September 24, 2007

Puppy love . . .

If you're pregnant, prepare to hate your dog for at least a year after your baby is born.

I'm not going to lie to you. Murphy was my first baby. We got her when she was two months old in Novmber 2005 and I loved her like she was a child. Was she an impulse buy and a coping mechanism for the recent diagnosis of my PCOS and resulting infertility? In retrospect, I suspect so. I didn't carry her around in a handbag or dress her up in little clothes, but we gave her a lot of attention.

Right before we left for the hospital, I was a little emotional as I was trying to catch her to put her in her crate (yes, we have to catch her everytime we leave the house . . . it's super fun). I picked her up and held her for a minute thinking about how she had NO IDEA what was about to hit her. There was no way for her to know that when we got home she would no longer be my baby. Her cute furriness would be surpassed by someone else's cute baby-ness . . . the clock would strike midnight and she would turn back into being just a dog.

And she did. It's safe to say that Jack has taken Murphy's world and turned it upside down.

I had this picture in my mind of what it would be like to bring Jack home and introduce him to Murphy. I pictured Murphy sitting there looking inquisitively at Jack while Kyle knelt down holding Jack. Murphy would sniff Jack a little and sit back in approval and resignation to the fact that she was no longer the center of the universe. And I, of course, would be capturing the whole thing on video.

If you're at our house sometime, ask to see the video. THere was jumping and barking and half way through the introduction, I was forced to put the camera down to help Kyle keep Murphy from eating Jack whole. Needless to say, it was different than I had imagined.

She's no longer the center of our attention and she has been more than reluctant to give up that place in our home. Let's just say that she's stopped being so lovable. She chews up everything that Jack spits up on. She barks wildly at NOTHING, but only when Jack is napping. She is so curious about Jack and wants to show that curiosity by climbing on him and licking him. I have to constantly be aware of where she is so that she doesn't pounce on Jack. To top it all off, she began peeing at our bedroom door several times a night. Lovely. Everything that we used to find adorable and entertaining about her has disappeared.

The hardest part is that though it seems that she's changed so much since Jack came home, she's actually the same as she's always been. Kyle and I are the ones with the new perspective. Murphy hasn't changed a whole lot . . . but in our eyes she's just an animal now. Although I knew it would happen, I feel a little guilty. We've made her this way. We've created this monster.

I still love my dog, but the love is different. On Saturday, while Jack was napping, I was downstairs watching TV and napping. Murphy crawled up on the couch and sat on my feet to keep them warm like she used to. We sat there and enjoyed each other's company like we did in the old days. When Jack woke up, she was sent back into her new reality.

I suppose she'll get used to her new life eventually. I just hope she gets used to it without us having to replace a lot of Jack's burp cloths and all of our bedroom carpet.

1 comment:

Bobby and Jason said...

This is tough to read because I have so much love for Murphey.