Former NFL star Aaron Donald is used to dealing with offensive linemen. Apparently, he is now dealing with a different kind of defensive strategy in court.
Private messages between Donald and his ex-girlfriend, Jaelynn Blakey, have surfaced during their messy legal battle. And somehow, the drama involves a French bulldog.
According to the allegations, Donald has been fighting over the dog because he claims the animal bit both of their children. That is already a serious situation, but things got even more complicated when the former couple allegedly disagreed over what should happen to the animal.
Donald reportedly claimed Blakey had promised to remove the dog from the home. Sounds simple, right? Apparently not.
The situation allegedly changed when Blakey later backed away from that plan. And that is where the private messages became part of the court fight.
The alleged exchanges brings some of the behind-the-scenes disagreement into public view. Nothing says “peaceful co-parenting” like having private text messages introduced during a court battle.
On June 26, 2026, Aaron wrote his ex, “Is that dog back in that house?”
Jaelynn replied, “Why were the kids never brought back? It went from going Saturday to a few hours to it’s to [sic] late we’ll be back Sunday afternoon to nothing …”
Aaron fired back, “Is that dog still there?”
After Jaelynn failed to respond to his question, Aaron said, “But on another note don’t fill comfortable with kids in that house with that dog. It bit 3 people in the face and 2 of those people was Jaeda and AJ.”
He continued, “You said you got read [sic] of the dog and it keep popping back up not really understand the disconnect with that.”
Aaron added, “There’s multiple different places you can put the dog; it’s just not stable having that dog around no kids because it got a history of bitting , it already happened multiple times.” He also accused her of telling their kids not to tell him about the dog being at the home.
Court battles can bring out every little disagreement. Conversations that might normally stay between two people can suddenly become evidence. Suddenly, that innocent-looking text from months ago is getting more attention than anyone expected.
In an email dated July 2, 2026, Jaelynn called out Aaron’s claims via an email to his lawyers. She denied hiding the dog. She said, “Why would I tell my children that when the dog moves freely and talk with their father daily at my home, and he can see for himself?”
She added, “You have no proof of that, so let’s not even start making accusations … I would never tell them that. I told Mr. Donald at the time of the incident the dog was removed … and he was. Your claims are ridiculous.”
Jaelynn denied she agreed to permanently remove the dog and said the children were not afraid of it.
For Donald, the issue appears to be about protecting his children and following through on an agreement he says was made.
For Blakey, the situation has reportedly unfolded differently.
Either way, this case proves one thing: custody disputes can get complicated fast.
