The Dog Father

 Kim and I have often wondered how our precious pooch was going to react to having a baby in the house.  Our dog is generally good, but you can't help but hear all types of things from:

  "You'll have to say goodbye to your dog!"  to  "Oh, my dog just loves our daughter.  He protects her like she was his own."  (the latter quote was in a southern accent.)

 It seems to really depend on the dog, the owners, and how they go about the integration.  At least in my on looking outsider, 3rd person perspective. 

  We rescued our dog when she was a mere bobble headed puppy from the kill shelter.  She was the runt, and needed lots of attention, so she became our baby almost instantly.  (Kim will try to tell you, that at first I wanted to give her away because she was obnoxiously crying every night, but I think all of you can come to your own conclusion on the matter once you see this picture of her.)

 

   At the time, we lived right next to some of our good friends; Super Science guy, and his Speech Therapist wife, so they were constantly over and together this little tyke had her very own wolf pack with two parents and two very fun siblings to play with.  Bella (we may have been reading Twilight when we rescued her.) was the smartest four pound puppy you have probably ever met.  With one or two times of showing her she needed to go outside to use the bathroom, that cute little mug sat herself by the enormous front door without making a sound, and just waited patiently for someone to notice her.  As the months passed and with lots of training from my wife and I, this little mongrel was ready to compete on that early 90's show, That's My Dog.  (I'm disappointed they don't still film that show.)
Anyhow, I had her shaking and dancing, Kim had her weaving through her legs and literally jumping through hoops.  She even taught Bella the cup game, where she put a treat under a cup and mixed them all around and Bella had to knock the cup over with her paw that held the treat.  She won that game every time in the 100th percentile.

  It was our friend Super Science Guy who taught Bella to speak for the first time, (because he can't just let a super cute sleeping dog lie) and she hasn't shut up ever since.  She also has become very territorial and feels she needs to protect us from falling leaves, granny going on walks, and any other thing outside that makes a noise.  Thank you Science guy!  We love you!  
 
  If you've ever come over to our house and rang the doorbell you have probably heard Kujo in action.  She is a scary thing to witness and so after that long intro, you now can understand why we are unsure how she will react to a little human traipsing around.  She has never been around any type of kid before, unless you count the time we went camping and a kid wandered into our campsite to pet her.  She may have startled him and he was so scared he fell over, and she may have pulled his boot a tiny little bit.  It wasn't her proudest moment, and the mother of the boy, wasn't very excited about it either.

  But a couple months ago, (A few years later and a few years older), we had some hope for Bella when some of our friends brought their little girls over for a barbeque.   The girls are aged 1 and 3.  You can imagine how terrified I was with someone else's little girls running around the house like toddlers do and what Bella would do with all of this over stimulation to her usually calm environment.  This family however have a fantastic dog, named Buddy at that, and the girls were quite at ease around Bella.  This must have helped tremendously because  I couldn't believe how much of a trooper she was.  She followed the one year old around the house as if she were protecting her or herding sheep.  Even when the one year old patted and slapped her muzzle over and over again, Bella did nothing except take it.  The 3 year old ran like a madwoman past her, around her, and probably over her, but I can't verify that last one for sure.  We were such proud parents in that moment and as I said earlier gave us a little hope. 

  We know the integration is going to be crazy, but we've decided that we have to make it work somehow and as long as we give her the attention we always have it should be fine.  Right????

  Any advice that any parent/dog owners can give would be amazing.  You can comment here or on my Facebook page, which has the same exact title.  :) 

Comic by Bitstrips