So, I had the conversation about the ex-boyfriend yesterday. I think it was a pretty productive mature adult conversation.
I basically told her that I didn't think it was healthy for our relationship for her ex-boyfriend to be significantly involved in her life outside of what was minimally necessary for him to spend time with their dog. I said that I didn't have any problem with him picking up the dog occasionally or even them going out to lunch on rare occasions, but that I didn't think that it was appropriate for him to hang out at her place while spending time with the dog or them going out to dinner together or texting frequently or anything else like that.
She said that she understood how I felt and thought that was completely reasonable. She said the last time she had seen him was several weeks ago after which I initially expressed that I was annoyed that he stayed for dinner after taking their dog for a run. She said that her friendship with her ex-boyfriend was not nearly as close as I thought it was and that practically all of their communications involved working out the logistics of him picking up the dog. She said that she typically doesn't even see him when he picks up the dog, as she usually arranges it so that he comes by to pick the dog while she is working or when she is out doing something else (he has a key to her place, which is kind of weird but it at least allows him to see the dog without her being around). Unprompted, she offered to let me look at all of her text messages with her ex-boyfriend on her phone. I figured that might help me better understand the nature of their friendship, so I went ahead and looked at the text messages with her. They were super boring text messages that repeatedly went like this:
Ex: "What does your schedule look like this week? Can I take Molly for a run one day?"
GF: "Buckfast and I are going to a concert on Thursday night. You can pick her up around 6:00 p.m. on Thursday if you want."
Ex: "Thanks. Have fun."
All of the text messages were completely innocuous and nearly all of them involved making arrangements to see the dog. There was nothing there that concerned me in the slightest. Seeing the text messages did make me feel better about the nature of their current relationship.
I also expressed that I didn't think it was healthy for him to serve as any type of emotional support for her, as I thought it could potentially interfere with the development of our relationship. She agreed and said that she no longer viewed him in in that way, but admitted that she thinks that he might still come to her for emotional support at times. I think that is mostly the result of the fact that the ex doesn't have as many friends in Denver (many of his friends were from my girlfriend's circle of friends), and my girlfriend was just too nice to not be there for him as a friend post-breakup. She said that she thought he had been relying less and less on her for emotional support, but that she would avoid playing that role in the future.
We also discussed the ex-boyfriend's 40th birthday, which is actually today. I asked her if she was planning on doing anything with him to celebrate, and she said no. She bought him a birthday card and a $20 Starbucks gift certificate, which she left for him at her place because he is taking the dog for a run today while she is at her monthly book club meeting. That seems pretty harmless to me.
Overall, I was really pleased with how the conversation went. As I have said all along, I was never concerned that she had any ongoing sexual relationship with the ex, and I don't think there is anything that even slightly suggests that she is. You don't trade in a prime bone-in ribeye for a standard sirloin. After seeing all of her text messages, I feel comfortable that their friendship is not nearly as close as I previously thought it was. I think we drew some pretty reasonable boundaries that she will take seriously because I know she truly wants to be with me and doesn't want this to be an ongoing source of conflict for us. And I think she knows that I will leave her if I am not satisfied with the ex-boyfriend situation going forward.
Perhaps it is a new world with exes sharing custody of a dog post-breakup. But it is the world that I live in considering that I also still interact with my crazy ex to the extent necessary for me to see our golden retriever occasionally.