I live with my mom and she has a chihuahua she took in as a stray a few years ago. The dog uses our house as his toilet despite being let outside multiple times a day. He gets in the trash, he eats everything, and he is basically a menace. I am the one who always gets stuck cleaning up after him and I have had multiple break downs over it as I have an infant and don’t have time to clean up after this dog. 

This morning, I woke up to trash and dog shit strewn about the living room. Food and dirty diapers every where. Dog shit every where, because it wasn’t enough he got in the trash, he had to shit in the floor to add insult to injury. After my mental breakdown, I cleaned up the dog’s mess for the millionth time, and had the door open while I sat the trash bags on the porch. Dog came running, I started going towards him to get him back in my mom’s room, and he ran out the front door. I did not try to stop him. 

It has been hours later, and my mom is pissed at me for letting him run away. I feel like an asshole, and I’ll never hear the end of it if he doesn’t come back. But then again, I’m not sure what I could have done to stop him. Am I the asshole?