When I met Eric, he had our Brittany Spaniel, Gracie, already. She was about 6 years old at the time, and just as sweet with a lot fewer white hairs and a lot more energy. I had a wonderful standard Poodle, named Joey. The two became a great pair, and soon we added our boxer/pitbull mix, Cali. When Joey passed away shortly after we got married, we adopted Cody, a bulldog/pitbull mix. So, since we have known each other, we have had dogs. And while we certainly did not intend on having two children at once, we looked forward to having both children and dogs together - to us, that's a real family.
 |
| All three pups (along with one we were fostering at the time) |
A lot of people ask how the dogs adjusted to having the babies around - I never quite know what to say because it really wasn't an adjustment at all. The dogs didn't act any different, and the babies certainly didn't notice the dogs. I think it helped that we made the dogs give the babies lots of space when we first brought them home - we didn't allow them to even really sniff them for a few weeks, until they were totally relaxed and viewed the babies as just one of the family. So, although Cody (who is the most energetic and will work realllllly hard to give a stranger a kiss - especially if that stranger is about 2 feet tall and squealing with delight) appears to be interested in the babies, he is actually quite calm around them. Of course, this may change drastically when they become mobile...
I was going to post this video to showcase some baby giggles, but it also showcases the babies and dogs together, so it's perfect! Enjoy!
