Dogs and Babies… A year on

When I first posted about dogs and babies, a year ago, baby Gia was less than a month old and I was still in South Africa waiting for the doctors clearance that we were both able to fly. So much has happened in that year… 

This topic also sparks a lot of interest from my amazing Instagram community. I cannot thank my followers enough for welcoming baby Gia the way that you have! You all LOVE seeing Zara and Gia together, you love to watch their bond grow, as do I! Gia has grown into a beautiful, kind and loving one year old and Zara is learning about life with a tiny almost walking human, but has embraced her role as big sis in ways we never imagined. 

Our main goal with the girls has always been and always will be for them to respect each other. They both require their own space, time alone as well as family time. From the very beginning we have been teaching and showing both Zara and Gia how to interact in a respectful way. For example: Gia is not allowed to crawl or stand all over Zara in her attempt to get onto the couch. Zara is not allowed to push over, stand on Gia or steal Gia’s food from under her nose. Things happen, Gia is a one year old and Zara is an excitable 53kg Rottweiler! The girls are not perfect nor perfectly behaved all the time, it’s how we manage it and teach them what’s acceptable that’s important. 

We got our fair share of ‘warnings’ when I was pregnant with Gia and we still get raised eyebrows when we mention we have a one year old and a Rottweiler. The judgement only makes us want to showcase the girls even more. 

Here are some of the things we did when baby Gia arrived home and things we still do to make sure Zara feels very much included and part of her pack… 

No area is off limits

No area is off limits in our home. I got a lot of warnings and even read numerous articles that said pets should be kept out of the nursery. I’m not quite sure what keeping your pets out of your baby’s room would do… but it wasn’t going to happen in our home. Zara helped us prepare Gia’s room which was our way of showing her that change is coming. As a result of including Zara, she now leaves a toy in Gia’s room every night and it’s also her favourite place to take a nap. 

Sharing toys

The girls share toys. Yes Gia is at the age where everything goes into her mouth, as long as she can’t choke on it, I am totally fine with it. I think the world needs to worry about a lot more than dog germs. Both Zara and Gia have recently been dewormed so in my eyes it’s good for them to share toys. It teaches Gia important lessons, so important that Gia now puts her comfort rabbit toy in her mouth just like Zara would to transport it… Genius I tell you 😉 

Learning to share food

It’s no secret Zara lives for food! I always knew the starting solids stage with Gia would spark a lot of interest from Zara and it definitely did. Without a doubt meal times are Zara’s favourite! We’ve had to teach Zara that she can’t steal food from Gia’s bowl or out her hand. We have taught Zara the clues Gia gives to say ok you can have this now. Zara has been very patient and she knows that when Gia is done there is always something for her. Of course this doesn’t happen 100% of the time, just last week Zara decided to steal Gia’s entire meal. But it’s ok, not the end of the world. We are all still learning. 

Showing affection

We have never stopped showing Zara how much we love and appreciate her. We might have a tiny human who demands so much time, energy and love but we include Zara in all of that too. Gia sees how much we kiss and hug Zara and it has become her favourite thing to do… Kiss Zara! We also allow Zara to kiss Gia, why wouldn’t we. Gia’s first kiss from Zara was the day after I arrived home with Gia. It was important that Zara knew it was ok to love and show love towards this new human that is now living in her space. 

Being respectful

Respect is an important part of Zara and Gia’s relationship. They both need to respect each other and learn each others boundaries. I am extremely lucky to be a stay at home mom so I am always around making sure boundaries and limits are not crossed. Gia is only one year old and still has plenty to learn, so when I see Zara has had enough kisses from her baby sis I gently remove Gia from the situation and direct her attention towards another activity. In the same way when Zara is licking Gia’s face ferociously to welcome her home from our shopping trip, I divert Zara’s attention so Gia can catch her breath. 

Both Zara and Gia are our girls. One I gave birth to and the other I didn’t but that doesn’t mean Zara cannot be a fully fledged member of our family. It is possible to keep your fur babies as part of your family when you welcome a human baby. I struggle to understand why some people find it so difficult. Some days are harder than others, being new parents is tough. There is nothing easy about raising a tiny human but I honestly couldn’t imagine doing this without Zara. She’s licked away plenty tears and endured hours of cuddling when we are too tired to run around and play. Zara has embraced her role as big sis and we couldn’t be prouder! 

If you are pregnant or recently welcomed a newborn into your family and have fur babies too, I really hope this post has inspired you. It is ok to have pets and babies! 

ps: The photos used in this post are 100% natural and unfiltered. They’re personal photos I wanted to share to give you a glimpse of how my girls interact on a real level. They’re not posed and beautifully edited. They’re beautiful moments simply captured on my iPhone 🙂

Thank you for reading.

by

by