Silbling Rivalry

Tonight B and I were laying on the couch-that-ate-our-family-room (for anyone who hasn’t been to the house since we got the couch, we learned Life Lesson #529: Always measure furniture before you buy it. However, we do love our comfy couch and it fits perfectly – unless you try to open the back door. Or walk into the family room without going sideways). We were laying on the couch trying to watch an episode of Hung (great show) but kept getting distracted by our dogs and their sibling rivalry.

Ovie has a stuffed, squeaky sheep that Gilby could care less about – unless Ovie has it. The two dogs were adorable laying next to each other on the same bed and then Ovie got up, went to another room in the house and brought back his sheep. He then proceeded to prance back in forth in front of Gilby with the sheep in his mouth all the while watching for Gilby’s reaction.
Refusing to be taunted by her little brother, Gilby just laid there. Ovie made a few more passes in front of Gilby and then when he got in front of her face again he paused, squeaked the sheep and kept walking. Still no reaction, although her eyebrows had started to furrow and we knew it was only a matter of time before an ass-kicking would commence. Sure enough on the next taunting pass, just as Ovie had walked past Gilby’s face, she POUNCED! She pushed him to the ground and wrestled the sheep out of his mouth. He valiantly tried to fight back by nipping at her legs and belly and reaching up for her beard. Annoyed that the squirming brat wouldn’t stay down and admit defeat, Gilby applied her finishing move. She sat on him. And squeaked the sheep. Victory!

Our dogs actually get along very well. Gilby loves her fairly new brother. She accepts him and even shares her space and crate. The one thing she will NOT share, however, is attention. This is because she is an Attention Whore and is proud of her title. She’ll be sound asleep in another room and just as we place our hands on Ovie’s tiny little head – BOOM! In a flash she’s body-checked him out of the way and her head is under our hands enjoying some nice petting.
Which leads us to ask: What are the dogs going to do when we bring home a baby? Can they handle it? Our dogs are pretty good with babies. They like to look inside the carriers and Ovie loves to lick baby toes. When babies cry the dogs run to us and nudge our legs as if saying, “Hey, do you hear that? Aren’t you doing to do something?” The problem starts when a baby doesn’t leave right away.

A couple of months ago I was babysitting my next door neighbor/boyfriend Jack who was just a few weeks old at the time. He is the most good-natured, sweet, easy baby in the world (Stacy, all of my sleep-deprived friends want to strangle you right now. Hee hee). Jack was in his carrier on the couch and Ovie and Gilby were fascinated by him. They were sniffing furiously and trying to get their heads closer and closer to him. I pulled him out and held him in my lap while he flirted with me shamelessly. Time flew by as I played with Jack, cooed and fed him his bottle.

My dogs, however, were getting more and more jealous of this tiny, hairless creature. Ovie had parked himself on the floor in front of me and was whining and crying incessantly. Gilby was pacing back and forth with periodic stops to lay at my feet belly up and to bring me toys. I was getting worried. B wasn’t home to entertain the dogs and I surely wasn’t going to put down Little Flirty to pet them, but they were starting to lose it.
Then Jack started to cry. The dogs were stunned into silence looking from me to Jack, and back at me again. The got as close as they could to him, eyebrows furrowed, and Gilby nudged his bottom with her nose. As quickly as the cries came, the went and were soon replaced by little giggle-gurgles. I didn’t know what to make of his sudden mood change when I happened to look down and see Ovie licking Jack’s toes.

So maybe they can handle a little baby in the house?