Dogs after children

[Dick Whitman]

I have been trying to make a conscious effort lately to reconnect with my dog. Prior to children coming along, he was my best friend in the whole world. My wife and I would play with him every day, walk him whenever we could, laugh at his antics. The last couple years, however, it seems like he's been, at best, ignored. Other times, he has irritated me to my last nerve. Things that used to crack me up even.

Have others gone through the same? Were you eventually able to reconnect and make him/her part of the family again?

I just came to the conclusion that if I'm going to have a dog, I am going to give him some attention and love, too. I didn't purposely set out to freeze him out. It just kind of ... happens before you know it.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Is this a treatment for a midseason episode of a sitcom that has jumped the shark?

 

[Dick Whitman]

Is this a treatment for a midseason episode of a sitcom that has jumped the shark?

No. It's from a young adult's section book that you just filed.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Is this a treatment for a midseason episode of a sitcom that has jumped the shark?

No. It's from a young adult's section book that you just filed.

Oh, the one no one checks out.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Is this a treatment for a midseason episode of a sitcom that has jumped the shark?

No. It's from a young adult's section book that you just filed.

Oh, the one no one checks out.

I defer to the expert.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Pouring the gratefruit Crystal Light.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Having kids puts pets into perspective.

You may love your pet, they may be your best friend, you might think, "I don't know what I would ever do without my dog/cat/etc..."

Then you have kids and it changes overnight... I don't think we neglected our dog after our kids were born. He was pretty old already and was good with the kids, but he had to deal with a different set of rules.

 

[Care Bear]

I feel guilty every single day that I do not spend as much time with Edgar. He is the most loyal, loveable, clown of a dog you would ever want to meet. He made me a happier person. He probably made me a better person, too, and he has basically been pushed to the side the past few months.

It actually wears on me quite a bit. I only hope that one day he and the new little guy will be best friends, and Edgar's life will be better for it.

 

[Wenders]

We've always had at least one dog and one cat at our house. (My dad is the softie. He keeps saying, "Well, when this dog dies, we're not getting another one!" and the next thing we know, we're been hauled to the animal shelter.)

I have a cat currently and maybe it's because I'm single and I don't have children and for about a year and a half, it was just him and me living in an apartment (there's something about living alone with just one other living being that will permanently bond you to that being), but I honestly cannot imagine at this point in my life loving anything more than I love him. But then again, I know I'm a freak of nature, as there are people from my HS class who are either at or working on child No. 3, while I am unmarried and working on degree No. 3. Just different priorities (although if one more person tells me that it will happen when it happens might just drive me over the edge). My parents waited until their 30s to have me, making them easily the oldest parents out of anyone in my friends circle.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

We did all of the things they tell you to do when you have a dog and you're having kids. We wrapped my son in a blanket at the hospital and I brought it home and gave the dog the blanket, so he could get used to the smell. When we arrived home from the hospital, I was giving the dog every treat you can imagine, so he would associate the new baby with him getting to eat steak (the cheap stuff you use in stew) that he would usually only get once or twice a year.

The dog handled it about as well as you could hope, but there are times where you just have to put the dog in the basement or outside when the kid is around. We only had one scare which was when my son fell on top of the dog. Rather than growl, my dog just looked at me as if to say, "What the **** man?"

My dog died shortly atfter my second kid was born. He was 14. We have not even thought about getting another pet.

 

[black dude with pompano]

I always tell people to get a dog before kids so they can simulate the ruining of their lives before ruining them entirely. (I kid...sort of...I love dogs and kids. But kids at least have tax advantages).

 

[Buck]

My dog died shortly atfter my second kid was born. He was 14.

If he wasn't born until he was 14, your son's much too attached to his mother.