throat as I uncovered a string of flirty messages he’d been sending to another woman.

I instantly recognised the name, Clare*, as his friend from work. Their messages spanned back months and I was furious as there, in black and white, Keith revealed intimate details of our relationship.

I’ll leave her soon, his final message read. My heart broke in that moment. I thought Keith was my perfect man, but that dirty dog had been sniffing around elsewhere - and now I had proof.

‘What is this?’ I demanded, furious as I shaked Keith awake. I thrust the phone in his face, but even when confronted with the evidence, Keith tried to insist I was barking up the wrong tree.

‘It’s not what you think,’ he held his hands up as he tried to calm me down. But I was anything but calm. I was like a dog with a bone and I refused to let it drop.

‘I’m not leaving here until you tell me the truth,’ I yelled. Finally Keith admitted he had been having an affair with Clare.

I was crushed as he described his long phone calls to his lover while he walked our dogs. He’d even promised her he’d leave me for her. Rat.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he grovelled. ‘I just liked the attention really.’ It was pathetic and I couldn’t believe Keith would betray me like this after 14 years.

‘Just get out,’ I stormed as hot tears brimmed in my eyes. Keith was the love of my life, but I knew I couldn’t bring myself to forgive him for his betrayal.

Just days after leaving, Keith moved in with Clare. I was inconsolable. The trust between us had been broken for good, but I felt so used and hurt.

Now, a year on, I’ve moved on and I know I better off without that dirty dog. I’ve met a new partner, Lee, and I’m happier than ever.

I still can’t believe my dogs sniffed out that rat, but I’m so glad I banished Keith to the dog house and dumped him.

*Clare’s name has been changed

When we asked Keith if he met Clare* while he was still with Anita, he said: “We were together at the time, aye. I was still with her but we were going through a really rough time. We would argue all the time, and I got a new job and then I met Clare*. Nothing happened between me and Clare while I was seeing Anita. I was just friends with Clare. There was a bit of flirting with her at work, aye, but we didn’t do anything. Nothing more than flirting.”

When we put it to Keith that he made plans to be with Clare when he was still with Anita, emotionally cheating on her, he said: “Yes, that’s correct, aye.”

When we asked Keith if he felt bad about what happened he said: “Oh definitely, definitely. I tried talking to her but sometimes she’s hard to talk to. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve put my hands up and I’ve done wrong and all, but she won’t take responsibility for anything. She still says it was all my fault and I say, well I tried talking to you loads of times. I definitely now would have done things differently. I never meant it to happen… We were just friends (Clare) and it just went from there. I was just talking to her and obviously because I was alone and tired and I just found the attention that she did and she would listen, and normally I wouldn’t do that. Normally I would just keep it all in and bury it as us men do.”

When Anita caught her man cheating she came to Sell My Story to help her name and shame him. To find out how our team can negotiate the best price for your story, call us now on 0117 973 3730.