It can be really hard to lose a pet. Losing a pet can feel like losing a child or a best friend.

Imagine grieving the death or your pet, and your partner decides to draw a picture of your late pet to use as part of a collection in their art business.

Would you think this was a nice way to honor your pet’s memory, or would you be offended?

That’s the situation the man in this story finds himself in, and he really doesn’t want his girlfriend to sell pictures of his late dog.

Let’s read all the details.

AITA for asking my girlfriend not to use my late dog as inspiration for art she wants to sell?

I’m 32 and my girlfriend is 28. We’ve been together for a few years now and we live together.

She’s a digital artist and sells her work online.

I love that she’s creative and really talented, and her art style is this cute, minimalist vibe that people seem to really like, especially when she draws animals.

It’s really hard to lose a pet.

Anyway, my dog Max passed away about six months ago. He’d been with me since college, so over 10 years, and honestly he was my best friend.

Losing him hit me really hard. I’m still not fully over it, and even just seeing photos of him can make me emotional.

A few days ago, she showed me a sketch of a dog, and I instantly recognized it as Max. Same little spot over his eye, same posture, even the expression was spot on.

I asked if it was supposed to be him and she said kind of, but also that she was planning to use it in a new collection of pet illustrations she’s going to sell.

He doesn’t want her to use this picture.

I told her as calmly and gently as I could that I wasn’t really comfortable with that.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate her wanting to include him, but he wasn’t just a random dog. He was family, and I’m still grieving.

The idea of seeing his image used in something commercial, even if no one else knows it’s him, feels weird to me. Like he’s being turned into a product.

She didn’t take it well.

She said I was being controlling, and that as an artist she should be able to draw inspiration from wherever she wants. That it’s just a dog, and I should feel honored she wanted to include him.

He’s wondering who is in the wrong.

Now she’s acting distant and says I’m overreacting and being selfish for asking her to change her creative plans over something that, in her words, only I would notice.

But to me, it’s not just a drawing. It’s Max.

So yeah. AITA for asking my girlfriend not to use my late dog in art she plans to sell?

Maybe she thought it was a way of honoring his dog, but he doesn’t take it that way. He deserves time to grieve.

How did Reddit react to this story?

This person sees red flags.

Another person would break up with her.

An artist weighs in.

It’s not “just a dog.”

A beloved pet is not “just a dog.”

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.