Since I'm sure Scout will be making some appearances in this blog, I thought I would give some background on how she became part of the family.
A week and a year ago we met a woman in a parking lot who had a car full of puppies that she had rescued from Mexico. She was on her way to a rescue organization but was going to let us have first pick. There were a few very cute 4 month old puppies that caught my eye, but then in the very back was a tiny 4-5 week old, 4 lbs puppy that I knew we just had to have. On the way there Rookie Dad had warned me not to get caught up in the cuteness but to keep an open mind. I was following his orders pretty well as I cuddled the puppy as he parked the car. While that one was adorable, I knew that I wanted to look at the others as well. Well, as soon as RD saw the little one there was was no looking back. I tried to remind him about his rule but I could see that it was a lost cause. We brought Scout home that day. I named her Scout after the character in To Kill A Mockingbird. Just 5 days later Scout started to throw up a lot and not look to well. We had taken her the day before to get checked out by a vet and she had gotten a clean bill of health. But something told me that we had to take her back in. We then got the news that Scout had Parvo, which is a deadly puppy disease. We had a few options, 1. Admit her into the hospital and look at spending at lease a few thousand on her. 2. Taking her home and treating her the best we could there. 3. Put her down now.
We were devastated. After just 5 days we had both already grown to love this little puppy, but RD was out of work at the time and spending so much of our savings on Scout was a bit daunting. We decided to do everything we could to save her life so she spent the next week in the hospital during the day and home with us at night. It was a very rough next couple of weeks. She was so sick and unable to drink or eat. I barely slept keeping an eye on her. She went down to just 2.5lbs and looked like those puppies you see on the ASPCA commercials.
RD mentioned a few times that watching me with Scout assured him that I would be a good mom. And during those sleepless night I did feel like Scout's mommy. Scout pulled through and a month later I found out that I was pregnant. So Scout has been with us just as long as Vivi has been a part of our lives. If you have seen the movie Marley & Me then you have an idea what type of dog Scout is. More on that later. Throughout the pregnancy Scout, Vivi and I went to the dog park everyday. It's pretty fun now to walk to the park with Vivi now out of my belly.
We are now trying to balance letting Scout get to know Vivi with setting boundaries so that she doesn't accidentally hurt her. Scout is still just a big puppy who has no idea how strong she is. She spends almost everyday running in a woodchip dog park so the bottoms of her paws are extremely rough and her way of getting someone's attention is to paw their arms. Nevertheless this hurts even when she doesn't get you with her nails. I am afraid that she will paw Vivi in an attempt to get her to play and instead really scratch her up. Right now Scout is into licking Vivi's feet/body whenever she gets close enough.
I have even caught her standing up with her front paws on the bed licking Vivi while she naps. She will also start to nibble on her toes. I know that no one is reading this blog right now, but I would love suggestions as to how to set boundaries while also not making the dog resentful of the baby. I know that as Vivi and Scout both get older things will get easier but it's just tough right now. Scout likes being in the room while Vivi naps which is nice but I can't trust her completely. I have relaxed a bit though especially after what happened when Vivi was 5 weeks old.
I was doing laundry while Vivi hung out on the floor in her vibrating chair. I realized that I hadn't seen Scout in awhile. In a one bedroom apartment there aren't many places to hide and I quickly found her in the bathroom drinking out of the toilet. She had never done this before most likely because I am normally very careful about closing the lid. However, moments before as I used the toilet I thought I saw Scout go near Vivi so I jumped up without flushing or closing the lid. I chased Scout out of the bathroom and proceeded to straighten up quickly. I walked out of the bathroom only to find Scout licking Vivi all over her face. I had spent the first 5 weeks of her life keeping Scout from getting near her and then the first time that I turn my back Scout drinks from the toilet and then washes Vivi's face with her tongue. Go figure. After putting Scout in her crate I just had to laugh. It was one of those moments as a mom where I knew I could either freak out or laugh. I'm glad I chose to laugh.
Where is all of this boring back story leading? Well last night I got a pretty awesome confirmation that despite all of Scout's craziness and attempts to drown Vivi in kisses-Vivi loves her dog. You see, in the last couple days we have started to hear one of the greatest sounds in the world-a baby's giggle. So far she has only started to giggle for her dad (never for me). But last night as she was helping me put away groceries I noticed that she was looking down at Scout the whole time smiling. So we sat on the floor so she could get a better view. And then it happened. She started giggling like I have never heard her before. She just thought that Scout was the funniest thing in the world. It made me so happy to know that Vivi likes her puppy and now I can just look forward to those two growing closer together.
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