new friends

I’ve always been wary of the mixture of dogs & kids – especially very young kids.  And now we have a pair of both items I found myself warily watching the dogs whenever the girls got within 6 foot of them.  Jess, after an initial bottom-sniffing, I was pleased to find out was a real mother to them & gave out kisses at every opportunity.  Moreover, she let them pet her with no outward signs of panic. 

Henry was somewhat more skittish around them.  If they came near him he would trot away & hide in another room, only coming out when their micro attention spans had switched to destroying another item of furniture or seeing just exactly how far mommy’s patience will stretch.

Recently though, there has been a distinct warming between the two camps up to & including allowing our oldest to hug him without getting that same look in his eyes that Gromit had when confronted with the “wrong trousers” (in fact Henry has many gromit-like qualities…but that’s for another day).  Of course there had to be a reason.  Dogs & over-excited 3 year olds don’t become buddies overnight.  I found the reason to be, of course, food related.  Henry, while never being a glutton, has always had a weakness, shall we say for human food – table scraps & the like that which we’ve always said we would not give.  It turns out that our girls have been “supplying” both dogs with liberal amounts from every meal they have, meaning that in the last month alone Henry has had everything from waffles (& syrup) to pasta, chicken (a favourite), Mac & cheese, oatmeal, tinned peaches, green beans (which he now demands at every meal) & pizza….to our knowledge!

Last weekend I walked into the living room to see Henry lying on the floor with our oldest using him as a pillow while she watched Wonder Pets.  I think we’ll be ok.