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Keep shoppingWho Gets the Dog? Pet Custody Planning After a Breakup
2,364 students
Who Gets the Dog? Pet Custody Planning After a Breakup
Create a fair pet custody plan, reduce conflict, and protect your dog's future after separation or divorce.
Created byCrystal Hutchinson
Last updated 6/2026
English
English [Auto],
What you'll learn
- Understand how pet custody disputes can arise after a breakup, separation, divorce, or roommate arrangement.
- Identify the factors courts may consider when determining pet ownership and pet custody disputes.
- Recognize why creating a pet custody agreement can reduce conflict and uncertainty about a pet's future.
- Learn how to create a customized pet custody agreement step by step.
- Determine who should be responsible for pet care expenses, veterinary costs, grooming, and supplies.
- Create a fair pet custody schedule that addresses visitation, exchanges, holidays, and special occasions.
- Develop a plan for emergency veterinary care and major decisions involving a shared pet.
- Understand how documentation, ownership records, and caregiving history may impact pet ownership disputes.
- Identify important conversations couples and co-owners should have before sharing responsibility for a pet.
- Learn practical strategies to avoid costly disagreements over dogs, cats, and other companion animals.
- Understand why relying on courts to decide who gets the dog can create unpredictable outcomes.
- Build a complete framework for protecting a beloved pet during relationship changes and life transitions.
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Course content
4 sections • 17 lectures • 41m total length
Requirements
- No prior legal, contract, or pet custody experience is required. This beginner-friendly course walks you through the process step by step.
- A desire to protect a pet's well-being and plan ahead for potential relationship changes.
- Access to basic information about your pet, including ownership history, veterinary information, and care responsibilities, may be helpful.
- Students should be willing to participate in thoughtful discussions about pet ownership, expenses, visitation schedules, and future planning.
Description
What happens to the dog if the relationship ends?
Most couples never discuss it.
They talk about where they will live. They talk about finances. They talk about vacations, careers, and future plans.
But very few people ask one important question:
Who gets the dog?
For many pet owners, a dog, cat, bird, horse, or other companion animal is not simply property. Pets become family. They provide companionship, emotional support, unconditional love, and daily joy. When a relationship ends, deciding what happens to a beloved pet can quickly become one of the most emotional and stressful parts of the separation.
Without a clear plan, disagreements can escalate into costly disputes, damaged relationships, and heartbreaking outcomes that leave both people and pets caught in the middle.
This course was created to help you avoid that situation.
In Who Gets the Dog? Pet Custody Planning After a Breakup, you will learn how pet custody agreements work, why courts may become involved in pet ownership disputes, what factors are often considered when determining pet ownership, and how to create a practical pet custody agreement designed to reduce conflict and provide clarity.
You will discover:
• How pet custody disputes can arise after a breakup, divorce, separation, or roommate arrangement
• Why relying on courts to decide pet ownership can create uncertainty
• Common factors used to establish ownership of a pet
• Important conversations every pet owner should have before conflict occurs
• How to create a customized pet custody agreement step by step
• How to divide expenses, responsibilities, visitation schedules, and emergency decision-making
• How to plan for your pet's future before emotions and disagreements take over
This course includes a sample pet custody agreement and practical guidance that can help you organize your thoughts, communicate expectations, and create a written plan tailored to your unique situation.
Why learn from me?
My name is Crystal Hutchinson. I am a licensed attorney, educator, author, and course creator who has taught more than 100,000 students across 197 countries. I also understand this topic on a personal level. Having experienced the loss of a beloved pet due to the end of a relationship, I know firsthand how painful and unexpected these situations can be.
That experience inspired me to create a course that helps others think ahead, plan carefully, and protect the animals they love.
This course is designed for:
• Couples who share a pet
• Individuals considering moving in together with a pet
• Pet owners who want to plan ahead before problems arise
• Divorcing or separating couples
• Roommates who jointly own a pet
• Anyone concerned about pet custody, pet ownership rights, or pet care agreements
The best time to create a pet custody plan is before you need one.
Many people assume they will work things out later. Unfortunately, later is often the moment when emotions are highest, communication is strained, and compromise becomes difficult.
Don't wait until a disagreement forces you to make decisions under pressure.
Enroll today and learn how to create a clear, thoughtful pet custody plan that helps protect your pet, reduce future conflict, and give you greater confidence about what happens if life takes an unexpected turn.
Who this course is for:
- Pet owners who want to create a pet custody agreement before a breakup, separation, divorce, or major life transition occurs.
- Couples who share a dog, cat, bird, horse, or other companion animal and want a clear plan for future care responsibilities.
- Individuals concerned about who gets the dog, pet ownership disputes, pet visitation schedules, or shared pet responsibilities.
- Roommates, partners, and co-owners who jointly care for a pet and want to reduce future misunderstandings.
- Anyone looking for practical guidance on pet custody planning, pet co-parenting arrangements, and protecting a beloved pet's future.