DISCLAIMER:

We adore pets here at The Hollywood Gossip; and we especially love dogs.

So if we take a sarcastic tone while reporting on Jen Harley's latest Instagram Story post below, or if we straight up mock the occasionally-violent reality star, it's not because we aren't sympathetic to the loss of a furry loved one.

All that said...

... what the heck is Harley talking about here?!?

Last Thursday night, MTV aired the much-anticipated confrontation between Harley and Ronnie Ortiz-Magro on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.

It took place in Las Vegas; it centered on Ronnie's irritation over Jen hiding the couple's daugther from him; and it even involved a producer stepping in front of a camera in order to try and calm Ronnie down.

At various points in the dispute, Harley slammed her on-again/off-again boyfriend as a "loser" as a "psychopath" and as a "piece of sh-t."

She also spit on Ronnie.

The argument had seemingly been a long time come, considering how viciously Harley and Ronnie had previously attacked each other on social media.

But that wasn't actually the cause of their contention, Harley now says.

Her history with Ronnie didn't play a significant role in this ugly meltdown, Jen explains on Instagram.

She actually blames her anger and emotions at the time on the very recent death of her dog.

"They edited out the whole side of my story and [they] just showed me flipping out, not me on the phone with the vet crying after finding out my dog was brought in deceased," Harley said in response to the episode airing.

She continue to defend herself as follows:

"I was pissed everyone was hiding it from me and ignoring me! anyone who [owns] a dog would feel the same way !!

"They made me go there [and] film it for everyone to see they couldn’t tell me any other way and it was f-cked up and they made it something completely different."

A tabloid source did actually say something similar back in June.

After reports of this fight went viral, this insider said "Jen was supposed to be taking care of the dogs when he was away filming, and Ronnie came home to their house and found the dog dead in the pool."

YIKES.

We can understand why this would cause serious tension between the estranged reality stars.

But it's not as though they hadn't been going back and forth online long before this tragedy took place.

So... where do Jen and Ronnie stand now?

We have absolutely no idea.

One second, we read something about their disdain for each other. The next second, as they are above on July Fourth, the two are looking all lovey-dovey on social media.

That photo right here, we should note, was snapped AFTER last week's crazy episode was filmed.

As we keep coming back and saying each time the topic of Jen and Ronnie is raised, only one thing really matters in the end: The health and happiness of their young daughter, Ariana.

We hope she's doing okay.