Lain is learning how to use her hands. She is getting a real kick out of reaching out and grabbing stuff. As well as holding stuff.
Mommy thinks this is awesome. Daddy thinks this is awesome.
There is one family member, however, who does not think this is awesome.
I have never failed to be amazed at how tolerant dogs are of the abuse that very small children dish out at them, perhaps a result of age-appropriate confusion in distinguishing between animals and plush toys. Yet all but the very worst of dogs seem to tolerate rough treatment from babies that they would not tolerate from grown humans.
This, by the way, is an awesome family picture. Thanks for sharing it.
My cats don’t really fuss when I pull their tails, but they’re a couple of pussies…
I have never failed to be amazed at how tolerant dogs are of the abuse that very small children dish out at them
As a grandfather-to-be, I admit to a certain amount of trepidation about the dogs the baby will share the house with. The smaller (spayed female) goes maybe 50 pounds, the larger (neutered male) 125. The way I read the doggy body language and such, both recognize my daughter (momma-to-be) as the alpha female in the group, so should be cool with things.
Well-socialized dogs will tolerate behavior from puppies that they’d never take from another adult dog, too. It’s part of social animals raising young. Although you do need to watch out for the ways that human babies are even more fragile than puppies, as Patrick point out.
Watch out for that. It almost always works out okay (dogs are pretty good at recognizing their spot in the human pecking order), but watch a momma dog with a puppy and realize those nips would break skin on a human.
Accidents can happen, especially if the dog gets a finger in the eye!
I keep a close eye on it. I let Lain tug some just to see how the dog will react (needless to say, only when I am in a position to keep them apart). So far, so good. She’ll “grrr” a little bit when tugged too hard on the face. But it sounds more like a moan than an aggressive noise, if that makes sense.
http://www.amazon.com/Tails-Pulling-Board-Book-Behavior/dp/1575421801
You’re welcome.
According to my mom, when I was at that age, in crowded elevators, I would reach out and pull some stranger’s hair. I suspect that this was around the time my mom was in the US doing som post-doctoreal studies. presumably, there were people with different hair colours.
My heart goes out to the poor soul on the right. I, too, know the oppression of the new baby.
I think I’m going to go and hide under the couch some more.
Aww, poor Wembley! Here, have a carrot. Your peoples still love you.