Kaitlyn Bristowe and ex-fiancé Jason Tartick reached the end of their shared dog custody agreement.
“If you listen to this podcast or follow me at all, you know how important Ramen and Pinot are to me. They are legitimately the light of my life,” Bristowe, 39, said during the Thursday, September 19, episode of her “Off the Vine” podcast. “It kills me to leave them [whenever I travel]. They have the greatest dog sitter … [who] comes to my house, so they don’t have to leave.”
She continued, “What I realized in sharing custody with the dogs is that they get very scared and very uncomfortable and very anxious not knowing where they’re going and when they’re coming back. This is not personal to anybody [and] it happens when they’re in one house and when they’re in my house.”
Bristowe and Tartick, 35, adopted the two golden retrievers during the course of their four-year relationship. When the pair announced their split in August 2023, Bristowe and Tartick explained that they still planned to raise the dogs “as brothers” and share custody.
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“They get scared to leave [and] I just noticed some really big shifts in them with anxiousness,” Bristowe said on Thursday. “It was breaking my whole heart and when I talked to Bunny’s Buddies, which is where I rescued them both from, they were like, ‘This is not allowed. We wouldn’t let somebody rescue these two angel dogs, who need security, to be bouncing around in joint custody. We would have never [let you adopt them].’”
According to Bristowe, the rescue organization representative even mentioned taking “the dogs back if they felt it wasn’t fair.”
“Bunnie’s Buddies actually has a contract — and I signed the contract — and it doesn’t allow for this,” she stated. “I saw it in the dogs and it did not sit well with me. Even though I am aligned with the contract of [the dogs] not bouncing around, I would never keep them from somebody.”
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While Bristowe noted that she is “no longer willing to coparent” her pets with Tartick, he is still able to see the pups.
“I’m doing what’s best for the dogs,” Bristowe said. “[Jason] is more than welcome to see them if he is in town for the weekend or wants to take them for a walk. I would never keep them from anyone.”
The former Bachelorette insisted she wouldn’t want a former partner to feel barred from bonding with the dogs.
“I’m not going to name names, but an ex said to me, ‘You’ll never see this dog again,’ and it broke my soul,” Bristowe said, seemingly alluding to former fiancé Shawn Booth and his pet Tucker. “I remember saying I would never do that to anybody, so I am trying to do what is [the] absolute best for these dogs and, also, not be a monster at the same time.”
Bristowe and Tartick have each moved on with new partners. Bristowe has recently been linked to fellow Bachelor Nation alum Zac Clark, while Tartick is in a relationship with TikTok star Kat Stickler.
