Mike, Jonathan, Sheba and Cody
Mike, Jonathan, Casey and Sasha
One of the most frequent questions we receive seems to always revolve around how the dogs are handling the baby. I think they are all doing very well. When we first brought him home, they would jump up every time he made a noise and would wake up in the night when we woke up with the little guy. Now they tend to sleep through just about everything. When we bring them out, they've learned not to come running over, but to lie down on the floor and wait until we give them permission to come closer. We did have one person (who has never met us or our dogs) criticize us and say that we shouldn't keep such "known aggressive dogs". Anyone who has ever met our dogs (and Julie could probably attest to this since her daughter had only good experiences with our dogs) knows that they are well behaved and not at all aggressive - unless you count licking. I do think some people believe that we put Jonathan in the middle of the floor and let the dogs just run wild around him. Obviously that is not the case.
Pardon me for just a moment while I step up onto my soapbox...
Wow - I love being taller.
Anyway... so many people seem to have this belief that the bigger a dog is, the meaner it is. Some believe that certain breeds will always become dangerous or violent. This drives me a little bit crazy because when I was in 5th grade, someone asked us to dogsit their dog. I came home from school and was petting the dog which was sitting on my mom's lap. Out of no where, the dog decided to lash out and bite my face. Six stitches later and scars that are still on my face to this day, I will always have a healthy fear for - yes, you might have guessed it - LAP DOGS. You know, the cute little ones that look like they couldn't hurt a fly. Any breed can bite. Any breed can become nasty. I truly believe it is in the breeder and the training. Don't tell me that just because my dog was born a Rottweiler, he will eat Jonathan first chance he gets.
Okay, back down off my soapbox.
Bummer...I'm short again.
Now you know how I feel. We have good dogs. In the right circumstances they are allowed to be around Jonathan and we have even allowed them to lick his foot a little (to start building some loyalty - and an opportunity for them to express their love). However, we do recognize they are animals and we do not allow them to sleep with him, play with him, or be anywhere near Jonathan without us controlling the situation.
There you have it. I know you were all wondering.
3 comments:
Your dogs are beautiful! I had to laugh at the comment about the bigger, the meaner. Here in Korea, any dog you can't fit in your hand is HUGE! :) We bought a puppy (on the corner) that is part Jindo (Korean breed) and part ??? - because of the other part, she will not get as big as normal Jindo, which are still only a medium sized dog in American standards. Anyway, she weighs just over 10 kilos and when she "stands" is only up to my waist - but EVERYBODY here acts like she is a beast! It's pretty funny, most of the time. Except when it's annoying! :)
Your dogs are the best. So gentle. And super obedient. I would take one if I didn't think the cats would freak. ALthough, you probably wouldn't give one up. But if you did, I would want Cody. :)
That's so funny! My collie, who is a "gentle family breed", bit my face when I was young b/c I put it near his food bowl! Otherwise, we NEVER had a problem.
Also, my loveable small dog growled at the vet and they had to muzzle her. They said they were "very concerned" about this behavior - definitely a warning sign. I just said she had NEVER made a peep in our house! She's a complete snuggler. I don't think they believed me, but she jumped down, crawled in Ryan's lap and went to sleep! (Then the vet told me she has to muzzle her OWN dogs when she brings them in!)
We know you'd never let the dogs hurt Johnathan - how silly.
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