Jamie,

Its understandable that you feel guilty about taking the dog, but you are focusing way too much on the dog being the center of your worry. What is done is done, leave it at that. If you keep feeling those regrets and worries, you will never be able to move past them. Don’t think about bringing the dog back, because all you will do is rip open any healing he has done so far, just let what has happened be, and start to worry about yourself. Ending long-term relationships can be a bittersweet thing when they weren’t very healthy relationships. Even in bad relationships there are happy times and no one likes to feel alone. What you need to do is use this time to find yourself again. The emptiness you are feeling is because you need to start working on finding yourself as a person again instead of defining yourself as a part of something. You went from a “We” to a “me” now. Use this time to reflect on yourself and truly find who you are again. The only way to fill that hole you have in your life right now is by keeping busy and with time. Get out, find some new hobbies and keep yourself occupied, because if not you will find a way to worry and depress yourself. Realize that what you did is the right thing, and that you will both be better off for it in the end. Just first things first, you need to move past the situation about the dog, Slayer is with you now and it is done, don’t rip open old wounds and worry about what you did. You didn’t take him to be malicious or to harm your ex, you just did what you thought was right at the time. So don’t feel guilty. Use this time to re-build yourself and find new ways to be happy and fulfilled, the whole world is open to you, breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the sunshine, life is too short to spend worrying about should have’s and could have been’s! Every ending is a new beginning, but it all starts with leaving the past.

Hope this helped!

Dave
http://personal-growth-project.com