When a relationship is heading towards a separation, what becomes of your dog(s) is a serious and emotional issue for many.

Would you stay in a relationship with someone solely for the sake of your dog?

Pet writer Julia Szabo said she did. She ended up divorcing her husband in 2001, but they lived together for eight years "for the sake of their six dogs."

Writes Szabo in her NY Post column, "We had raised our own six-pack of rescue dogs - four pit bulls and two mixed breeds - over the last 15 years and we couldn't bear to split them up. More to the point, neither of us wanted to part with any of them."

Dogs are seen as part of the family. Sometimes, parents make sacrifices for the sake of their children, including those with four legs.

For Szabo, she writes, "Our reasons were partly practical. Once you've shared the co-parenting duties of a dog, it's tough for one person to manage it alone. Sure, you can hire a dog walker or pet sitter, but you can never be sure that paid pet support will give your four-footed family members the same level of TLC. But our main reason was emotional. Dogs fill the overwhelming void of loneliness that results when you make the mistake of living with a human you can't stand the sight or sound of. So John and I continued to live in our two-bedroom railroad flat on the Upper East Side. All eight of us."

Eventually, Szabo and her husband decided to move to separate homes. He agreed on the condition he would take three dogs, including one dog Szabo was particulary attached to. There was a brief custody battle for the dog, but in the end, she gave the dog to her ex-husband.