Oftentimes I am taken aback by the relationship that has grown between Puggie Smalls, the Notorious P.U.G. and Alice. I have to admit to being a bit concerned while pregnant with Alice about how Puggie would react to a new member of the family. After all, Puggie was the only child for two years. She had all the attention and the run of the house. Also, since young children were not part of our social circle, she had never really been socialized around young little ones. I knew from the research I did when we were looking into the various breeds that pugs were great family dogs and good around children, but I was still concerned. Now, I watch the two of them interact and I laugh at how worried I was.
Every morning Alice and I snuggle in bed while I wake up. Actually I snuggle with the covers while Alice spends the time pulling my hair and doing her vocal practice of random words, letters and numbers. I know the time to drag my carcass out of bed has come when she happily shouts her first logical statement, “Puggie, pug, dog, puppy dog, puggie.” That said, she climbs out of bed, hands me my socks and slippers and runs to the alarm panel indicating that I should disarm it so we can go downstairs and start the day.
Before even drinking her milk, Alice rushes to the first floor bathroom to release Puggie from her crate. One of Alice’s happiest days was when she figured out the movement needed to unlatch the crate. As she pulls back the catch, Alice waves to her friend and says a cheerful “Hi!”. I then hear a giggle. Puggie is out and has given Alice a morning smooch. Puggie runs out to see me in the kitchen and Alice follows close behind with the dog’s collar. She hands me the collar and demands I put it on the dog. This task done Alice drinks some milk and presents me with the dog’s food bowl. There have been some attempts on Alice’ s part to fill the bowl herself. These tries have generally resulted in an entire bag of dog food on the floor, me stressed out trying to clean it up and Puggie trying to gorge herself. Alice, unfortunately, follows the dog’s example. Yes, my child, gourmand that she is, enjoys munching on Iams dry dog food. It is my own fault. Sometimes my “cleverness” gets the better of me. When Alice was much younger, she decided she wanted to eat the dog’s food. I decided to let her try it. I figured the disgusting taste would end her curiosity. No such luck. She found dog food quite delicious. Consequently, I now have to put the dog in her pen to feed her or Alice sits next to her and steals the kibble out from under the poor dog. After the dog eats, Alice then chases her around with a water bowl, admonishing her to “drink, drink.”
Once this morning routine is exhausted, the two sojourn to the living room for play, tomfoolery and whatnot. Alice has learned gentleness over the last few months in particular (much to the dog’s relief) and as a result, I find the dog seeking out Alice’s company more and more. There have been times she has even woken Alice up from a nap to play. I look forward to seeing how Puggie reacts when we bring #2 home now that she is a seasoned veteran. Most likely she will ignore the munchkin until solid foods are introduced and a new food source is born.
Every morning Alice and I snuggle in bed while I wake up. Actually I snuggle with the covers while Alice spends the time pulling my hair and doing her vocal practice of random words, letters and numbers. I know the time to drag my carcass out of bed has come when she happily shouts her first logical statement, “Puggie, pug, dog, puppy dog, puggie.” That said, she climbs out of bed, hands me my socks and slippers and runs to the alarm panel indicating that I should disarm it so we can go downstairs and start the day.
Before even drinking her milk, Alice rushes to the first floor bathroom to release Puggie from her crate. One of Alice’s happiest days was when she figured out the movement needed to unlatch the crate. As she pulls back the catch, Alice waves to her friend and says a cheerful “Hi!”. I then hear a giggle. Puggie is out and has given Alice a morning smooch. Puggie runs out to see me in the kitchen and Alice follows close behind with the dog’s collar. She hands me the collar and demands I put it on the dog. This task done Alice drinks some milk and presents me with the dog’s food bowl. There have been some attempts on Alice’ s part to fill the bowl herself. These tries have generally resulted in an entire bag of dog food on the floor, me stressed out trying to clean it up and Puggie trying to gorge herself. Alice, unfortunately, follows the dog’s example. Yes, my child, gourmand that she is, enjoys munching on Iams dry dog food. It is my own fault. Sometimes my “cleverness” gets the better of me. When Alice was much younger, she decided she wanted to eat the dog’s food. I decided to let her try it. I figured the disgusting taste would end her curiosity. No such luck. She found dog food quite delicious. Consequently, I now have to put the dog in her pen to feed her or Alice sits next to her and steals the kibble out from under the poor dog. After the dog eats, Alice then chases her around with a water bowl, admonishing her to “drink, drink.”
Once this morning routine is exhausted, the two sojourn to the living room for play, tomfoolery and whatnot. Alice has learned gentleness over the last few months in particular (much to the dog’s relief) and as a result, I find the dog seeking out Alice’s company more and more. There have been times she has even woken Alice up from a nap to play. I look forward to seeing how Puggie reacts when we bring #2 home now that she is a seasoned veteran. Most likely she will ignore the munchkin until solid foods are introduced and a new food source is born.
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