Our first children were the four-legged kind. Bella, a yorkie-poodle mix (called either a yorkie-poo or a porkie, depending on your sense of humor) joined us about a year before Mika the border collie ran into our lives.
Bella was generally pretty calm and went with the flow while Mika shook things up a bit (and by "a bit" I mean there were moments of "Oh my God, what have we gotten ourselves into?").
We learned that having dogs, especially a border collie as emotional as a 15 year old girl, is good practice for having kids. HOWEVER, you don't trade the dogs for the baby--those dogs that were such great practice for having a child are still around when that child gets there.
We lucked out with very laid back dogs. Bella is like a Gumby doll, the kind with the wire inside that stays in any position you put it in. Flip her on her back, her side, mess with her face, her paws...she just lays there. Mika has never been around kids, so we weren't quite sure what would happen when the dogs were surrounded by five and six year olds at a parade a few years ago. We got our answer when one very brave/less-than-genius little boy shoved his hand into her mouth. He pulled it back out again in one piece, so we knew she didn't have any problems with kids.
Then came the real test for our dogs: a baby.
They've taken it surprisingly well. And by that I mean Mika will lay there and let Norah pull on her eyelids and play dentist, both hands in the dog's mouth, while Bella also tolerates her, but usually gives her a wide berth and seems to be wondering when that baby is going back to where she came from. We try to encourage Mika to stay out of reach for her own well-being, but she will plop herself down right next to the baby anyway.
I think Mika and Norah Grace are going to prove to be a formidable duo when it comes to getting into things. However, I think once Norah has a big enough lap, Bella will park herself there and soak up the attention.
And we're pretty sure Norah we'll be saying "Mika" before "dada."
Bella was generally pretty calm and went with the flow while Mika shook things up a bit (and by "a bit" I mean there were moments of "Oh my God, what have we gotten ourselves into?").
We learned that having dogs, especially a border collie as emotional as a 15 year old girl, is good practice for having kids. HOWEVER, you don't trade the dogs for the baby--those dogs that were such great practice for having a child are still around when that child gets there.
We lucked out with very laid back dogs. Bella is like a Gumby doll, the kind with the wire inside that stays in any position you put it in. Flip her on her back, her side, mess with her face, her paws...she just lays there. Mika has never been around kids, so we weren't quite sure what would happen when the dogs were surrounded by five and six year olds at a parade a few years ago. We got our answer when one very brave/less-than-genius little boy shoved his hand into her mouth. He pulled it back out again in one piece, so we knew she didn't have any problems with kids.
Then came the real test for our dogs: a baby.
They've taken it surprisingly well. And by that I mean Mika will lay there and let Norah pull on her eyelids and play dentist, both hands in the dog's mouth, while Bella also tolerates her, but usually gives her a wide berth and seems to be wondering when that baby is going back to where she came from. We try to encourage Mika to stay out of reach for her own well-being, but she will plop herself down right next to the baby anyway.
I think Mika and Norah Grace are going to prove to be a formidable duo when it comes to getting into things. However, I think once Norah has a big enough lap, Bella will park herself there and soak up the attention.
And we're pretty sure Norah we'll be saying "Mika" before "dada."
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