Baby's Best Friend

While I was pregnant, Nathan trained Dash nearly every day not to be so protective of his food. We would basically bother him - taking his bowl away or putting our hand/foot/face near it - every time he ate. At first he would growl and nip at us, but as time went on, he got better.

Now flash forward to about a month ago. I had completely forgotten about our training and hadn't worried about Dash bother Cohen. Cohen hadn't been mobile up to this point, and Dash would sniff and lick Cohen, but I really wasn't concerned. (I did worry when Cohen was first born, but I quickly saw that Dash loves Cohen and somehow understands he's a baby). So, Dash was eating his dinner one night and Cohen crawls over to him, full speed I imagine(as he does it every time Dash's food is placed out now). I was washing dishes or something else that had my attention and when I turned around I saw Cohen reach for Dash's bowl. Nathan had noticed by this point too. We stood nearby in case our training hadn't worked (I mean, it had been months) and we'd have to intervene. But nope! They were fine. Dash didn't react at all. Cohen grabbed his food and turned his water bowl upside down. We only had to step in to stop Cohen from eating dog food and sitting in the puddle of water.

When Cohen was just a few days old, I told Nathan that I didn't really love Dash any more and that we should get rid of him. I was filled with new mom love (that has only grown since then!) and there wasn't room in my life for anything other more than my sweet baby boy. I thought I could never return to work and that having a dog was simply a waste of our energy and resources.

I have changed my mind since then (although I do occasionally think about how much easier my day would be without him - no more fur to sweep and vacuum everyday, no need to return early from visiting friends because Dash has been in his crate all day, no need to pay to keep him in a kennel when we go on vacation). Whenever I complain about him to other people, they almost always bring up the fact that kids with dogs rarely have allergies. There were dogs around when both Nathan and I were babies and we don't have any allergies. Fingers crossed, our littles won't either!

As I sit here writing this, Cohen has crawled over to Dash and grabbed onto his fur to pull himself up. Dash simply takes it. It's clear he's not enjoying it (he'd never let Nathan and I do half the things Cohen does), but he let's Cohen get away with anything, it seems. They really are the best of friends. Sure, Dash will occasionally knock Cohen over by accident, but mostly they have fun together. Just seeing Dash brings a smile to Cohen's face! And seeing a smile on Cohen's face always brings one to mine!

^ Halloween: Cohen and I dressed up as dogs, so naturally, we had to take a photo with Dash :)