Hi Melanie
I think you know all the answers to your concerns but wish that you didn’t.
I cannot tell you what to do because it is important to your own well-being and future that you are in control of your own life and make your own decisions. If you do want to leave the door open, however, for reconciliation in the future, when he is committed to being gamble-free, maybe that is what you should be saying but I cannot believe that the dog should be a bargaining chip.
If you feel that taking the dog back is the final straw in your relationship then I see little to give me confidence that this man is remotely ready to change his life.
The dog’s health and well-being count too, as I am fully aware you understand. From what you have said this dog is yours, placed in trust but that trust has now been eroded.
I suspect you will have to make decisions that are hard for you but you are doing the right thing by keeping talking. I think that gradually you will accept, that which you already know deep down, is the right course of action for you.
I will leave this reply to you with my favourite quote from Mahatma Gandi ‘You may never know what results come from your actions but if you do nothing there will be no results’.
As Ever
Velvet