I've never had a baby and puppy at the same time. Buddy was already two years old when Bean came along. He was no longer chewing up favorite summer hats, or trying to nibble our toes off and he wasn't having accidents in the house.
We were used to having Baby and Dog in the house. I didn't think it would be so much different with Baby and Puppy.
Boy, was I wrong.
Day Two: Baby Blueberry scoots close to Gibson, studying him over with the most serious expression on her face. The puppy is a bit hyper. Jumping around, running around, grabbing toys. "Hey, he's grabbing MY toys." Her glare seems to say as she smacks the air with her hands. I have noticed when she's frustrated about something, this is her sign language for it.
She starts to crawl after Gibson and he freezes in mid chop.
"What is that tiny person doing?" His worried doggie brow seems to say.
His big paws don't move as she's close enough to touch him now. His ears arch up and then he wiggles away from her. She startles and wants held.
We all laugh as we realize they are afraid of each other.
And for the next week that is how Baby and Puppy react with each other. Trepidation. Nervousness. Fear.
He bounces over too close...she wants picked up.
She crawls too close...well, I'm sure he would want picked up. Or certainty a lap to sit on. Despite the fact that he has Great Dane DNA running through his veins and he's going to be a huge dog, Gibson has decided he likes to be a lap dog. Right now, Bean and Abu love it. He snuggles up on their laps while they are reading or watching a movie and they're all happy. Of course, one day they won't be able to get up on their own because they'll be pinned by a large mutt.
But every time the baby gets close...he's gone.
Until Day 7: This is the day that Gibson has decided perhaps this tiny creature is actually another puppy. She just looks weird. So he starts by walking close to her, being brave with a tall stance.
I laugh. Baby Blueberry isn't sure what the mutt is doing and she narrows her eyes at him.
He carefully, and when I write carefully, I mean I have never seen a puppy be so gentle with their frenzied and hyper paws, yet he slowly places the pad of his paw, not even the tips where his trimmed nails are, on her bare knee.
She looks at me. "Is this okay?" I scoot close to her, since I know Gibson isn't going to hurt her on purpose but he's still a puppy.
And then this is when he decides she must be a puppy too. And he gently pounces on her like she's a breakable puppy but still someone to wrestle with.
I catch her as she topples over backwards and scold him that she's not a puppy.
Day 8: But now his mistake has now changed the way she looks at puppy. If he thinks she's for pouncing then he must be okay for pulling hair. And so now she crawls after him and tries to pet him but oh, that hair is so tempting to a little baby.
Especially when Mommy and Daddy hate it when she pulls their hair. But the puppy must not mind it. He lays still, not hardly breathing as she yanks on his silky black hair.
Mom is clearly mistaken, Baby thinks as Mommy scolds her, Puppy would move away if he didn't like it.
Day 9: Gibson has changed his mind about Baby. Yes, she pulls hair, and he can't chew on her toys even though they have the best flavor, and boy that Mommy person really didn't like it when he had an accident in her room. Although, in his favor, he didn't did it on the carpet and only on the hardwood floor.
And he can't pounce on the Baby.
But he has discovered the greatest secret of canines kept throughout history...kids equal food. People food. A few times a day those big people put her in chair and feed her food. Which the Baby has a habit of dropping. Isn't he helping if he keeps the place tidy?
Of course, he can't understand why the big people yell when he tries to clean the Baby after they get her out of the chair. He's just trying to be a helpful mutt.
Day 11: He has realized that it is not in his best interest to try to nibble on the Baby's toes. The big people really started yelling then, followed by time out on his chain. But he does think its vastly unfair that the Baby can bite him and she doesn't get thrown outside.
He was laying on Abu's bed, a battle I have quickly lost because as soon as I leave the room he thinks he needs to snuggle with his favorite girl. I was tucking Abu in and Blueberry was using the edge of the bed to learn to walk. His slender tail was hanging over the edge. Tempting like hair. And...
Baby bit Puppy's tail. He pulls his tail away and stares at her. What did that Baby just do? She actually bit my tail!
Day 13: We are on a walk in the park, one of his favorite activities, and I notice he's constantly doing headcounts.
Bean. Check.
Abu. Check.
That Baby. Check.
Keeping track of his girls, just like the good dog he's going to be.
There is one thing they can agree upon. They both love to chew on
shoes. Puppy can't believe that the Baby loves to find shoes and chew on
them too. She must have good taste. Because those shoes are tasty. He
almost had the strap chewed completely through on Mommy's shoe before
she noticed.
This morning he sits in my lap, legs stretched over my thighs. Head dangling over the other side when Baby sees me. The puppy is in HER Mommy's lap. She crawls quickly across the room, crawls right over that puppy, and takes HER lap back. He slides off my legs and looks at her as if to say, Hey, I was here first.
And then tries to nibble on her toes. She tries to pull his hair.
Gibson outside!
Baby no pulling hair!
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