She's a spitfire. Approximately 9-10 lbs of pure joy and exhuberance, just bursting at the seams and ready to play. She's nuts cute eh? I don't mean to brag, but I daresay I have the cutest dog in the world. Tied quite closely with her big brother Tonka, my brother's pup, who is a jolly good-natured, easy-going bruiser.
So this thinly-veiled attempt at motherhood is so far putting me through my paces. I've been reflecting on what it is to become a parent of a dog vis-à-vis the parent of a human. There are many similarities, and many stark differences. Herewith, I outline the differences:
Human: when they need to pee at 3 a.m., they do it in their diapers in bed, often while sleeping.
Dog: when they need to pee at 3 a.m., I have to stand outside in -20 degrees and snow in my housecoat and slippers, and then attempt to fall back asleep.
Human: When they want to play, there's mess involved.
Dog: When they want to play, more often than not there's biting involved.
Human: Eventually they will pick up commands such as "can you take this shovel and put it back in the garden shed? And bring me those gloves on the shelf? Thanks."
Dog: I would be happy with "Go get your ball! Come to momma!"
Human: When they play with cats, they can be indelicate.
Dog: When she plays with the cats, it's a mess of teeth, claws, fur, hissing and barking.
Human: Wears clothes.
Dog: Wears every scrap of dirt that ever fell on our floors.
Human: The results of their elimination end up in a diaper genie or down the toilet.
Dog: The results of her elimination end up all over my deck. Really nice in the rain! My siding got spattered with dog poo!
Human: When you cook dinner, you can put them in a high chair.
Dog: When you cook dinner, you have to designate a dog-minder, and work in carefully orchestrated shifts in order to maintain her frenzied state, so that you have a chance of sleeping through the night.
Human: Knocks over or plays with/ruins houseplants.
Dog: Eats houseplants.
Hubby's co-workers yesterday assured him that what we're going through is much worse than having a baby. They remarked on the bags under his eyes, the frenzied, desperate look on his face. The clothes that didn't quite match and were pulled slightly apart at the cuffs. Teeth marks in his belt. Yep, for the most part, babies don't bite, and you don't have to go back to work the day after having them, leaving them to their own devices.
I'm only joking about the comparisons to human babies. But I have no experience with having a human baby so I'm taking what I can get and running with it. All I know is that babies snuggle without biting your lips.
Oh and I don't want to seem as though I'm complaining. Rosie is an awesome little dog. She's smart, feisty, loving, snuggly, super cute and very curious. She lets us know what she does and doesn't like, and she is learning lessons daily. I've even almost got her fetching... not bad after 5 days. She has pretty much taken to her crate, and goes in without protest (when she's asleep or halfway there). When she plays, half the time she grabs her toy and scrambles into my lap, as I sit on the floor, to play with it. It's really very adorable.
She's got us on a pretty short leash though. I have to work on the 'dominance' issue, because Rosie is a pretty dominant, self-confident dog. She bites a lot, which is apparently natural as she's teething with her first round of chompers. She bites everything in sight. She isn't yet tall enough to climb the stairs (this morning she slid down three of them on her chin: ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump - I felt so bad) but dammit she'll keep trying. She's fascinated by Loki - he makes her totally crazy. That actually stresses me out quite a bit because I didn't really expect it for some reason, I thought the cats would stay away from the dog and that Loki would beat her up if they mixed - I was actually worried about her safety. He does, but she still gets way too close for comfort and obviously hasn't learned the lesson just yet. I feel like he can train her not to bite better than I can and he needs to step up to the plate. Oh well. They only interact for short periods of the day. For the most part, Loki's still got the run of the house. Sasha is freaked out completely but has taken to eating her meals on our dining room table (at the end where we don't sit) and is now starting to come around. I feel good if I can get her purring a few times a day. Rosie's not that crazy-interested in her for some reason. Probably because they're not the same colour...
Things Rosie really likes include: Loki, my hair, her nylabone, her squeaky squirrel, the monkey cushion which she's adopted, towels in general, tassled rugs, hands, plants, eating snow, tummy rubs, cat food, boots (she stuffs her whole face into them, it's hysterical), hunting for ants (don't judge me, I have ants), trying to get up onto the couch, and the variegated legs of the kitchen chairs.
OK I miss her. Only 3 hours and 20 minutes until we're home. I have to hold out.
No comments:
Post a Comment