in a divorce who is entitled to the dog as these are classed as items as I've been reading

the man has taken the dog stating she bought it for him and he has proof, which is true not denying that but the dog has become their's not his, he has the microchip for the dog in his name as owner
she has paid the pet insurance since it's birth and paid the vet bills and also has proof of purchase from when she bought the dog
can he just take the dog and not let her see him again??

TBF if the dog was bought for the husband as a present and if he is able to give the dog a good home with him after the divorce, why is the dog now not his....... as far as your friend is concerned? If the dog will not have a good life or home with him that is different, but a present is a present not quite sure why now they are divorcing the rules are being changed. If the dog was bought by your friend for the husband and he has proof of that,  not much can be done it is his, and personally I feel it is wrong to say anything else.

Of course your friend is attached to the dog, of course a dog becomes family, however, instead of this fighting over the dog why does your friend just not say, yes I know I bought the dog for you and he is yours, but that she also loves him too and could she still see him a day or two over the week?

It might sound mad but a friend of mine did this successfully, the dog a GSD she had every other weekend to stay with her she would collect him just like a child with weekend access, went on for years and no matter their differences and even though he had a new partner they put the welfare of the dog first.

Things don't have to be messy, if two people can be grown up and put the dog first it can work, suggest this to your friend rather than fighting and trying to take the dog away from one or the other completely. :-)

well they have been exchanging the dog on a weekly basis for the past year and a half which everyone seemed happy with but now he wants a clean break and no longer wants to do this

she's just trying to find options where this can still continue rather than not seeing the dog again, she contributed a lot for the upkeep of the dog (financially & time) so she's feeling heartbroken at the moment

Here's the legal stuff, might be an idea to phone Trevor Cooper:
http://www.doglaw.co.uk/custody.php

Genics that is a real shame that a good thing for the dog and the two of them he now wants to stop, no wonder your friend is heartbroken to do that for a year and a half and then want to stop it, is even worse than an initial separation, how cruel.

People want a clean break for many reasons and for some people I guess it is hard to see the ex, especially if the dog is under 5 years and the thought of it going on for years and years, some people just sadly cannot do it.

Unfortunately, dogs are not viewed in the same way as a child would be they are a possession and not viewed as a living breathing creature. It could be argued that the upkeep and time given to the dog was whilst she also had 'use' (sorry not nice, but the way it is viewed) of him so was warranted.

The trouble in going down the legal route is your friend may force his hand, he may move somewhere far away to make that clean break or worse may re-home the dog to be vindictive, or he may give in and let her have the dog to be rid once and for all... Some-one will lose out, I know your friend at the moment is losing out with this decision but the dog was bought for him by her so it morally should be her if they cannot work it out.

Breaking up is so hard, it's awful for your friend this was allowed to drag on, personally I think she may have to just let go if she can not change his mind. :-(

I divorced many years ago.  And told the other half that I would help him find a place of his own, and everything in the shared house, we would split down the middle.  I was buying him out and staying at the marital home.

I only had 2 dogs at that time.  He said, right, which dog are you keeping?  I felt as if he had knifed me.