The first week of a newborn's life is so much easier than raising a puppy. A puppy certainly needs less effort overall for the first year, but I was just so surprised at how (comparatively) Ruby was so much easier than Picasso. Let's compare shall we?
Ruby
Cries when hungry
Pees and Poops in diaper
Have to wake up every three hours during the night for feeding
No teeth
No mobility (unless you count that time she swung her arm over her head and turned on her side)
Smells Good
Seems to have 3 states of being (awake content, awake discontent, asleep)
Time given off work to adjust
Picasso
Gets mean and looks like Fizgig when hungry (which we didn't figure out for awhile)
Pees and Poops anywhere despite being let out every two hours
Have to wake up every two hours for potential potty break
Teeth for biting hands, toys, etc in place and rearin' to go
Completely mobile
Smells good
Seems to have 2 states of being(awake mischievous, asleep)
No time off work
Despite the differences in the species, our dogs are doing stellar with Ruby. They sniff her when she is around and Picasso has licked her foot a few times. (The pediatrician advised against licking, but Ruby didn't burst into ashes so I suppose its fine). When I place her on the floor on the lava blanket, they leave her be. (I purchased a red blanket and called it lava. I informed the dogs when they step on it, that it is indeed hot lava. Loki still stubbornly puts a paw on the edge of it.) I wish I could say we spent time and effort making this great relationship happen, but honestly we forgot to do just about everything they recommend for introducing dogs to the baby. We left Ruby in the car seat downstairs and greeted the dogs alone, then brought her in. Seemed to work fine.
Picasso does have one issue. He really really wants a job associated with the baby. So far he's brought us more shoes than ever when we are holding her and once her brought her baby lotion from the other room. So....any ideas on a good baby job for Picasso would be welcome. Not bringing the lotion, that could get messy.
10 comments:
How does the process of purchasing a puppy compare with pregnancy and birth?
Said comparison should include the out-of-pocket cost breakdown between limited-edition Spanish Water Dog and the Blue Cross approach of "ZOMG WE GIVEZ YOU FREE BABYY!!!11!"
Oh, and that picture with Picasso is crazy cute.
That's funny. I had pitched the theory to Dawn this weekend that dogs where gateway pets to children. I couldn't think of anyone I knew that had a dog that didn't want children.
I definitely think your interest level in owning a dog is a barometer of the amount of daily responsibility you really care to take on. But I was still amazed by how difficult it was to fold dog ownership into our daily life.
I think my rather facetious theory included the logic that first you get a dog. Life is great and you can take him along with you to other people’s houses, and parks. Then you notice all the peace and quiet and order people are enjoying at restaurants and shopping centers and airplanes and think how much better it would be if you could take your dog to those places to ruin them. Then you level up to a child to get better access to people who are enjoying order and tranquility.
I would say going to Virginia and purchasing a water dog was more expensive than the baby, but no stitches. I'm going to give them an equal status.
I laughed until I cried at Bill's last comment. I can't wait to take my baby on some oversees flight. Maybe I can poke her and keep her crying the whole way. Oh, and not to mess up your theory Bill, but we took Picasso on the plane back. I kicked him and kicked him so he would whimper nice and loud for the other passengers. You know, I bet an airline would do pretty good that had a no kids policy.
I would vote that a puppy is easier than a newborn. Our very intelligent pound puppy took only 2 days to house train, and he wanted to play with us from day one. A newborn requires tending to at all hours, and every week he changes so you are never quite ahead of the game. Plus, the newborn prefers the ceiling fan over you.
Keep-up the blog, it's great!
(a friend of David's)
It would be a tough call between a ceiling fan and Stacy...
Oh, and Bill, just for you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElgkLZX401E
Hi Cooking Mama!
Thought you might be interested in this fun story and video for your visitors!
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It might seem cheesy, but the best way to attract a girl besides being very attractive is by reeling her in with something she loves or wants. Girls are known for loving cute animals and pretty "stuff" like flowers, stuffed animals, puppies, babies... the list can go on forever.
If you go to YouTube, you'll see that millions of people search for puppies and babies everyday. In fact, 355,020,014 watched "Charlie Bit My Finger." Are you one of them? So, why not use a puppy or a baby to pick up chicks? You might be thinking to yourself, girls will think I'm a father if I'm walking around with a kid. Does that ever stop a girl from "Oo-ing" or "Awe-ing?"
EXACTLY!
Check out this video and help us go viral... It's pretty funny!: http://youtu.be/rG1qeAS-AZc
Please let me know if you plan on posting.
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